A uniquely open-ended online adventure with some of the best co-op of any game, but at the moment there's not nearly enough content or variety to keep it interesting for long.

Crewing a ship and sharing in the camaraderie works wonderfully well; Sea battles are a lot of fun; Fantastic graphics, with some of the most realistic water effects ever

Very shallow, with only a very limited range of mission types and things to do; Extremely repetitive, with a dispiritingly distant end goal; Limited matchmaking and customisation options

Slightly above average or simply inoffensive. Fans of the genre should enjoy it a bit, but a fair few will be left unfulfilled.

Sea of Thieves is a role-playing game in the truest sense of the phrase, and the exchange below exemplifies its highs and lows. You are a pirate. You're not a stealthy merchant with a silver tongue or a dwarven archer. There is only one choice in this world: pirate .

It is a drive. It plugs into the Xbox and adds extra game storage. It works. So that part is easy. This special edition included vouchers that were especially well received by 12 year old son. All good.

a Rare treasure

Sea of Thieves is one of the most frustrating games in absolutely ages. When it's good, it's uproariously fun. When it's tedious, it can suck all of the joy out of a room. Usually your playtime falls somewhere in between those two extremes. Still, if you told me tomorrow that it had been updated with new quest types, enemies and my mates were all down to don our upgraded eye patches again, I'd be back in a heartbeat. ‘Cos there's nothing else like Sea of Thieves right now. And if pirate lore has taught us anything, it's that it’s better to be infamous than forgotten about.

Can be brilliant fun; Stunning cartoon visuals; Loads of potential;

Quests are repetitious; Some ideas aren't fully fleshed out; Needs more content;

Can be brilliant fun; Stunning cartoon visuals; Loads of potential;

Quests are repetitious; Some ideas aren’t fully fleshed out; Needs more content;