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Anchor’s Aweigh! Gaming on the High Seas

Anchor’s Aweigh! Gaming on the High Seas

It’s still summer. Oh sure, some schools have already started back up, but while it’s still sunny and beautiful outside, let’s take a trip to the ocean at least one more time. By that I mean let’s count down some of my favorite game titles that involve the sea. And no, not like Kingdom Hearts where the ocean shows up and then you’re off to Neverland. The games where the sea is a recurring theme within the game itself. It can be a backdrop or an integral part of the game itself. So grab your scuba gear and wetsuit. Let’s dive in.

Endless Ocean

Endless Ocean

Speaking of scuba gear, this game gives you the opportunity to experience at least a little of what it’s like to be a diver and a marine biologist. The point of the game is to find treasures long since lost as well as study marine biology in several habitats. One of my favorite parts is that the over-arching plot is that you are on the hunt for a legendary and rare sea creature that no one has ever been able to prove exists. So all of your studies and treasure hunts can lead you to the moment of finding this beast. But the game doesn’t end there. It’s open-ended, so you can play all you want after the main story is complete.

Sid Meier’s Pirates

Sid Meier’s Pirates

This is one of the first pirate games I ever played. As a kid, I was always enamored with the idea of being a pirate and always wanted to be one. A life of care-free living, sailing the high seas, and all the booty I could handle. Make no never mind that there’s scurvy and all kinds of other…you know what, forget it. Back to Sid Meier’s Pirates . This game puts you in control of a random person in search of fame and fortune in the New World around the time of the European colonization of the Caribbean. You acquire a ship and crew and navigate your way to riches and greatness. All in all, a very solid experience in which you spend most of your time sailing the ocean tides.

The Secret of Monkey Island

The Secret of Monkey Island

I bought this game simply because it had the LucasFilm logo stamped on the box. Being the huge fan of the Indiana Jones franchise like I am, I couldn’t resist another LucasFilm adventure, and though the main character has a pretty dumb name, Guybrush, it is still one of my favorite point-and-click games ever. You get to take Guybrush through an entire ‘career’ as a pirate. You learn the art of ‘insult sword fighting,’ which apparently is the way of the pirate in combat. The best part, the game is the first in a series of Monkey Island games, each one just as endearing as the last.

Resident Evil: Revelations

Resident Evil: Revelations

It is no secret that I firmly believe that the first Resident Evil game was the ONLY Resident Evil game. So anytime another RE title even brushes upon the feeling I got the first time I played RE , I give it an honest go. Now, I didn’t play this game until it was ported to console, but I really enjoyed it. The interesting part about this one though was that it was set on a derelict ship adrift in the Mediterranean Sea. The claustrophobic nature of the environment only added to the allure of this game. Add in solid gameplay and a great story and you have the makings of one scary adventure on the open ocean.

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty

Ok, so this game doesn’t really play up the ocean thing as much as some of the others on this list but hear me out. The game opens with you as Snake, trying to infiltrate a secret briefing on a disguised ship in the Hudson Bay area. You narrowly escape death by fleeing into the sea as a Metal Gear Ray rips the ship apart. Later in the game you assume the role of Raiden and head back to the site of the supposed ‘tanker’ sinking. The Big Shell facility that you play the majority of the game in sits atop the bay and there are several times where you must go below sea level to complete your mission. For example, getting Emma Emmerich out of the lab and up to a safe area. The ocean serves as a vehicle, a source of cover, and one big pain in the ass.

Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine

While the ocean doesn’t play a massive part of this game, it sets the tone and backdrop of Isle Delfino, the island where Mario and his crew have come for some much needed rest and relaxation. But as with all heroes in need of rest, none is to be found. A villain has vandalized the entire island with a magic paintbrush and Mario is framed for the crime. He is sentenced to clean up the island by spraying–you guessed it–water from a pump-pack created by the same guy that made the paintbrush causing all the damage. As Mario douses his way to the truth of the situation, it is revealed that ‘Shadow Mario’ is none other than Koopa Jr. who is out to ruin Mario’s vacation by getting him arrested for all the graffiti that caused the shine sprites to flee.

Final Fantasy X

Final Fantasy X

Nearly everything about this game has something to do with the sea or water. Whether it’s wielding the water elemental powers and weapons or getting flung into the ocean by yet another Sin attack, the sea is woven into the fabric of this game as expertly as the leather belts in Lulu’s costume. Even the minigame of Blitzball is a game played in a giant sphere filled with ocean water. You travel the seas of Spira with the Al Bhed looking for salvage marks that can help you defeat Sin. And the majority of the lands you visit in this game are attached to the sea, be they an island or cliff face. But no matter where they are, the seas are everywhere and are an inescapable part of the action of Final Fantasy X .

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker

In this awesome adventure, you will spend the bulk of your time riding in a boat called the King of Red Dragons, that just happens to be alive. The boat gives you a baton that allows you to control the flow and direction of the winds. It is called the Wind Waker, thus the title of the game. There are 49 islands for you to explore and tons of seafaring danger to be experienced. As you progress through the game, you can even discover secret maps and legendary sea creatures all over the world. This is definitely one amazing sea-born adventure where pirates, creatures and magic await you at every turn.

Bioshock

Bioshock

Andrew Ryan was a man with a vision. A vision of a Utopian world beneath the sea. A world where people were able to keep what they earned and not pay taxes or support the lazy and apathetic of society. There would be no oppressive government and no welfare. Everyone would work, or they simply would not eat. It was a world without the laws of the world above where science and research were stifled by the seemingly petty things in life like morality and ethics. Sound too good to be true? Well it is. Once reaching this underwater world after a fiery plane crash, you are met by mutated citizens. They have recombined their very DNA to try and become more than human, but instead they have driven themselves mad due to the changes and murder each other in frenzied ways. This is the watery world you must survive.

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag

This game is honestly the closest I will ever get to being the most badass pirate that ever lived. Assuming the role of Edward Kenway, you start out as a nothing, gun-for-hire pirate whose aim is to make as much money as possible to bring your wife and daughter to the new world and live out your days in wealth. But as with all great plans that involve murder, theft and destruction, young Edward develops a taste for the pirate’s life and soon becomes obsessed with it. He spares no one and no ship to see his goals realized. Those goals are nothing short of controlling every shipping lane from Europe to Africa to the New World. Total domination of the trade routes of the day. But to do so, he must enlist the help of all of his pirating compatriots to get the job done and then will have to face the envoy of the Templars themselves. A truly amazing, swashbuckling experience.

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