This week in video games, March 19, 2018: Gloriously goofy Sea of Thieves sets sail for armchair pirates

by Blaine Kyllo on March 19th, 2018 at 9:11 PM

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This week, Lara Croft is in theaters and coming back to consoles this fall, and Canadian women working in games talk about their experiences in the industry. But first, being more pirate has never been so much fun as it is with Sea of Thieves.

Cram your crew aboard and sail the seven seas with Sea of Thieves

You’re going to have a blast with this one. Sea of Thieves, releasing tomorrow (March 20), is an online multiplayer game that is at once familiar, unique, and engaging. In it, you become part of the crew of a ship along with other real players. You need to work together to sail that vessel and travel around adventuring. You can search for treasure, enjoy the wind in your hair, or seek out other ships.

When you find those other ships, you can either let them sail on or engage them. Other pirates aren’t the only dangers out there, though. There are sea monsters and undead pirates and cursed treasure chests. All sorts of things to make the pirate experience exhilarating.

The game is presented in a jewel-coloured cartoon-art style that is glorious in its goofiness. And it’s all available in 4K and HDR for those equipped with the TVs to handle it.

A global treasure hunt begins on March 20 for four bananas made of gold (and worth about $140,000). Your crew of pirates needs to solve 15 riddles, which you need to submit on March 21 for a chance at a final riddle and the booty.

Sea of Thieves is developed by Rare and is available for Windows and Xbox One.

Lara Croft, Tomb Raider, in a theatre—and coming to a console—near you

Just as the new film starring Alicia Vikander hits theatres, Square Enix has revealed a new game in the Tomb Raider franchise.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider is the third title in Crystal Dynamics’s rebooted franchise after 2013’s Tomb Raider and 2015’s Rise of the Tomb Raider.

An image of a solar eclipse over a Mayan pyramid in the teaser trailer suggests that Shadow is set in Central and South America.

The new game will be available for PS4, Windows, and Xbox One on September 14.

Women in Gaming panel discussion touches on life in the games industry

In celebration of International Women’s Day on March 8, five females working in the Canadian video-game industry participated in a panel discussion about women in games.

The conversation was moderated by Jennie Faber from Dames Making Games, a Toronto nonprofit “supporting a membership of more than 350 diverse gamemakers”, and included:

Lesley Phord-Toy, a producer for Ubisoft
Nicole Fawcette, a senior brand manager for Xbox and a member of Xbox Women in Gaming
Maja Moldenhauer, an artist and producer from Studio MDHR
Sam Maggs, a writer with Bioware

The conversation included stories of getting started in the industry and ideas of what the future looks like.

Presented by Xbox Canada and Ubisoft as part of Women in Gaming, the event took place at Ubisoft’s studio in Toronto and was recorded so you can watch it on Mixer.

Games released or releasing soon

Devil May Cry HD Collection, for PS4, Windows, and Xbox One, pulls together the three games from the original trilogy—Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition—featuring Dante the demon hunter.
Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered, for PS4 and Xbox One, collects the downloadable content and bonus missions for the game that flips the narrative of the franchise, having players take on the guise of a Templar instead of an assassin.