1. Introduction
REQUIREMENTS:
1Ghz or higherCPU, Win 98/SE/ME/2000/XP, 256MB memory, 8x or faster CD-ROM,
Ati 8500 or GeForce 3 or higher, 1.4GB free space
Very
few games were expected with the enthusiasm from the game community as
the
new
Sid Meier's Pirates! Pirates has its own distinct history. It was in 1987 that
Microprose issued the first Pirates which immediately became a hit. The role
of a pirate who crosses the Caribbean, capturing
ships, searching for treasures and looting wealthy towns, kept millions of gamers
glued to their screens (myself among them!). Six years later, Microprose
released "Pirates Gold!" a remake of the original game. The game had
many bugs - a patch later fixed many of them - but it also became a classic.
Now, 18 years after its first release, a new Pirates (again from Sid Meier) is
here
and has to reach the high expectations set by its two "hall-of-fame" predecessors.
Some Sid Meier's Pirates scrennshots
2. Start
The
main concept of Pirates is similar to the two previous games from the series.
Once again, you are a pirate who tries to become famous throughout the Caribbean.
However, this time, the game has an interesting scenario which is revealed
through a very beautiful introduction. The story begins with a family celebration
which turns into a nightmare. An evil Marquis invades your house and captures
your family. You are the only one who manages to escape. Ten years later, you
embark on a ship where you "convince" the captain to surrender control of
the vessel to you. Starting from zero, you have to rescue your family from
slavery, reak revenge on the villains who put them there and reclaim your
lost fortune.
In
the beginning, you must create a character, choose a skill for him (there are
five skills varying from fencing to wit and charm), select the historical era
you prefer, and finally, set a difficulty level. From that moment on, you are
ready
to
start your career in the Caribbean. While the game allows you to take on
many different roles (you can be a pirate hunter, a pirate or even a merchant
who tries to increase his profits by selling goods to the colonies), it is
better to start as a privateer (a private captain who holds a ?Letter of Marque? which
enables him to legally attack his nation's enemy ships and towns) choosing
your side between English, French, Dutch or Spanish.
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3. The Ships
In your first steps, you will find yourself
commanding a Sloop which turns out to be the ideal ship for the
beginning. Despite its small size, it is very fast, extremely maneuverable
and armed
with a sufficient number of cannons. Moreover, the addition of upgrades (a
feature which was inducted into the new Pirates) can increase the ship's
speed, fire power and damage resistance. This combination of speed and guns
makes
the Sloop a lethal opponent for the slow moving Galleons and
the merchant ships and it can easily disengage when it faces stronger opponents.
Some of the ships of Pirates...
|
Sloop: Your
first ship in the game. "Faster than the strongest ships and stronger than the fastest",
sloop is the ideal ship for piracy. |
|
Galleon: These leviathans are the strongest among Spanish ships They are slow but extremely stable and reliable, ideal for the voyages in the ocean. |
|
Frigate: The
combination of high speed and the alll-powerful arsenal makes frigate
the absolute ship-of-war. Most of the pirates flee in sight of a frigate. |
and some of the upgrades.
|
Bronze cannon: Increases the accuracy. |
|
Iron scantlings: Allows a vessel to resist hull damage. |
|
Copper plating: Allows a ship to turn more quickly. |
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4. The battles
On
many occasions, you will engage in sea battles during your journeys. When
a naval battle (perhaps the most exciting part of Pirates) is about to begin,
you will have to choose which of your ships will be the flagship (the ship
that will carry on the battle). A naval battle can end in three different
ways: the enemy ship sinking, one of the ships disengaging or the
two ships coming head to head. In that last case, if the enemy ship is heavily
damaged, the demoralized crew will surrender without a fight. Otherwise,
you have to test your fencing skills. While your crew fights the enemy crew,
you will have to face the enemy captain. You can choose between three types
of attacks and you can defend yourself in three different ways, each defensive
move warding you from a specific attack. While fencing is very easy in the
levels with a lower difficulty (you can finish the game only with offensive
moves in the lowest level of the game), you must perform excellently in defense
as the difficulty increases. Fortunately, the game controls are very easy
and you will face no problem at all in any part of the game.
Of
course, besides fencing you can use your gunnery skills in a sea battle.
By using the chain shot you can destroy the enemy's ship mast, immobilize
it and make it an easy target, while the grape shot is very effective against
the enemy crew. Finally, round shot can cause severe damage to the hull of
a hostile ship. Different types of ships require different strategies
(i.e the best way to deal with a slow moving Galleon is to destroy
her mast with an accurate cannon fire and then - using the grape shop - to
reduce
her crew. Finally, when your crew outnumbers the crew of the enemy ship,
sling aboard and you will capture her without any further fights). Often,
the capture of a ship provides you not only with goods and money, but also
with
specialized crew members, such as gunners (they increase the fire rate),
carpenters (they repair damages during a voyage), navigators, etc.
Another
way to increase your fortune is to attack the wealthy enemy towns. This option
has great dangers (in most of the cases the soldiers who defend the city
outnumber your buccaneers) but in a successful attack, the amount of money
that will end up in your hands surpasses by far, the money that an enemy
ship can provide you. During the attack, the game changes from real time
to turn-based.
You have to break through the defenses of the soldiers and invade the city.
The achievement of a convincing victory rewards you with the option of installing
a new government that is friendly to you, otherwise the province will remain
under enemy hands.
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5. The port
All
your progress is carefully monitored by foes and allies.
A visit to a friendly port will give you the chance to see the governor and
to gain rewards for your achievements in both land and titles.
You will also have the chance to meet his daughter and to start a romance with
her, a romance that may end in a wedding. Earning the heart of your future
wife wont be an easy task. She will invite you to dance with her only if
you have been promoted, otherwise, she will ignore you. During the dance,
the game turns into an in-game mini game and the player (using the numkeys)
has to follow the lady's steps while a heart indicator shows the progress
that has been made. If you are a skilled dancer you will learn valuable information
about wanted villains or even better, about lost cities. Eventually, you
will have to defeat her jealous fiance in order to give a happy ending to
your romance.
In
the tavern, you can enlist more sailors for your ship, get information about
villains who know where your family members are and buy numerous items ranging
from treasure maps which will guide you to buried lost treasures to false
moustaches
which help you disguise yourself when you infiltrate an enemy city. Moreover,
you can find wanted criminals - asking the inkeeper - while the waitress
can give you valuable information about the other pirates, treasure ships,
etc. The local merchant will trade his goods with you while the shipwright
will repair the damage and provide your ship with upgrades.
The more goals you achieve, the higher your
fame indicator increments. You can earn fame points by vanquishing pirates,
rescuing your family members, avenging villains, earning promotions and in
many other ways. All the goals you have accomplished are listed on your status
menu. Moreover, a pirate ?hall-of-fame? list records the 10 most notorious
pirates and your efforts to obtain the first place among them.
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6. Conclusion
Graphics : The graphics
for Pirates is impressive. The game supports resolutions up to 2048X1536
if you have a powerful system and of course, the appropriate screen.
The models for the ships are represented in great detail and unlike the
first Pirates, you can recognize the type of the ship from afar. The reflection
of the ships in the water adds marks to the final verdict. The cities are
well designed and so are the game characters, despite the cartoon like appearance.
But the most obvious improvement has to do with the graphics for the terrain.
The trees, hills, Indian totems, all look real. I remembered the
difficulties I had faced when I tried to find a treasure in the first Pirates
due to unrealistic landmarks. This time it's just impossible to get confused.
All the waypoints (could be a totem, a big tree, a stone head, etc) are clearly
visible making the navigation to a lost treasure a piece of cake. In conclusion,
the graphics manages to transmit the magic of the 17 th century.
Sound: The music for the game is at a high
level though it is not as good as the graphics. The music score for the naval
battles with its epic tone is my favourite. Sound effects will not leave
anyone disappointed. The salvoes of the cannons, the clash of
the swords, the gunshots, all perfectly meet the high standards of the game.
The ambient
sounds are also very realistic - you can hear the sound of the waves when
you are travelling, the sound of the tropical storms etc - and they combine
to achieve the atmosphere of the Caribbean..
Gameplay: The biggest advantage of Pirates
is its incredible gameplay. The game belongs to the ?elite game? category
which means that it practically never ends. Moreover, Pirates is an ?open? game-
it doesn't restrict the gamer at all. You can travel to anywhere in
the Caribbean Sea right from the beginning, while the numerous roles you
can assume increase
the time value. There are five difficulty levels ready to add an extra challenge
to anyone who finds the game easy. Finally, I have to congratulate Firaxis
for the really clever idea to allow you to change the game difficulty during
the game (when you divide the plunder, the game allows you to increase the
difficulty if you have exhibited exceptional performance until then). It's
a very useful feature since it saves you from playing the game all the way
from the beginning again.
However, the game has some small defects. There is no continuation
between day and night during your travels. Another thing that annoyed me
has to do
with the villain who holds information about your family (you learn information
and liberate one member of your family at a time). You always capture and
interrogate the same person! I can't think why on earth you woudn't kill
him or why you dont "convince " him
to reveal the places where each of your family members are held. I think
Firaxis has to give more attention to this...
Summary: Sid Meier and Firaxis didn't disappoint
us! Having to remake one of the most addictive games of all times, they
managed to respond beyond every expectation. The new Pirates is better
than its predecessor, not only in graphics
and sound (an easy task with the progress we have seen in the last years),
but also in playability. Sid Meier kept the excellent gameplay from the original
Pirates and enriched the sequel with many new features (ship upgrades, interesting
scenario etc) making it a truly new game. This is one of the best purchases
you can make on the market.
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