Entertainment Graveyard.
Welcome to the fifth Really Pathetic News Network Game Review, circa 1/17/2005.
Toggled
Review Yo ho ho an a bottle o' rum, me hearties! Sid Meier's Pirates! now be sailin' th' Spanish Main. Yaar! Ya' thinks ye bein' up t' th' task ya' yeller-bellied lubber? I picked this game up with my christmas money--and have been up to
all hours of the night because of it. You begin the game with a Sloop and a small crew outside a port-of-call for your chosen starting nation (France, Spain, England, or Holland). It is then up to you what to do next. The game consists of six basic parts: sailing, sea battles, land battles, ports-of-call, swordfighting, and dancing. You will spend most of your time sailing. In "real-time" you are free to travel anywhere from St. Augustine to Trinidad to Vera Cruz. Controling your ship is easy: on the numberpad, "4" turns your ship left, "6" turns your ship right. That's pretty much all you need. The prevailing winds blow from east to west in the Caribbean, so you'll quickly learn that sailing ships normally don't move very fast when sailing "into the eye of the wind" (that's sailer-speak for directly into the wind). Different ships also handle the wind differently. A Sloop or a Pinnace tend to be fastest when heading nearly perpendicular to the wind (as they are small and have large triangular sails), while a Frigate or a Galleon do best with the wind more at thier back. The manual (which is suprisingly and pleasantly complete) even has charts describing "sailing points" (angle to the wind) and which sailing points are ideal for which ships. Don't worry, though. Its still really easy to get around, no knowledge of sailing required. The only thing that limits how far you can sail (besides the physical limits of the map, of course) is food. Food takes up cargo space (each ship can only carry so much) and the larger the crew, the faster they eat through the food. Run out of food, and your band of scurvy sea dogs will get most displeased with you. Of course, you're a pirate--and pirates attack ships. When you meet
another ship on the seas, no matter who they are, what they're carrying,
or what nation they belong to, you have the option to attack it. The
map "zooms in" on your battle, and away you go. You control
your ship exactly like in sailing mode (4 and 6 for left and right)
and fire off broadsides with either spacebar or the "5"
on the numberpad. Destroy your enem's hull and you sink the ship (which
means you can't get plunder from it) Knock down the masts, and they're
dead in the water. Knock a few holes in them and sail up to them.
They may surrender, or they may fight back, and you'll have to board
them! You'll spend the rest of your time in various ports-of-call. Each
port is owned by a different nation. Here, you can visit the shipwright
to repair any damage you've sustained (and sell off ships), buy and
sell goods from the Merchant, go to the Tavern to catch up on the
latest gossip and recruit new crewmembers, and pay a visit to the
Governor. The Governor will supply yo with a "letter of marque"
authorizing you to "privateer" for that nation (making it
"legal" to attack ships of that nation's enemy--as if you
needed permission), give you land grants and ceremonial promotions,
and maybe introduce you to his daughter. If your exploits impress
the daughter enough, she'll ask you to escourt her to the Grand Ball.
Enter another minigame: Dancing. The graphics of the game are quite nice. The world is colorful and fun to look at. It kind of has a "Pirates of the Caribbean" look to it. All events have accompaning cutscenes that blend smoothly in with the game--and some can be quite humorous (like a vanquished dueling opponent getting hit on the head with a falling vase and falling flat on his face). One complaint is that there are too few swordfight cutscenes. You end up fighting the same three or four fights over and over again. Violence is handled in a more abstract way. your pirate will never run someone through with his blade, and your opponents always get knocked unconcious or knocked overboard. As such, parents can feel comfortable letting their kids play it--and even play it with thier kids. My 16 year old little sister, who dosen't play any video games, loves the game. There really isn't much of a story. There are some "quests" you can choose to accept, like finding buried treasure, or rescuing family members, but you are under no obligation to do so. You could let your relatives rot in captivity somewhere if you wanted to. You could prey exclusively of Spanish ships if you so desire, or go to war against three of the nations and turn the whole Spanish Main French. You could even avoid piracy and be a peaceful trader. Pros: insanely addictive. sailing is really fun. Easy to play. Fun graphics and atmosphere. Ship combat is fun. Great family game. Open-ended, free-ranging gameplay without limits. Cons: insanely addictive. mini games limited, and twitch nature can be tiresome. Gets repetative. Final verdict: buy it! play it! love it! |
Past Entertainment: AN UNEXPECTED AIR-RAID WARNING