Maelstrom is a fun and easy to get into pirate & sea battle game that costs nothing to play, but at times comes off as pay-to-skip with a plethora of XP boosts, characters to buy, and bonuses only available to those who shell out some cash.

The Game:

The basics of Maelstrom are simple. You pick a ship based on race / faction (Humans, Dwarves, or Orcs) and launch into a battle royal of ships, cannons, and monsters. The captain that fights their way to sail another day, wins. Matches are fast, none last more than ten minuets from our experience, and the shrinking map mechanics common to the battle royal genre are pulled off here with a nice twist where those outside the ‘ring’ can be attacked and swamped by a massive monster of the deeps.

Ultimately, Maelstom neatly fits into the battle royal genre, while adding enough flair and quirk to find its own footing.

The Play:

As noted, at its heart Maelstrom is a battle royal game. The goal is to be the last person alive in a match, and to gather as much gold as you can while you’re at it.

Captains need to be concerned with three primary stats on their ships: Hull, Sail, and Crew. A hull dropping to zero means game over, whereas sails and Crew can eventually recover should you survive the loss. Losing sails means being stuck in the water or being greatly slowed, while going below a certain threshold of crew will greatly decrease your overall combat ability.

Some ships can even take advantage of missing crew via the game’s board and battle mechanic, where they hook your vessel with their own and directly attack your crew. If you are out of crew during such an attack, your opponent with directly attack your hull instead, which often means game over for you in such a situation.

When outside of matches, players have a decent variety of upgrades and abilities to spent their gold & gunpowder on, gold being the in-game currency and gunpowder acting as Maelstrom’s premium dollar.

Ship upgrades include cannon range and type, better sails and hull, and improved view distance / crew. But, the best upgrades come in the form of ship Officers and Captains. First Mates and Officers provide static bonuses to their ships, while Captains not only do the same, but also grant access to a unique Captain’s power that can greatly sway a battle. An example of a Captains Power would be the ability to launch torpedos, activate a temporary shield to avoid damage, or even set nearby ship’s aflame.

There are more than enough upgrades and abilities to buy or place on your ship, and players will always have a solid feeling of progression and of something to chase.

Free-2-Play:

Maelstrom is currently 100% F2P, with an in-game micro transaction store. Items available to purchase include ship skins, experience boosters, Captains and Officers, and more.

There is nothing inherently pay to win going on here, but as a completely F2P player it can often feel like there is. Everything with the exception of cosmetics can be purchased for in-game gold, which can be earned through play. That being said, the rate at which you earn gold can at times grate, and the high cost of certain upgrades, Captains as a premium example, can appear ridiculous.

What will take hours for a free player to earn, can be simply bought with real world dollars in an instant. (Personal Opinion Time!) That is where we run into an issue. At no time should a player feel weaker or less-than when they choose to not spend money in a F2P game. Rather, players should be incentivized to spent money on cosmetics to support an experience that they enjoy, not simply to skip content or to rush ahead.

As far as in-game transactions go though, Maelstrom comes out as being fairly average. There is no upfront cost to play the game, and thus they get away with a lot more than they would otherwise. I would not recommend this game to those with any kind of compulsive buying problems, but overall the game is fun and stays away from any kind of loot box kind of manipulations.

The Verdict:

Lovers of the seas and battles upon the waves will find some fun here with Maelstrom. I don’t see a lot of lasting power for the game though in this crowded genre, but it’ll be a fun play for a few hours here and there while it lasts.

The F2P is nothing too egregious, but at times can be a bother. Skip this game if time savers and boosters bother you, but otherwise you’ll not have any issue with the in-game store.