Master of the sea

CHENNAI: It’s a bonafide literary classic, but have you ever wondered what Moby Dick would look like if it was an indie video game? Well, you’re in luck because that is exactly what Nantucket is.

Nantucket begins just after the end of the book, and it casts the player as the lone survivor of the Pequod. Despite your scars (physical and mental) from Ahab’s doomed quest for vengeance, you head to the titular town to buy a ship, find some crew, and get back out on the sea. Once there, you’ll try to make your fortune by hunting whales and undertaking various jobs you can find at each port; but you’ll soon find that the past may not be done with you yet.

If I were to compare Nantucket to another game, the first one that springs to mind is FTL — and that’s extremely high praise. Although it doesn’t have the sheer variety of random encounters that FTL did, Nantucket compensates by doubling-down on the RPG side of things. You can customise yourself to a surprising degree, and explore a skill tree of decent size and interesting options. You can also customise the skillset of the crew you hire, albeit to a lesser degree, which really helps give them character and personality (instead of Redshirt #3 and so on).

It also helps that the game looks gorgeous and sounds pretty good too. The creaking of sails and rigging provides the backdrop as you explore the beautiful map. Sure, the pretty old-time graphics do come at the expense of a little readability but - in this instance — it’s a worthwhile trade-off. Also, this game takes a page out of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and features sea shanties; which were one of the best things about that game, and are pretty great once again.

Nantucket can be best described as a game of two distinct halves. The first half is the one where you’re sailing around the map from port to port, searching for whale hunting areas or trying to complete missions. You’ll need to keep your crew and your ship well supplied if you’re planning on staying at sea for any length of time, however, and unexpected events can throw your best-laid plans out of whack. This resource-management gameplay is fun, but the real beating heart of the game comes when your lookouts spot some whales and you lower the whaleboats in pursuit.

Although a lot of video games can be said to have incorporated elements of board games in their design, Nantucket wears its influences on its sleeve. Specifically, combat in this game is effectively determined by dice and cards. Whatever you’re going up against — whales, sharks, pirates or angry islanders — they’ll play cards to attack you. Then your crew gets to roll their dice (which are different depending on their skills and items) which determine what actions they can do. You’ll have rounds when your entire crew just whiffs, rolling nothing but blank faces on every die; and other rounds, you’ll be spoilt for choice because only one action can be resolved per whaleboat. It’s a glorious puzzle, and it’s the reason I keep coming back to this game.

If you’d like to
●    Pick up where Ahab left off
●    Do the whole ‘master and commander’ thing
●    Try to survive everything the sea can throw at you
●    Experience a quirky little gem of a game

...you should sail to Nantucket!

 http://goo.gl/uNBWN3

(Arjun is a gamer, book lover and an all-round renaissance man)