Tempest

Tempest is available for just $15 and it scratches an itch few other games do. It’s a capable, if somewhat buggy, pirate adventure that offers up challenging combat and an open world to explore. Customization and late-game challenges courtesy of legendary ships and mythical monsters help round out the title, making it worthwhile if a little frayed around the edges.

63%Game Brain Score

story, gameplay

stability, grinding

63% User Score Based on 1,105 reviews

Critic Score 65%Based on 1 reviews

Platforms

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About

Tempest is a single player and multiplayer open world role playing game with a historical theme. It was developed by HeroCraft and was released on August 22, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from both critics and players.

Tempest is a Pirate Open World Action RPG which is offering an ultimate ability to free roam three vast worlds filled with dozens of colonies and forts, hundreds of quests and countless ships to plunder. You can trade, fight, explore on your own or call friends to do the same together!

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63%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,105 reviews

story46 positive mentions

stability50 negative mentions

Open world pirate adventure with vast areas to explore and interact with multiple factions and quests.
Enjoyable and immersive naval combat with ship customization and various ammunition types.
Active developer support with continuous updates, including new features and multiplayer co-op mode.

Clunky and unintuitive user interface originally designed for mobile, leading to difficult navigation and controls on PC.
Repetitive quests and grind-heavy gameplay with poor or missing tutorials and explanations.
Several frustrating bugs and glitches, including quest progression issues, lacking save/load functionality, and occasional crashes, that affect overall playability.

story
378 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
77%
11%
The game's story is loosely delivered through faction-based quests and an open-world exploration framework, offering a sense of adventure but lacking a cohesive, centralized narrative or strong character development. While there are many quests and side stories, they often suffer from repetitive objectives, poor directions, and numerous bugs that hinder progression and immersion. Despite these flaws, some players appreciate the game's ambition, faction dynamics, and the freedom to create their own pirate adventures amid a sprawling, if unpolished, seafaring world.
- “Unlike many pirate games that focus on scripted storytelling, Tempest leans heavily into player choice and open-ended discovery.”
- “Tempest also offers many storylines and quests, that are admittedly only told with text, but garnished with lots of black humour and accompanied by beautiful artworks in your journal to keep it interesting.”
- “The main storyline even does a great job of doubling up as a tutorial, while perfectly ramping up the difficulty curve, and not hand holding too much.”
- “One of the first tutorial quests bugged out and I couldn't deliver the vintage wine to the place it told me.”
- “Most of the (very limited) story comes from quests that you get from each faction, but they're terribly buggy and many of the triggers won't work without restarting the game each step of the quest.”
- “There is no mission log, nor any other means of tracking quests/missions. The only way to see what missions you have accepted is if you go to the port that you picked the mission up at. Outside of that port, there is nothing, and I mean nothing.”
gameplay
195 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
23%
66%
11%
Gameplay in this pirate-themed game offers a mix of enjoyable naval combat, ship customization, and quest-based exploration, with many praising its fast-paced battles and overall immersion. However, it suffers from clunky controls, a confusing or inadequate tutorial, repetitive mechanics, and poorly implemented boarding combat, leading to frustration for some players. While the gameplay has potential and moments of charm, issues with polish, UI, and depth limit its appeal, especially for those seeking a more refined or complex experience.
- “Watching cannonballs tear through enemy hulls while waves crash around your vessel is deeply satisfying, and the addition of boarding mechanics allows for close-quarters chaos when you close in for the kill.”
- “Short: solid pirate game with strong quests, awesome battle mechanics, good DLCs and upgrading but somewhat unchallenging for seasoned players and dull in late game stages.”
- “The actual gameplay is fun – ship combat is good and tolerably well balanced; upgrades, loot, and crew management add difficulty and nuance without bogging things down too much.”
- “Despite my love for all games like this, the insanely clunky controls and fight mechanics sap whatever joy you could find from this.”
- “A near non-existent tutorial, in addition to clunky gameplay and a very confusing experience, led to me being mostly frustrated and closing the game within the hour.”
- “Oh, and the boarding gameplay is a whiff from early 2000's and that's being generous; it's basically just a super clunky 3rd person stroller that you can make in 5 minutes on Unity.”
graphics
183 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
45%
48%
7%
The graphics in the game are generally described as decent to good, with a pleasing art style that captures the pirate theme and delivers beautiful sea and ship visuals despite some dated or simple textures. While many praise the detailed ships, atmospheric weather effects, and smooth performance even on low-end systems, others note issues like blurry terrain, transparent water clipping, occasional graphical bugs, and a lack of polish compared to higher-end titles. Overall, the graphics enhance immersion for many players but have room for improvement, especially in environmental detail and UI clarity.
- “While not pushing the limits of graphical fidelity, the art direction captures the romanticism of high-seas adventure.”
- “The graphics are stunning and the characters are very well designed.”
- “Fantastic game love the mechanics, love the graphics, controls are fluent, naval battles are awesome and enjoyable with plenty of things to do and look out for. I remember the first time I saw the giant leviathan jump out of the water; the way the screen shook and the noise it made were all exhilarating and just added that one more piece of beauty that is naval battles on Tempest.”
- “The graphics are just ugly and trees and bushes spawn 10 meters away from you and disappear when you walk away from them.”
- “It's not the best and it clearly needs some work, primarily in the graphical portions of the game (water clips through ships and the waves can be higher than towns sometimes; it's odd watching a wall of water pass through your ship without the ship reacting to it).”
- “The graphics aren't too great; the water looks amazing but when you zoom in on dry land during quests, it is horribly blobby and blurry.”
stability
53 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
6%
94%
The game suffers from pervasive stability issues, including numerous bugs, glitches, crashes, and broken quest triggers that often require restarting. While some moments offer enjoyable naval combat and exploration, frequent technical problems, unrefined mechanics, and poor optimization significantly detract from the overall experience. Despite ongoing updates, stability remains a major concern, with several bugs persisting years after early access release.
- “At least it isn't buggy.”
- “Almost bug free (one flotsam in deepsea is still not functioning).”
- “In general, great graphics, no glitches, fun maneuvers.”
- “Most of the very limited story comes from quests that you get from each faction, but they're terribly buggy and many of the triggers won't work without restarting the game each step of the quest.”
- “There are a lot of bugs and glitches that should've been addressed and dealt with before the developers released the new DLC.”
- “Special since it does have so much potential, it did hurt me each time when I encountered one of those bugs/glitches that are still in the game because some of those are only still in the game since the team at Lion's Shade were too lazy to fix them after more than two years, as some exist even while the game was in early access, which goes way back to 2015.”
music
38 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
37%
8%
The game's soundtrack is generally praised for its fitting, immersive quality and epic feel that complements the pirate theme, though some users wish for more variety or sea shanties. It effectively enhances the atmosphere of naval battles and exploration, with solid sound effects contributing to the experience. Overall, the music is considered a highlight, though opinions vary on its depth and mood alignment.
- “The soundtrack is magnificent!”
- “Think Russian mobile game meets Sid Meyers Pirates, some updates and DLC here and there, but overall an excellent cheap game, the soundtrack itself is fantastic, bringing a fine blend of fantasy magic with an age of wooden ships and iron men.”
- “On the technical side, we have worth seeing graphics (the 1st-person-view on your deck is excellent), stable fps even in massive battles, an exemplary translation and a beautiful soundtrack.”
- “The background music leaves a bit to be desired as it's a single track that replays over and over based on the occasion (exploration versus combat, etc).”
- “No sea shanties, dammit. There's music yes, but what's a pirate game without sea shanties?”
- “The songs are appropriate for the moments they're used, sure, but I would have preferred more variety.”
grinding
34 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game features excessive and repetitive grinding, particularly in trading and faction reputation tasks, making progression slow and tedious. Many players find the grind unbalanced and frustrating, with long hours needed to afford better ships or upgrades, which diminishes overall enjoyment despite some enjoyable elements. Grinding is described as a core but tedious mechanic, leading to a sense of monotony and hindering the game's potential immersion and fun.
- “There's way too much grinding for a game of this level; it could have been a decent 20-hour dive into pirate life.”
- “It's super grindy and confusing. Trading in this game is beyond dumb—it's nearly impossible to make money without repeating the same task literally 150 times just to buy a better ship. After 6 hours of grinding, I still can't afford a ship better than the base one. Ships are too expensive, and trading, while fastest, only nets about 500 gold per 5-10 minutes under very specific conditions. Overall, the grinding is imbalanced and tedious.”
- “Grinding faction reputation or money through endless battles is not fun; I'm considering quitting the game.”
atmosphere
22 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
55%
31%
14%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive, dark, and spirited pirate setting, enhanced by fitting music, sound effects, and dynamic environments like storms and sea battles. While some note that it doesn't match AAA polish and may feel slow or lacking agility, many appreciate the rich world, factions, and ongoing developer support that bring the pirate adventure vividly to life. Overall, the atmosphere stands out as a key strength, effectively capturing the essence of a seafaring pirate experience.
- “It may not reach the heights of AAA polish, but its heart, atmosphere, and spirit of adventure make it a rewarding journey for anyone who has ever dreamed of hoisting the black flag and claiming the sea as their own.”
- “What really shines is atmosphere - there are lots of factions, quests, ships and upgrades you can use, some big monsters in the ocean attacking you... artifacts are a nice addition - and most importantly, the developers are constantly working on adding more content.”
- “The overall presentation really stands out as a stylish, extremely well crafted piece of work that oozes a dark, yet jolly 'piratey' atmosphere.”
- “The entire atmosphere, mechanics, and handling of the game is comparable to a mobile game, rather than a PC game.”
- “It probably gets a bit better with time as your skills increase, but there still is no great atmosphere; it is just dark and dull, slow, and not agile at anything it does.”
- “- Removal of the over the shoulder camera for in-person view doesn't feel natural and ruins the atmosphere along with making in-person battles ridiculously harder than they should be.”
humor
9 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's humor is generally praised for being entertaining and genuinely funny, often eliciting laughter and light-hearted enjoyment. However, some users feel the humor is limited, with the funniest moments mostly confined to early gameplay or trailers. Despite occasional frustration from bugs, the game maintains a quirky and amusing atmosphere.
- “Let's face it - this is certainly not a corsair, but a very, very funny toy.”
- “First: this game is really funny and entertaining.”
- “I could probably rant about what went wrong with Tempest so far while listening to the Tempest soundtrack from Vadim Krakhmal, which is one of the highlights of the game, or how many times it made me giggle like a small girl because some of the missions were just funny.”
optimization
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
12%
38%
The game's optimization receives mixed feedback: some users report poor performance and multiplayer issues, while others praise its stability and smooth graphics even on older machines. Despite early access status, many find the optimization satisfactory, though some technical challenges remain.
- “This game has good optimization, is very stable, and has excellent graphics!”
- “Worth mentioning is that the game is very well optimized already and looks really nice even on older machines.”
- “It kills the computer; yes, it's not an optimized game at all.”
- “I understand that maybe they still want the performance since the items can be acquired elsewhere.”
- “As it is in its current early access state, I declare myself more than pleased with this game’s performance and entertainment value.”
monetization
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization is criticized for relying heavily on advertising, often promoting other games rather than new content, and creating a disconnect between the game's actual quality and its promotional material. Users feel the ads are misleading and that the game offers little value beyond repeated marketing.
- “As with many Steam games, following this the last few years has just been an avenue for the publisher to post advertisements.”
- “There's nothing new to this game, but only advertisements for other games.”
- “This game has really great advertising but only 3 followers on Twitch... maybe for a reason... it's really meh tier.”
replayability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
75%
25%
The game offers substantial replayability, supported by a wealth of content and a faction system that keeps gameplay engaging. Multiplayer modes further enhance its value, especially considering the low price point. Overall, replayability is rated highly, around 8/10.
- “The amount of content and replayability, not to mention multiplayer, for such a low price is ridiculous.”
- “Tempest incorporates an abundance of content allowing for enormous replayability.”
- “Replayability 8/10”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Users find the game lacks meaningful characters, resulting in little to no emotional connection during gameplay.