On paper, Curse of the Sea Rats has everything I love in a Metroidvania. It looks stunning, has a huge world to explore, and plenty of upgrades to experiment with. In the right light, it even manages to resemble something of a compelling game as I spend ages exploring a mixture of gorgeous caves and tombs.
But then I stumble across yet another unbalanced boss I annihilate without a second thought, or enemies placed in the most arsehole-ish locations possible for the sake of a ‘challenge’. Or I encounter dialogue so badly performed it would even make Shenmue blush. Then I’m reminded that Curse of the Sea Rats is only as appealing as its visuals. The experience has the depth of a puddle.
Set in the 1700s, the game has you playing as a prisoner aboard a ship returning to England from the American colonies. After the vessel is attacked by the pirate witch Flora Burn and her crew, you and your captors are all turned into rats and run ashore on the coast of Ireland. Like I said, it’s a cool idea with terrible execution.
Before long, you’re set loose across a gorgeously hand-drawn and animated world. Ireland is a stunning setting, with murky swamps leading into lush green fields, or spider-infested caverns giving way to windswept cliff faces. If Sea Rats has nothing else going for it, merely being a part of this world and uncovering what each new chamber has to offer is a worthwhile delight.
Enemies feel varied, with small flourishes like foes adjusting their outfits depending on where on the island you encounter them adding a nice layer of character to proceedings. The main cast of playable heroes all carry themselves with flair – whether it’s the cocky David Douglas, the speedy Buffalo Calf, the bruiser Bussa, or the deliberate Akane Yamakawa.
There are eyebrow-raising stereotypes, like the food-obsessed Fatso and his clearly deluded and vain sister Fatsie, or their mother, an Italian who literally describes you as a “spicy meatball”. I could’ve done without them, but it feels less mean-spirited and offensive, and more just a team falling back on tired tropes and old-hat in contrast to the artistic achievement the rest of the game’s presentation clearly is.
‘Tired’ is a word that could be applied to most of the game. As you’d expect from a Metroidvania published in 2023, Curse of the Sea Rats borrows elements from games like Dark Souls and Hollow Knight, like unlockable upgrades, checkpoints to respawn enemies, and making you lose and reclaim resources whenever you die. Unfortunately, every time it tries to ape these far better games, Curse falls flat on its face.
The difficulty curve that defines the genre is completely absent. Instead of keeping pace with your upgrades and having the challenges reflect the tools you have there and then, it starts off near-impossible, and then drops the difficulty through the floor the second you do even the smallest amount of grinding. The first boss, Fatso, took me dozens of attempts, but every boss after that was beaten just by walking up to it and spamming Buffalo Calf’s attacks for a few seconds with no care taken for any kind of self-preservation.
Some of the environments are equally obnoxious, full of insta-kill spots and awkwardly placed enemies. All too often a random spike, a bomb-hucking goon, or an unmarked bottomless pit will spell an early death, forcing you to backtrack through the same rooms and the same encounters over and over again.
It doesn’t help that the characters are so incredibly unbalanced. While you could play as the heavy-hitter Bussa or sword-swinging Douglas and Akane, there’s no need when Buffalo Calf has unlimited projectiles that can clear an entire chamber with no effort, a dodge roll that makes her impervious to damage, and electric-based attacks that stun enemies. Once she’s fully-upgraded , the only time you’d ever consider playing as anyone else is during co-op play.Curse of the Sea Rats looks the business, thanks to its stellar animation and art, mostly creative character designs, and varied environments that make exploring worthwhile. But thanks to uneven difficulty, grating writing, and a general lack of polish in every other area, its appeal is only skin-deep, and quickly outstayed its welcome.
2.5/5, reviews on PC. Review code was provided by the publisher.
Curse of the Sea Rats
Curse of the Sea Rats is a Metroidvania from Petoons Studio that features hand-drawn art. Four prisoners must battle through several challenges in order to capture the witch who turned them into rats.