Price : $10.00
Sid Meier's Pirates is a classic game all the way back from the era of MICRO PROSE and the Commodore 64! It's had many re-releases for a variety of computer types and consoles over the decades, all of them have been excellent for their time and the most recent PC iteration of this lighthearted swashbuckling gem was released by 2K Games in 2005 with some welcome additions that run alongside the tried and true core. I played this game to death in three different eras (1987, 1994, and 2005 versions) and I would have to say that this one, while a bit cartoony and sometimes silly, is the best.
The intro sequence for new games explains the story well enough. While a child your family was part of the upper-middle class society when one fateful night a large shipment was lost at sea and the evil Marquis de Montalban takes your family captive to work off their debt to him but you escape. Years later, a grown man, you enter a tavern where you are given the option to enter your name, the level of difficulty you wish to play at, one of five skills that you excel in, and a captain (nation) to sign on with. The captain turns out to be a ruthless pirate, you lead a coup to take over the ship, and now stand at the helm with the crew cheering you on, The New World before you, a medallion with a picture of your family close to your heart, and at least one villain who needs avenging.
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| Sailing into port for the first time... |
So what exactly do you do in Sid Meier's Pirates? Well, it's a swashbuckling adventure so once you pull into port and meet with the governor he will give you a letter of marque which authorizes you to attack enemy ships / ports, claim all the plunder for yourself, and get rewarded for it by the nation you chose to sail with. The governor will also introduce you to his (very eligible) daughter and inform you that a small enemy merchant vessel was just spotted near the port. (This encounter serves as the combat tutorial for both ship to ship and swashbuckling mini-games) After that it's up to you. The Caribbean is a large area, full of adventure, plunder, and quests with special rewards all their own. You can sink ships, cross swords with other captains, hunt down famous pirates, follow treasure maps, upgrade your ships, romance governors' daughters, sneak into enemy cities, sack enemy cities, and of course locate, rescue and avenge your family.
Pirates is an arcade type adventure game so you don't play it for its amazing depth or strategic value. It's a colorful inviting and fun romp about the Caribbean that you can lose yourself in without thinking too much. You sail in your flagship (with however many other ships in your possession tagging along behind you) using the numb pad or arrow keys. From this 'overland view' you can sail to various ports, engage other ships, or make landfall. The action takes place in the various mini-games that trigger according to your decisions. They aren't overly difficult but they are colorful and well executed. Here's an overview of the sort of fun that can be had here.
Ship to Ship Combat
When you decide to attack another ship it is your chosen flagship verses the other (and maybe one escort). You must use the wind to your advantage and either blast them to pieces with your cannons or ram them to engage in close combat to take over the ship all the while dodging their cannon fire. Depending on your ship upgrades you can have up to three ammunition types. Round shot will do heavy hull damage and has a chance of removing enemy cannons, chain shot will damage sails, and grape shot will damage crew. Debris, cargo, cannons and random sailors will fling off ships satisfactorily upon impact with hull and sail damage colorfully displayed on both ships. Shoot them too much and they may sink sink taking all their gold and cargo with them, but if you don't weaken the enemy vessel you will risk its powerful broadside attacks in trying to get up close or it may be too quick to catch.
Swashbuckling
Every time you ram another ship, challenge someone to a duel, or storm the ramparts of an enemy port it is time for some sword to sword fun. You begin by choosing your weapon (either rapier for quick attacks, cutlass for quick defense, or longsword for a balanced approach) and maybe taking a shot at the enemy captain with a pistol or two. Your crew engages the enemy crew all around you and their numbers are displayed at the bottom of the screen. You use the numb pad to either attack or defend from the high, middle, or low positions.This game is all about timing. When you see the enemy captain preparing to strike use the appropriate defense to block his shot and knock him off balance. Use attacks when you see an opening. Whoever makes a successful attack will knock the other a few steps back. If you make an unsuccessful attack you get a speed penalty. You win either when your opponent gets pushed off the ship or if he runs out of crew. This is the basic mechanism of the game but it's clothed in fun and exciting aesthetics; crew sword fighting and swinging around you, explosions, and short but seamless cut-scenes make this a suitably adventurous (yet simple) game of speed and reflexes.
Dancing and Romancing
Should you attract the eye of a young lass you will have the chance to impress her (and her father) with your wit and charm through the highest of high society's entertainment, ballroom dancing. This is a difficult mini-game, arguably the most difficult. The key is timing. The governor's daughter will give you hand gestures which equate to which button you need to press on the numb pad to successfully perform the next dance move. If you hit the right button at the right time, you don't make a fool of yourself, if you hit the wrong button or get the timing wrong then you fumble / step on her feet, if your timing is perfect then you perform an impressive flourish. Your progress is reflected in the beating heart at the top of the screen, the more impressed your partner is the larger the heart gets and the better your reward at the end of the dance. Governor's daughters are surprisingly resourceful and may give you some useful information or present you with special items or pieces to some of the more difficult treasure maps to find.
Treasure Hunting
What would a Pirate adventure game be like without buried treasure? Probably accurate because pirates never actually buried treasure, but who cares about accurate when you could be having fun! Over the course of the game you may find pieces of various treasure maps. If you can put them together they will show you where you can find a famous pirate's hidden treasure along with various landmarks to to point you in the right direction and the name of a port that is nearby. Upon landing near the location where you think the map is pointing you will lead your men on a merry hunt and hopefully there will be thousands of doubloons (or a long lost family member) waiting at the end. When playing on harder difficulties the amount you can zoom out is so small that you will be needing to use your telescope, preferably from a nearby hill, to get your bearings straight.
Person Hunting
Over the course of your travels you may be asked to hunt down a wanted criminal or other villains that may hold clues as to the whereabouts of the evil Marquis de Montalban. You can get information about the whereabouts of wanted people from taverns, governor's daughters, and the crew of ships who have had recent contact with said person. If you're quick you may be able to intercept their ship or confront them in a tavern before they slip away from you and the scent goes cold. Wanted criminals can be turned in for a bounty but they may also offer you rare items if you let them go instead. Villains will hold pieces of maps leading to the more difficult to find treasures such as whereabouts of your family members, lost cities of gold, and where you can finally take on that old devil the evil Marquis de Montalban and put an end to him for good.
Sneaking into Enemy Territory
You may run into a situation where you need to get into port but that particular port does not want you inside it. Time for the stealth mini-game! Armed with a backjack you stalk the streets at night trying to get to either the governor's mansion or the tavern near the centre of town. You must avoid the guards, whose line of sight is visualized by the light of their lanterns, and if they catch you they will put you in the dungeon. You are, of course, smarter and more dexterous than city guards and are able to climb vine covered walls, hide behind hay stacks, and sneak behind guards to knock them out. If things get too risky you can leave the city by making your way back to any one of the four edges of the map.
Capturing Ports
If you have enough men and you feel a bit lucky then you can try your hand at capturing an enemy port. This will take you to a square grid map where you have control of a handful of pirate units and your enemy will have their own city guard units. On your turn you can move or attack with each your units and on the enemy's turn they will move and attack with theirs. Clever captains will ensure that incoming enemies are either weakened by your ranged 'Buccaneers' units or keep your forces safe from enemy ranged attacks by using jungle tiles for cover. Clever captains will also keep in mind that flanking attacks are twice as strong as regular attacks and that height and troop morale bestow bonuses or penalties to the strength of your units. You win when all enemy units flee or if you can get at least one of your units to the gates of the city. You then sack the city, plundering gold and goods and, if you beat them soundly enough, you can install your own governor to change the nationality of the port.
Upgrade Hunting
While not technically a mini-game in and of itself you will find yourself seeking out all manner of upgrades for your ship as well as special items, titles, and skilled crew members, all of which benefit you in different ways. You acquire ship upgrades either by purchasing them at ports or capturing a ship that already has them installed. Each port only has one type of upgrade so you may need to look around a bit and maybe see if anyone in the local tavern has information on which ports sell which upgrades. Specialized crew members (cook, carpenter, officers) will join you if you capture a ship with one on board. Personal items are won by completing special missions, purchasing them from shady sailors, or given as gifts by a governor's daughter if you can impress her on the dance floor. Titles are bestowed upon you by governors if your actions have benefited their nation enough to merit the title.
Plundering The Treasure Fleet and Simple Economics
Every year The Spanish Treasure Fleet, four huge galleons loaded full of gold and luxury goods, makes its way to each of the ports along The Spanish Main collecting taxes and tribute to send back to Spain. If you can find it, you can plunder it, or at least you can try. There are also smaller 'treasure ships' that a local barmaid or governor's daughter could tip you off on. Smugglers tend to carry valuable cargo in small ships, and intercepting a military payroll always feels nice. There are six commodities in Pirates, food which your crew eats, luxuries and spices, which sell for a high price, goods and sugar which sell for a lower price, and cannons which your ships use to shoot things. Different ports will pay different amounts for these goods and depending on what you're carrying it may be worth paying the local tavern a visit to find out who is buying for the highest price.
Dividing the Plunder and Retirement
Every few years of game time it is advisable that you end your expedition and divide the plunder with your crew. They tend to get a but cranky if they've been sailing with you for five years in a boat overflowing with gold and they still all they want to do is take their share and get off the boat. Dividing the plunder gives each crew member their share while you the captain get a larger share which increases according to the difficulty level you are playing at. All extra goods and ships are sold for gold coin and you will be given the option to plan another expedition either at current level or the next level of difficulty, or retire from pirating altogether. If you plan another expedition then you start afresh with your flagship, a happy crew, and a small stash of gold ready to tackle The Spanish Main all over again. If you retire from pirating then you get a high score based on how much wealth, land, fame, and titles you acquired, if you found love, how many family members you rescued, treasures found, famous pirates defeated, villains avenged, how old you are, etc. and your score determines what your retirement looks like. It is actually quite difficult to get a perfect score but that's probably a good thing.
Conclusion
Sid Meier's Pirates is a kid friendly game with lots of nostalgia value. Anyone who enjoyed an earlier editions of the game in their childhood will really appreciate this title. Newcomers may also be won over by its charm but serious gamers may find it a bit too cartoonish, simple, or repetitive. I think that casual, young, and nostalgic gamers can have a lot of fun with this title and I plan on introducing it to my kids when they are old enough. For $10 it is an excellent value and a good game to own.
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