Black Sails: The Ghost Ship

60%
Game Brain Score Based on 150 reviews
  • story
  • graphics
  • gameplay
Black Sails: The Ghost Ship Game Cover
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"Black Sails: The Ghost Ship" is a single-player Role Playing game with a good story, offering around 4 hours of playtime. Inspired by a true story, the game takes players on a creepy and mysterious point-and-click adventure, exploring a deserted sailing ship and uncovering the darkest abyss of the human soul. With full English speech and text, the game features a dense atmosphere, focused on the fate of two main characters, Anna and Lex, and includes disturbing dream sequences.

  • PC
  • Windows
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

60%
Audience ScoreBased on 150 reviews
story39 positive mentions
stability8 negative mentions
  • The game features an intriguing story with a spooky atmosphere that keeps players engaged.
  • Puzzles are mostly logical and enjoyable, providing a satisfying challenge without being overly difficult.
  • The game has a decent art style and sound design that contribute to the overall immersive experience.
  • The font used in notes and letters is nearly unreadable, making it difficult to follow the story.
  • The game suffers from technical issues, including frequent crashes and poor camera angles that hinder navigation.
  • Voice acting is inconsistent, with some characters delivering subpar performances that detract from the experience.
  • story127 mentions

    The game's story is a mixed bag, with some players finding it intriguing and well-told, while others criticize it for being underdeveloped, predictable, or lacking closure. Many reviews highlight the atmosphere and potential of the narrative, but also point out issues such as poor voice acting, illegible text, and gameplay mechanics that detract from the overall experience. Ultimately, while the story has its merits, it often feels rushed or incomplete, leaving players with a sense of dissatisfaction despite some engaging elements.

    • “I was very satisfied with the experience, almost entirely due to the story and presentation.”
    • “The story is quite entertaining!”
    • “The twist behind the story is interesting and well executed.”
    • “The story, sadly, is rather idiotic and unbelievable.”
    • “Every aspect of the plot is underdeveloped and rushed.”
    • “The story did not have much of a plot hook and users report it ends abruptly without closure.”
  • graphics32 mentions

    The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with some players noting that they are decent but show signs of aging, often described as "2007-ish" or "old-fashioned 3D." While certain aspects like character models and cutscenes are praised, others criticize the camera angles and facial animations as awkward. Overall, the visuals are considered passable, with a strong art style that enhances the game's atmosphere, but they fall short of being outstanding.

    • “It's a good adventure, good graphics, immersive.”
    • “Graphics were pretty well done, and much better than I expected for a point-and-click game, as was the audio and audio effects.”
    • “Graphically looks a little dated if nitpicking at texture details, but overall presentation is good, supporting 4k+ screen resolutions and anti-aliasing.”
    • “Graphically, the game shows its age, so there's nothing fancy in this area.”
    • “The graphics are mostly okay, though facial animations are a bit... weird, to put it mildly.”
    • “The game is somewhat graphically outdated, even for a game released in 2011.”
  • gameplay26 mentions

    The gameplay of the game is a mixed bag, with many players finding the mechanics frustrating and slow, particularly in terms of puzzle design and character positioning. While some appreciate the traditional point-and-click style and the immersive elements, others criticize the confusing puzzles and technical issues that detract from the overall experience. Overall, the game may appeal to dedicated fans of the genre, but many recommend caution due to its numerous gameplay annoyances.

    • “As point and clicks go, the mechanics are simple.”
    • “The gameplay itself isn't terrible, as I appreciated the fact that you can actually move your character around instead of some point and click games where there is just a screen and you have to click stuff.”
    • “Gameplay has fairly good and enjoyable puzzles and storyline; sometimes you will do it in the blink of an eye, and yet you can spend hours trying to figure it out.”
    • “I liked the story, but the gameplay was pretty atrocious.”
    • “Graphically, it's fine, the sound is okay, but the gameplay is slow.”
    • “The mechanics were frustrating, the voice acting annoying, and the puzzles were out there.”
  • atmosphere25 mentions

    The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its spooky and immersive qualities, effectively combining visuals and sound to create a tense and eerie experience. Players appreciate the psychological horror elements and the unsettling ambiance, although some note that the atmosphere can become repetitive over time. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature, enhancing the game's narrative and engaging players throughout their journey.

    • “This is a very good atmospheric and enjoyable game and quite spooky!”
    • “All in all, a very good, spooky game with a creepy atmosphere that I really should have played exclusively during the day, since I had to wait for daybreak before I could go to sleep, fearing my overactive imagination would give me nightmares if I did not. The sound effects (creaks, groans, 'breathing', 'voices') though subtle can raise the hair on the back of your neck after a while.”
    • “The brigantine ship has a creepy atmosphere with sinister undertones, and once the visions start, the story turns into a psychological horror mystery in an instant.”
    • “The story and the atmosphere combined with a questionable camera angle do not add to any sort of survival/horror feel.”
    • “The little 'horror' bits to build up tension did create a tense, eerie atmosphere at the start of the game, but after a while, they became a bit tiresome and annoying.”
  • music15 mentions

    The music in the game is generally praised for enhancing the atmosphere and tension, with many reviewers noting its effectiveness in creating a relaxing or immersive experience. While some found the soundtrack beautiful and memorable, others felt it could be expanded, as certain moments lacked sufficient musical accompaniment. Overall, the soundtrack is considered a strong point, contributing positively to the game's ambiance.

    • “The soundtrack is used well to increase tension in some sections.”
    • “Amazing soundtrack.”
    • “Having said that, I did like the story and the setup, atmosphere, and music.”
    • “Graphics were fine and background music forgettable but not intrusive.”
    • “Although the game could use some expanded soundtrack, the game is perhaps too quiet at times.”
    • “I relaxed for 5 minutes listening to this music, long enough to realize that I would be okay.”
  • stability8 mentions

    The game's stability is notably poor, with frequent crashes, freezing issues, and various glitches such as audio problems and disappearing objects. Players have reported significant frustrations, including corrupted save files and the need for manual backups, which detracts from the overall experience. While the game offers a fun story, its technical shortcomings make it feel like a "buggy mess."

    • “It would be a pretty good game for what it is, except for a couple of infuriating design choices and a couple of glitches that made objects invisible or absent.”
    • “PC makes the sound of a USB device being disconnected, then the game freezes around every 20 minutes or randomly for much longer.”
    • “It also crashes fairly often, save files get randomly erased, so always make backup copies manually. I get errors of missing resources, etc. Generally a buggy mess with an okay story; it's nice to kill a few hours, but that's it.”
  • replayability4 mentions

    Overall, the game has limited replayability, with most users noting a lack of meaningful variance in dialogue choices and minimal incentives to replay. While there are two endings that provide some replay value, many players found the experience hard to appreciate due to bugs and unclear elements.

    • “The game features two endings, adding a bit of replayability.”
    • “I enjoyed the game, but it didn't offer much in terms of horror or replayability.”
    • “There’s also no replay value to speak of, as the dialogue choices offer no real variance, and between the almost wholly unreadable notes in the game and the crash bugs, this is just a game that’s simply hard to appreciate or recommend.”
    • “All that said, I did enjoy the game, though it didn’t offer much on the horror aspect and doesn’t offer much in replayability.”
    • “Meh, it lacks replay value, but overall - yeah, I would say get it.”
  • grinding3 mentions

    Players find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and detracting from the overall enjoyment, with some expressing disappointment that it feels more like a fixing simulator than the expected paranormal thriller. While the tasks are manageable without a guide, the repetitive nature of the grinding can diminish the fun.

    • “I expected this to be a paranormal thriller, but instead it is a tedious fixing simulator.”
    • “It was completely solvable without a guide, though somewhat tedious at times.”
  • humor2 mentions

    The humor in the game primarily stems from its amusing dialogue and intentionally poor acting, which many players find entertaining despite the nonsensical puzzles. Without these comedic elements, the game would likely receive much lower ratings.

    • “The dialogue is funny, mostly because of the bad acting.”
    • “If it weren't for the funny dialogue and laughably bad acting, this game would get a zero from me.”
  • optimization2 mentions

    The game suffers from significant performance issues that detract from the overall experience, although some players report that it runs smoothly at times.

    • “Other than that, the performance for the game has run smooth.”
  • character development1 mentions

    Reviews indicate a lack of meaningful character development and limited interaction between characters, resulting in a less engaging narrative experience.

    • “There is no real character development and not much interaction between characters.”
    • “The characters feel one-dimensional and lack meaningful growth throughout the game.”
    • “I was disappointed by the lack of depth in the character arcs; they don't evolve in any significant way.”
  • monetization1 mentions

    The monetization strategy of the game is generally perceived positively, with users noting that it does not come across as a cash grab.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

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Play time

4hMedian play time
4hAverage play time
3-5hSpent by most gamers
*Based on 3 analyzed playthroughs

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