Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles Review (PC)

The pirates aren’t really a problem, but they keep trying to attack my trade routes. My trusty airship, along with its dedicated escort, quickly teleports to the closest friendly location and then destroys them quickly in aerial combat. I’d rather integrate them into our society and find ways to work together but some people can’t be reasoned with.

Fortunately, most encounters on the Ursee are far more friendly. I follow an indicator under my surveyor to a neutral ship, recruiting another trade captain to the cause of the Free Houses. He gets a trade route that suits his capabilities and will contribute to the rebuilding process. Moving farther out, I find a refugee settlement, which I pick up and then rebuild on a nearby island with good space for docks.

I switch to one of my settlements, expanding and upgrading some of the towers and creating connections that should make it easier for workers to move around. A commander watches over the island from the top of the tallest building on the island, ready to intervene if anyone threatens it. Switching back to the airship, I survey the map, choose an area I have not yet explored, and head out on a discovery expedition.

Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is developed by Tomas Sala and published by Wired Productions. I played via Steam on the PC. The title is also on the PlayStation 5, the Xbox Series X and S, and older consoles from Microsoft and Sony. The game offers a mix of exploration, base development, management, and combat.

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Players are taken to a watery universe called the Ursee, which has been devastated by a massive conflict that’s mostly alluded to but never fully explained. Now three factions, with different political philosophies and practical approaches, are looking to rebuild, creating thriving settlements and putting together a complex network of trade routes between the islands.

For the campaign, players can choose between the Free Houses, the Mancer Order, or the Imperial Remnant. Bulwark also offers a Freeplay mode, which gives players complete freedom to create without any narrative interventions or other constraints.

Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is centered around a sense of freedom and discovery. Players can always switch between their airship, which can fly freely across the waves, and the ground layer, where they manage their island settlements. The control system is minimal and context-sensitive, encouraging the fast transition between the two layers.

When airborne, gamers will spot and interact with points of interest, discovering everything from new resources to ships they can recruit to their cause or refugees eager to join their factions. Special buildings are also hidden across the expanse of the Ursee. They need to be demolished and then rebuilt, all with the touch of one button, on a friendly island.

Falconeer Chronicles also has combat, but it’s limited in terms of mechanics. Just fly around, counting on the surveyor, its escorts, and sea-based assets to deal with enemies. Sure, it’s a good idea to teleport to the nearest location to deal with greedy pirates. But launching a strike, especially against a well-developed settlement, seems a bad idea when compared to the benefits trade and cooperation can generate.

Still, it’s important to develop islands, which is mostly done via towers. Selecting a building allows players to extend walkways. One can simply connect two already existing pieces of infrastructure to improve resource and worker flows. Or gamers can choose to place a new nexus and then push to the clouds. A circle denotes a good location for a new tower, a square allows players to expand foundations.

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Repeat as often as needed to create tall towers and sprawling fortresses. And don’t forget to take a look at how resources flow in your realm and deal with bottlenecks as quickly as possible. Docks, with attached captains, are very important but there are moments when placing them in shallow waters is fiddlier than it should be. Players will also find unique buildings they can dismantle and bring back to their realm, although I couldn’t see what direct effect they have on settlements.

Bulwark gives gamers a lot of information but players can safely ignore most of it if they’d rather simply float through the sky and see what secrets the ocean is hiding. The best part of Falconeer Chronicles is roaming around to recruit new characters and discover interesting locations, connecting much of the world into a web of potential prosperity.

The title’s relaxed approach can also be a problem. Sure, soaring buildings and extensive trade networks are their own rewards. But I often felt aimless and wanted a more structured experience, with clearer goals for each of the three featured factions.

Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles is beautiful but not in a photo-realistic way. This is a world of rough seas, blue skies filled with a ton of clouds, and scraggly islands where civilizations develop around massive structures. Shifting the camera around as the surveyor enters a storm or moves toward a sunrise will deliver moments of impressive beauty. The minimalist design and simple interface help with the spectacle. There’s also a photo mode.

The sound design complements the graphics. An adviser will talk players through the initial stages of development, and they also comment on events and actions (which can become repetitive). The soundtrack adds to the immersion, especially when players put the camera behind their airship, boldly exploring the world.

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The Good

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Conclusion