Post by Revan on Oct 26, 2008 23:59:32 GMT -5
Pirates is an oldie but a goodie. The game begins as you choose your fate by deciding which of the four nations you would like to sail with (England, France, Spain, or the Dutch). On your way to the new world, you commandeer the vessel you're riding on and soon find yourself in port with a letter of marquee. Now is when the fun begins: you're placed in an open world, free to do as you please. Although that's not all, there is a cheesy plot for anyone interested in that type of thing also.
Ships ships ships! Although you start out with a rather weak vessel, you can capture vessels of greater stature (and you're expected to). You can get everything from a Royal Galleon to the lowly Sloop. Every ship can then be modified from its initial design to outfit it with everything from better sails to grape shot, chain shot, bronze cannons, and more!
Ship combat is effectively set up to actually allow you to strategies. There are two main approaches to the combat system:
A: Fire your cannons at them until they submit.
B: Ram/board them and remove their captain from their seat of power through a duel.
System A works well, you're ship is equipped with a certain number of guns based on its model and how many you bought. The idea is to align your ship so that you get a full broadside attack, inflicting the most damage. When you have weakened your enemies enough, you can ram them and they usually surrender. Various sub strategies can be performed in this method such as the use of chain/grape shot over the normal cannonballs. Chain shot takes out sails, immobilizing your foes, however this provides distress if you decide to keep the ship and bring it with you (it slows you down). Grape shot is good at eliminating crew, which helps in duels; however this also hurts you because you usually gain crew from sacking other ships. System B is a bit more difficult. You engage in a duel with their captain. You have the option of three types of blades, each with their own advantages/disadvantages. You must attack or defend in order to move your enemy across the ship and eventually knock them into the water, claiming victory. This is made more difficult by the fact that your crew also combats. Your crew and the enemy crew fight and if your crew wins before you, you still win, however, if their crew wins, you automatically forfeit.
There are two resources which you must have, crew and food. Food is easy enough to acquire, every settlement has some and most ships you sack will have some also. Crew is the hard one to come by. Crew can be picked up in two manors (but always in small numbers), at local taverns and on conquered vessels. The bad thing about crew is that they must be maintained, they must be kept happy. Crew tends to tire of being at sea for a long time and eventually, they will want to leave. The game provides a system by which you ditch most of your crew and loose most of your plunder in order to maintain the happiness of your crew... great.
Settlement management can be rather enjoyable. There are several things to do in town; you can visit the merchant, the harbor master, the governor or the tavern. The merchant of course, lets you sell all of your plundered goods. The harbor master allows you to upgrade and repair your vessel, as well as sell any vessels you may have acquired. Talking with the governor gets you promotions for that nation, giving you bonuses to the usage of their facilities. The governor also lets you court their daughter if you have high enough prestige. This is done through a ball room dance. Although these dances are often tough, they yield great rewards in the form of gifts.
The plot is enjoyable the first time around *mostly* but after that the plot has little replay value. Essentially, as a little boy your family was lost and you're seeking them in the new world. To do this, you continuously hint the Barron Romando for map pieces until you can find where they are. It's kind of stupid considering you get each part of the map for each family member from him one at a time. The plot concludes by exacting revenge on the man who separated your family.
Overall: The game lives up to the expectation with Sid Mier's games. It's fun and versatile. The game is rather enjoyable and good for relaxed gaming. It definitely has replay value, making it good for those times when you cannot think of something to do. Ship combat is an exciting process which does involve skill, retaining interest. The plot is annoying, but not bad. Keep in mind, I didn't tell of each feature of the game, there are many other ones such as the 'lost cities', 'purchasable items', treasure maps (and hunting), city raiding and sneaking through enemy towns.
Score: 80/100
Ships ships ships! Although you start out with a rather weak vessel, you can capture vessels of greater stature (and you're expected to). You can get everything from a Royal Galleon to the lowly Sloop. Every ship can then be modified from its initial design to outfit it with everything from better sails to grape shot, chain shot, bronze cannons, and more!
Ship combat is effectively set up to actually allow you to strategies. There are two main approaches to the combat system:
A: Fire your cannons at them until they submit.
B: Ram/board them and remove their captain from their seat of power through a duel.
System A works well, you're ship is equipped with a certain number of guns based on its model and how many you bought. The idea is to align your ship so that you get a full broadside attack, inflicting the most damage. When you have weakened your enemies enough, you can ram them and they usually surrender. Various sub strategies can be performed in this method such as the use of chain/grape shot over the normal cannonballs. Chain shot takes out sails, immobilizing your foes, however this provides distress if you decide to keep the ship and bring it with you (it slows you down). Grape shot is good at eliminating crew, which helps in duels; however this also hurts you because you usually gain crew from sacking other ships. System B is a bit more difficult. You engage in a duel with their captain. You have the option of three types of blades, each with their own advantages/disadvantages. You must attack or defend in order to move your enemy across the ship and eventually knock them into the water, claiming victory. This is made more difficult by the fact that your crew also combats. Your crew and the enemy crew fight and if your crew wins before you, you still win, however, if their crew wins, you automatically forfeit.
There are two resources which you must have, crew and food. Food is easy enough to acquire, every settlement has some and most ships you sack will have some also. Crew is the hard one to come by. Crew can be picked up in two manors (but always in small numbers), at local taverns and on conquered vessels. The bad thing about crew is that they must be maintained, they must be kept happy. Crew tends to tire of being at sea for a long time and eventually, they will want to leave. The game provides a system by which you ditch most of your crew and loose most of your plunder in order to maintain the happiness of your crew... great.
Settlement management can be rather enjoyable. There are several things to do in town; you can visit the merchant, the harbor master, the governor or the tavern. The merchant of course, lets you sell all of your plundered goods. The harbor master allows you to upgrade and repair your vessel, as well as sell any vessels you may have acquired. Talking with the governor gets you promotions for that nation, giving you bonuses to the usage of their facilities. The governor also lets you court their daughter if you have high enough prestige. This is done through a ball room dance. Although these dances are often tough, they yield great rewards in the form of gifts.
The plot is enjoyable the first time around *mostly* but after that the plot has little replay value. Essentially, as a little boy your family was lost and you're seeking them in the new world. To do this, you continuously hint the Barron Romando for map pieces until you can find where they are. It's kind of stupid considering you get each part of the map for each family member from him one at a time. The plot concludes by exacting revenge on the man who separated your family.
Overall: The game lives up to the expectation with Sid Mier's games. It's fun and versatile. The game is rather enjoyable and good for relaxed gaming. It definitely has replay value, making it good for those times when you cannot think of something to do. Ship combat is an exciting process which does involve skill, retaining interest. The plot is annoying, but not bad. Keep in mind, I didn't tell of each feature of the game, there are many other ones such as the 'lost cities', 'purchasable items', treasure maps (and hunting), city raiding and sneaking through enemy towns.
Score: 80/100