Swashbucklers: Blue vs. Grey suffers from a few problems, the least of which is slow pacing, loading screens every time you turn around and a mish mash of various gameplay styles that, while could work well together, aren't done well enough individually, much less combined.
The idea behind the game is, during the Civil War, the North put up blockades throughout the Gulf of Mexico in order to stop the supply routes feeding the South. Because of this effort, a new era of pirating and blockade running came about. You are Abraham Gray, a new pirate captain who hears voices in his head, and you are looking to make a name (and money) for yourself.
There are several aspects to Abraham's adventure. One of these styles is the standard Action-RPG town roaming gameplay where you will use your sword and gun to take down wave after wave of enemies. Here is where you will typically gain experience to level up your character, buy new weapons and supplies and talk to people in the tavern in order to get the scoop on new jobs or locations to buy and sell goods at the best prices. Unfortunately, while this part of the game could be a lot deeper, it feels very shallow, and much like everything else, becomes repetitive and boring really quickly.
While at sea, you will man your ship and attempt to attack and board other vessels. Your ship can be upgraded, repaired or replaced at town ports so the better you do and the more money you make in the game, the better your ship will be. These ship-to-ship combat games feel pretty familiar and you might recognize similar styles from games like Sid Meier's Pirates or Suikoden IV.
After boarding a ship, you will then charge your way through a couple of areas dispatching with the ship's crew and eventually dueling the Captain in a bit of one-on-one fighter-styled combat. Unfortunately, this aspect feels really awkward and just doesn't play all that well, that plus the fact that while each Captain looks different, both they and their crew all feel very generic like any other ship you've boarded.
