Bleeding Cool has reviewed Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates:

How To Screw Up A Tactical RPG: We Review Empyre: Lords Of The Sea Gates

Empyre: Lords Of The Sea Gates

Empyre: Lords Of The Sea Gates was an interesting little RPG title to make its way into my Steam collection. The game is set in the early 1900’s in New York City in an alternate timeline where the sea has risen and buried most of Manhattan underwater, with what survivors remain living in the highrise towers that still dwell above the water. The story shows that fresh water has been cut off to the city, leaving you and whatever support you can get to correct that issue and defeat anyone who stands in your way. You’ll have to deal with the police, mobsters, territorial factions, and your usual smattering of crazy people to get where you need to go.
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Empyre: Lords Of The Sea Gates is a decent idea with poor execution. This honestly feels like a title rushed into production with little testing and even less thought put into it beyond the main plot. I would say if you’re going to get this, it’s probably, at best, a beginner’s guide to tactical RPGs before they get one that actually works right. After that, it’s a waste of time and money. The few things it does get right don’t make up for what it gets horribly wrong.

Score: 5/10

Scholary Gamers reviewed Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates:

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates Review

When I see the letters “RPG” used to describe a game, the intrigue immediately kicks in. Being my favorite genre of games, I simply cannot pass up an opportunity to play one. One such opportunity arrived recently in the form of Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates.

Empyre takes place in a Neo-Victorian New York that has become a compilation of City-States after a disastrous flooding occurred, leaving the city full of nothing but polluted water. Alleyways became canals while the rooftops became the new streets. Fresh water is brought in to the City-States via pipes, and anything that cannot be obtained in this version of New York is traded with those called “Mainlanders.” The people of New York are determined to survive and rebuild what was once the great city they called home. Mysteriously, the fresh water pipes have now stopped flowing, and the full reserve tanks are running out.

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Final Score: 9/10

Empyre provides an interesting world with captivating artwork, fantastic gameplay, and a storyline that kept me engaged the whole time.

Thanks Farflame!

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates has released its launch trailer and is due to release on Steam today.

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The Launch! Come see us at empyrethegame.com. EMPYRE is on Steam.

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WE ARE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED

Find us on Steam.

Goggles Polished and Sky Train Ticket in Hand, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates Surges Onto Steam

Indie Developer Coin Operated Games to Rekindle Old-School RPG Fans’ Nostalgia with Classic, Neo-Victorian Story-Driven Action Experience; Now Available for PC

 Auburn, New Hampshire – October 4, 2017 – Coin Operated Games announces today that its Neo-Victorian RPG Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates, has launched on PC via Steam at a SRP of $29.99. Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is a top-down isometric RPG that takes place in an alternate industrial New York circa 1911, and features an original story penned by renowned writer/comic artist Paul Noth, a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine where his work has appeared regularly since 2004. Created by a team of industry veterans, the game serves as the inaugural title of the indie development studio, and aims to recapture the feeling of classic RPG’s with a fresh setting and immersive storyline.

 … water is everywhere but none of it to drink…

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COG has previewed Empyre: Lords of The Sea Gates:

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates Preview

As Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates reveals its rich world to the player, the imagination goes wild. Through a series of newspaper clippings, accompanied by a raspy voiceover, I came to understand that a Turn-of-the-Century New York City was in the middle of a technological Golden Age when a vicious flood turned the city into a half-submerged warzone. City-states rose from the waters and a new era was born. This concept was tantalizing, and the fact this experience was a modern squad-based RPG had me drooling for more.
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I’m really worried about the final release of Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gate because the experience that was promised would have meant this RPG could join the likes of Wasteland 2 and Pillars of Eternity as a modern classic. I understand that the final release in about a month’s time may differ from what this preview contained, but unless the dialogue is completely rewritten, the decisions made to bear weight, and someone takes a look at the damn sound, I don’t know what can possibly be done.

This game has a lot of potential. I encourage those of you who are attracted to its aesthetic, or love this revamped genre to stay tuned and see what our final review has to say. Things could change, I suppose. I promise to show you everything when the time is right, here on COGconnected.

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates has a new story trailer.

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Here is a video that gives you a little more History of Empyre. We hope you enjoy it!

Gamebanshee looks at the features of Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates and finds some explanations in some forum posts.

A series of official forum posts shed some light on the combat, the setting, and the music of Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates, an upcoming Neo-Victorian isometric RPG. Here's the gist of it: the combat will be of the real time with pause variety with a bit of a phase-based twist, the setting is Neo-Victorian as opposed to simple steampunk because the developers are pedantic when it comes to subgenres, and, finally, Empyre's soundtrack will feature 1970s Funk influences because of some thematic similarities between the game's setting and that particular era.
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Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates will be released onto Steam October 4th.

RELEASE DATE & WRITER ANNOUNCED!!!

READY FOR A DIP IN THE CANALS OF NEW YORK CITY?

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates to Rise onto Steam on October 4

Neo-Victorian RPG from Coin Operated Games Reveals Author/Cartoonist Paul Noth as Story Writer

Auburn, New Hampshire - August 16, 2017 - Coin Operated Games announces today that its upcoming Neo-Victorian RPG Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates, will be coming to PC via Steam starting on October 4, 2017. Developed by a team of industry veterans from such influential companies as Crytek, Creative Assembly, Codemasters and Digital Reality, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is a top-down isometric RPG that takes place in an alternate industrial New York circa 1911.

... water is everywhere but none of it to drink...

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates depicts a troubled New York in which the entire city is flooded by rising oceans and the citizens now face a new threat: the fresh water pipes have stopped and there is no water to drink!

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates features an original story penned by renowned writer/comic artist Paul Noth, a staff cartoonist for The New Yorker magazine, where his work has appeared regularly since 2004. He created the Emmy-nominated animated series "Pale Force" for Late Night with Conan O'Brien and was animation consultant for Saturday Night Live. He's also developed shows for Cartoon Network, Adult Swim and Nickelodeon, and his trilogy of middle-grade novels will be published by Bloomsbury, starting in April of 2018 with "How to Sell Your Family to the Aliens."

"After writing for different media throughout my career, I'm very excited to be working with Coin Operated Games to write their video game script," said Paul Noth. "The world that has been created in Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is amazing and truly unique, so I'm thrilled to be able to develop a story set in this new world."

Although set in a fictional, alternate history, the game pays homage to historic accounts by adding authentic items such as patent medicines including poisons or tonics made from dangerous ingredients. Many of the games' objectives and side quests will tie directly into the experiences that someone in the 19th century would have. The game's authenticity reflects scenes from New York circa 1900, while tying the storyline to current day themes such as global warming and the rising of the oceans.

"We are very honored that Paul is working with us on the storyline for Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates," said John Randall, Creative Director of Empyre. "He is a world class writer, and has been invaluable to us with helping to shape the direction of our games' signature Neo Victorian story and experience."

Currently in development by Coin Operated Games, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates will be available via Steam on October 4, 2017. More information will be shared in the coming weeks once the waters die down...

For more product information visit:

Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Empyrethegame-272522026282358/

Twitter at https://twitter.com/EmpyreTheGame

YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/EmpyreTheGame

The developer Coin Operated Games announced their new RPG today:

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is a top-down isometric RPG that takes place in a Neo-Victorian New York circa 1911.

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Featuring a top-down isometric presentation, Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates will rekindle old-school PC RPG fans with feelings of some of the classic story driven RPGs of the 90s. While the combat should feel familiar to veteran players, there’s a new twist in that the game uses a hybrid Real Time/Turn-based System. Players can enter a “Planning Mode” where they choose actions for each character in their party while combat is paused, and when entering into the “Action Mode” all characters will perform simultaneously, giving players complete control over their party while presenting a streamlined combat system that eliminates waiting for each character to act in sequence.

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates is the story of an alternate New York in which the entire city is flooded by rising oceans and the citizens must learn to live in a new reality where there is water everywhere, but none of it possible to drink. The player must make their way in search of a fresh water supply source, picking up companions along the journey. But the trip won’t be easy, as there are many threats both human and inhuman that players will encounter.

“One of the things we strove for when designing Empyre is authenticity during an ‘Age of Technical Wonder’ in the United States, the Gilded Age,” said John Randall, Creative Director of Empyre. “For example, the New York City we all know is the city in this game, and history buffs will recognize many iconic locations that existed in the city during the 1910s, but with a unique, waterlogged twist. People and society exist and act as they did in the early 20th Century. We feel this level of detail will give players a one-of-a-kind experience that they haven’t seen anywhere before.”

Empyre: Lords of the Sea Gates pays homage to historic accounts by adding authentic items such as patent medicines including poisons or tonics made from dangerous ingredients. Many of the games’ objectives and side quests will tie directly into the experiences that someone in the 19th century would have. The game’s authenticity reflects scenes from New York during the 1900s, while tying the storyline to current day themes such as global warming and the rising of the oceans.

Thank you for info, TechRaptor!