There is a beast that stalks the ocean, an insatiable death machine in the shape of a colossal white whale. This bloodthirsty goliath will sink any ship that breaches its waters. It leaps from the waves and into the air, to come crashing down through vessels’ hulls. But that is not all. It can shoot lasers. It can sprout a tremendous narwhal’s horn to pierce hulls from below. It can even use the souls of murdered sailors as a weapon. Some say it is a god. They call it Mobias.
In Pequod, that’s you. The game is named after the ship of Captain Ahab, who’s just put a price on your head. Hungry for the bounty, fleet after fleet of ships, submarines, and airships assault you. There’s a huge amount of different enemy types (over 100), and the longer you survive, the tougher and more exotic they become. You never know quite what’s going to show up next, because the fleets are procedurally generated.
Your basic method of attack is to jump out of the ocean like a rampaging Ecco and come down through the hull of a ship (or knock an airship out of the sky). Of course you have to do this while dodging all manner of firepower being thrown at you. As vessels splinter apart and sink, they often release crates of health or other goodies. You can also visit an undersea shop to purchase a pick-me-up or make a sacrifice at an altar for help. Once you sink enough ships to fill a meter, a boss appears to kick your cetacean ass.
If you win the fight, you’ll be treated to a choice of three power-ups which can grant you new perks, weapons, or stat increases. This is where you can get cool accoutrements like a narwhal horn or a laser cannon strapped to your back.
It might take you a little while to get used to the divey, curvy flow of the whale’s movements, but once you do, it’s a blast to carve up the ocean and smash ships. Pequod plays similarly to the classic freeware game Death Worm and its many clones and descendants (what would you call this genre?), but it’s the cream of the crop.
You can name your own price for Pequod (for Windows and Mac).
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