Rogue Waters review - A lighthearted high-sea tactical experience

Rogue Waters, developed by Ice Code Games and published by Tripwire Presents, was released on September 30, 2024. In the game, you take control of a scurvy crew of pirates and intercept ships on the high seas to plunder, I mean, commandeer their booty without permission. You collect resources as you fight, allowing you to use them to upgrade your vessel and crew; making you a true menace in open waters.

Rogue Waters: First impressions and gameplay

Rogue Waters has many scenarios to experience (Image via Tripwire Presents)

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As you boot the game, you're offered a few difficulty settings that you can choose from to start your pirating adventures. The rewards scale with the difficulty as well, which is nice. The opening parts of the game break down basic mechanics via a tutorial that's easy to digest for newcomers as well.

Mastering the different aspects of the game will take some time, but that is expected from any game. All I can say is that I had a great time pillaging ships, fighting turn-based battles, and upgrading my crew to deal with whatever was thrown at them.

Storyline and memorable characters

Ahoy, Cutter! (Image via Tripwire Presents)

When it comes to the storyline, revenge is the main motto. Much like all great pirate tales, this one, too, is all about greed, mutiny, and getting revenge for being betrayed. You play as a character called Cutter; a young swashbuckling pirate looking to make a name for himself under a black flag.

Captain Blackbone wears a mask for some reason (Image via Tripwire Presents)

You sail as sort of an apprentice to Captain Blackbone. The man encompasses all the makings of a pirate, including his willingness to sacrifice crew members to get what he wants. Clearly, he has been doing this for a while, as he has no remorse or second thoughts about his crew being disposable.

Good ole' Mr. Wilkes (Image via Tripwire Presents)

On the flip side of this terror of the high seas is one Mr. Wilkes. He's a calm, composed, old seadog who has had his fair share of high-seas shenanigans over the many years of service to Captain Blackbone. After the tutorial, he becomes your first mate in a manner of speaking.

Go away Voice (Image via Tripwire Presents)

The final character to know about is the "Voice In Head". I would like to tell you more about this character, but it'll spoil the setup of the storyline. All you need to know is that this entity that lives within an artifact you come across at the start of the game will not allow you to die.

Back from the dead, again? (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Sure, you will meet your watery grave every so often, but you and the crew cannot escape the world of the living. You will be brought back to life time and time again. You will soon understand what I mean when you start playing.

Game mechanics

In Rouge Waters, death is not the end. In fact, death is something you will get rather acquainted with, and come to learn to live with. Is it annoying? Yes. Is it necessary? Also, yes. This is because Rouge Waters is built on the foundations of the understanding that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger; except the part of not being killed.

That said, the core mechanics of combat is very interesting. When attacking an enemy, I found myself not just looking at it from an angle where I could deal most damage, but how I could transfer damage to other opponents as well. The ability to push an enemy into objects or other enemies to deal damage is very interesting.

Push units into each other to deal bonus damage (Image via Tripwire Presents)

At times, I was able to take out a line of enemies by simply pushing them against each other or into obstacles. Sure, you can damage them and merely push them back, but pushing them into objects is much more useful. However, I soon realized, that this works both ways.

The enemy can damage my units as well if they are pushed against each other. There are a few exceptions depending on the type of unit you have in play, but in general, they can pushed. Speaking of units, one thing I love in Rogue Waters is that you can bring more units into play if you lose a few.

Select units you want to toss into the fray (Image via Tripwire Presents)

This is amazing as at times, the odds are stacked against you, and you will lose out on units no matter what you do. Sure, they will recover and be available, but in the heat of battle, you need fresh bodies to toss into the fray. Rogue Waters allows you to do just that.

I'm not saying that I found this game-changing by any means, but it can make all the difference when the chips are down and the odds are stacked against you. That one Mate or special character you have in reserve could make all the difference.

Level up Specialists to improve the odds of winning (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Speaking of characters, while Mates have a generic attack, characters offer a wide range of abilities and skills. Much like Cutter, they can also level up and be given items to use on each raid. Unlocking their skills is going to be key to winning battles. If you make mistakes, you can also turn back time and try again. It's a cool feature that I have come to love in Rogue Waters.

That's just the boarding phase of a battle; before that comes the cannon exchange between ships. Much like the turn-based combat for battles between units, naval battles are the same. Your ships and the enemy take turns hammering the living daylights out of each other. While this may seem unimportant, it plays into battles as well.

Fire cannons, starboard! (Image via Tripwire Presents)

During naval battles, you can target Modules, Cannons, and different enemy Crew types/units. How this works is that certain Modules provide certain buffs to the enemy Crew. If you're able to destroy them during the navel engagement, these buffs are no longer present. Sounds easy enough, right? Well, not really.

Due to the limitations of Command Points you start with in Rogue Waters, you only fire two Cannons per turn; which means you can only target two things. In most instances, I found myself shooting at their Cannons to avoid them taking out my Cannons or Modules or Crew.

Taking out Forts is challenging (Image via Tripwire Presents)

As such, when I swung over to the enemy ship, I would be in for a challenging fight; and eventually, die. If you die during battle on the enemy's ship (losing all your units) or while raiding a fort, you're resurrected at your base. This is not a bad thing because you still keep all the resources and XP you've gained during your voyage.

Once you've collected yourself, it's time to put the resources to use and get back to looting and pillaging. If you use what you've earned in your last raid effectively, you will have an easier time on your next adventure. However, that does not mean you'll reach the end of your adventure. You are very likely to perish before the final stage of the voyage comes to an end.

Skills and abilities are quite diverse and interesting (Image via Tripwire Presents)

What is great about this is that you can do normal raids to level up and improve your odds of success before proceeding to do Story missions. Given my experience, you will need to spend some time leveling up to have an easier time while playing the Story mode.

This can get time-consuming, but I promise you, every new raid offers something different, with scenarios and decisions for you to take. New Modules and Cannon types to try out, alongside Crew combinations, and new approaches to combat strategies. If nothing goes according to plan and you perish halfway through the raid, fret not, death is temporary and booty is everlasting.

Resources and upgrades

Coming to resources, there are two primary and two secondary. The primary resources are Glass and Blueprints. Now, Glass is an important resource, which is also a major point of focus within the game. You can use Glass to upgrade your Sea Monsters, making them deal more damage in battle.

Glass is also essential because you can use it to upgrade and increase the capability of your Crew. You can add more Mates, increase the number of Specialists, improve the sickbay, and increase the level cap of Specialists you can recruit off the bat.

Use Glass to upgrade and unlock Crew bonuses (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Blueprints are useful in Rogue Waters, for improving not just your Ship, but the equipment that goes on it as well. You will be able to unlock different types of powerful Cannons and Modules (defense, offense, and mobility). As mentioned, your ship will also benefit as you spend Blueprints. You can add more Cannons and increase the number of Command Points available.

More Modules can be added to your load, making your Crew and ship more effective in combat scenarios. You can also increase your starting Gold capacity, which is one of the secondary resources. It can be used to purchase items on your raid, fix the ship, and even barter for certain buffs.

Blueprints will unlock Cannons and Modules (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Abyssal Ether is the last secondary resource you need to know about. It can be used to summon Sea Monsters during battles. They can change the course of an engagement by eliminating multiple targets in one foul sweep. Use it wisely, as Abyssal Ether is not easily acquired throughout a raid.

Performance and sound

Beyond, ye filthy Glass trader (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Rogue Waters, provided by Tripwire Presents, was played on a system having the following configuration:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X
GPU: RTX 3070 8GB
RAM: 32 GB

Throughout my playthrough, I encountered no issues at all. There was no input lag, no crashes, and no bugs; everything worked as intended. In terms of sound and voice lines, I had a quiet chuckle to myself during a few dialogue changes. Suffice it to say, it was amusing. As for the sound, everything is on point in terms of pirate-y environmental ambiance.

In conclusion

Victories are few, but the code pirate is eternal (Image via Tripwire Presents)

Rogue Waters is a fun game if you're looking to experience some high-seas hijinks. It is lighthearted, and the voice actors have done an amazing job bringing the character to life. With a unique combat system and the ability to tackle battles in your way, gives you the freedom to choose how to approach.

I think the only gripe I have is that you repeatedly die even on the lowest difficulty until your ship and Crew are well-armed. This is not a con by any means, just that you'll be sinking a few extra hours into gearing up for the main storyline. Rinse and repeat is going to be a big part of Rogue Waters.

That said, I do wish there was a cover system in place. It would go so well with the mechanics that exist in-game. I also wish that certain items would carry over from one raid to the next, but these are just personal opinions. As far as the game goes, and what it offers, Rogue Waters is a lighthearted rogue-lite that offers endless fun on the high seas.