Pirates! Review

If you’re an older gamer, then you are more than likely familiar with Sid Meier’s Pirates. It was one of the first games to give you truly open-ended gameplay – you were free to sail under any flag, change allegiances, be a merchant or a pirate … the Caribbean was an open sea for you to explore. The gameplay was pretty straightforward, but it had an engaging quality to it that would cause you to lose yourself in the game for hours on end. Now the game has received a much overdue update and its basic design has withstood the test of time – the game is just as much fun as it ever was, if not more so. If you were lucky enough to play the original game then you’ll love playing the new version as it wraps up many good memories in a very pleasing package, and even adds some new elements of play. If this is your first look at Pirates, then you’re in for a real treat.

The premise of the game is simple: you’re a young buccaneer captain out to make your fortune on the Spanish Main. You’re also out to avenge the capture of you family and rescue them from indentured servitude, but it is really up to you whether or not you want to pursue their rescue. The game will rate your performance more highly if you do, but you can certainly simply concentrate on becoming a feared pirate and leave your family to fend for themselves. The game does not oblige you to do anything – it is up to you as to the course you want to chart. You begin the game by selecting a flag to sail under – Dutch, French, English, or Spanish – and this will determine how other nations will treat you at first. If your nation is at war with another, expect ships from the enemy state to shoot first and ask questions later and their ports to be closed to your fleet. This choice is not binding as you can always switch allegiances as you please, so you can start the game making your living as an English trader only to become a feared Spanish pirate hunter. This kind of freedom ensures that no two games of Pirates ever play out the same way and it also adds a lot of variety to the gameplay.

Politics plays a large role in the game as it did in the Caribbean in the 17th Century. The four nations vying for dominance in the region constantly shift allegiances and move in and out of states of war. As an enterprising captain you need to take advantage of this and always be on the look out for new opportunities. For example, if France goes to war with Spain, you can capture a Spanish ship or two, sail into a French port to a hero’s welcome, and then leave with a French commission and a land title. However, if you took a few shots at a French frigate as well, then don’t expect much in the way of a reward.

You will spend a good portion of the game sailing the waters of the Caribbean. This is done on a beautiful 3D map of the region. The islands, towns, and passages are all marked as an aid to navigation, so you’ll only have to look at your map of the region when trying to chart a course to a far distant port. You control your flagship with the arrow keys and your speed depends on the type of ship you are sailing and the prevailing winds. Sailing is very easy in the game, although you will need some patience when sailing east into the Trade Winds as your movement will be significantly slower.

The animations are detailed and you’ll see your sails react to the wind as you tack or come about, the wake kicked up by your ship, and even dolphins who come to play in that wake. While sailing the seas you’ll encounter other ships and as you approach you’ll see the flag of their nationality and the ship’s class. This allows you to choose your engagements so that you engage a fat slow merchantman under an enemy flag instead of mistakenly firing on an allied warship.

Should you choose to engage another ship – or be force into a skirmish – the action switches into a zoomed in battle map. Here seamanship becomes critical as you must master the wind to bring your guns on your enemy while denying him the chance to do the same. It is possible to sink the enemy ship, but in most cases you will want to avoid doing so as this will cost you a prize ship and its valuable cargo. You’ll instead want to soften up your target a bit first, reducing its crew and guns in the process, and then move to board the vessel. To do so you just need to crash into the enemy ship and if you’re lucky they will fly the white flag and the ship is yours to keep or scuttle. If you’re not so lucky you’ll have to send your crew onto the deck of the enemy ship and fight for your prize. The graphics and animation on the battle map are even more impressive than on the Caribbean map. Cannonballs that miss their mark can be seen sinking beneath the surface and those that strike send splinters of wood flying. The decks are a hotbed of activity and you can watch the ships’ gun ports open and close as the guns are readied for another salvo. Crewmen and barrels of cargo will survive some of the blasts and waiting bobbing in the waves for someone to pick them up. It’s all really quite an impressive sight.

Battles on deck are abstracted to a sword dual between you and the enemy captain. You can select a rapier, long sword, or cutlass with which to fight, each of which is a trade off to some degree between speed and defense. You have three attack moves to choose from and a defensive move to counter each. As you dual the enemy captain, the battle will rage around you and the course of this fight will have an effect on your dual. If the battle is going badly, your reactions will be slow and it will be tough to counter the enemy’s attacks, let alone make strikes of your own. If all is going well, then the advantage will begin to tip in your favor. The winner of the dual wins the other’s ship and if you’re that winner you’ll have the choice of what cargo to claim and whether or not you want to keep the enemy ship. In any case, once the fight is resolved you are returned to the Caribbean map.

A similar mechanism is used when raiding cities. If you are coming from the sea, you’ll need to exchange fire with the local fort and try to reach the town in one piece. You’ll also have the option of putting to shore and attacking the city by land. In either case, you’ll need to battle the garrison in a sword dual with its commander just like in the case of ship battles. If you succeed you can sack the town or even install a new governor from you nation. Imagine how different things would be today if Havana had become a British city in the 1600s.

The cities in the game are for far more than sacking. As you sail the Caribbean you’ll see the relative size of each city and be able to tell its relative wealth from the condition of the flag that flies above the town. If you’re looking to sell some booty, avoid the ragged-flagged cites. If you’re in need of ship repairs, though, you know what they say about any port in a storm.