Silicon Fusion >> Reviews >> Sid Meier's Pirates!

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Review:

22nd August 2005:
Sid Meier's Pirates!
Ahoy there me mateys, come with us on a golden voyage in 17th century Caribbean, as you get the chance to live the life of a pirate captain.
Posted by John Grothier - Xbox - UK and Europe

Welcome Sailor to the Caribbean, marauding all on the high seas or ally your ship and crew as a privateer in search of riches - the life you choose is up to you. In this re-working of the PC classic, Xbox owners now get a chance to taste the life of a pirate captain and face dogged enemies, raid unsuspecting villages, woo fair maidens, avoid capture and dig for buried treasure. In Sid Meier's Pirates! the player gets to discover what it takes to become one of the most famous pirates in history.

Sid Meier's Pirates! is an open-ended adventure, set in the rich world of 17th century Caribbean - a world full of plunder and ripe for the taking. The game starts with an opening cinematic showing your family being taken from you by a mysterious stranger, while you yourself manage to escape. The story then speeds ahead as that young frightened boy is now a young man, who takes over command of a ship from his cruel captain. One you name your pirate you get to choose the era in which ye sail. Then you can sign up with the English, French, Spanish or Dutch - each has there own positives and negatives to deal with. Indeed, each of the game era's provide different challenges to try to master with the 1660 'The Buccaneer Heroes' being the choice for the young inexperienced captain.

The game plays for the most part from a 3D top-down perspective as you get to roam the huge seas in the Caribbean. Each port is usually either a harbour for one of the four main nations, but as you progress you journeys will take you to pirate camps, hidden Inca cities, hidden outposts and even to the odd isolated missionary. There is a main mission - to find and rescue your family, but there are also many other things you can do, all before you retire from pirating. Like the great old classic 'Elite', with Pirates! players can trade with each of the these ports and sell at a profit in another. But the easy way to get rich is to attacking enemy ships and taking there cargo and even selling the captured ship in a local port.

As you sail, you will have to deal with crew unrest, storms, and other pirates and ships for the taking. Sea battles are fairly simple, as you steer your ship alongside anther and use round shots for damage to the enemies hull and cannons, while the spinning chain shots will take down the enemies sails with relative ease. Grape shot can also be used to injure the crew and make boarding that much easier. When your ship, or an enemy, rams another vessel the crew rushes aboard and takes on the opponent's crew, while you take on the captain in a simple, but daring swordfight.

Sid Meier's Pirates! is a game essentially made up from many other genres. You have the basic top-down perspective ship battles, a simple but functional land battle system which works like numerous other strategy titles, a bit of stealth thrown in if you have annoyed a faction and need to slip into port, and then you have a fencing and swordplay themes, which quickly becomes a bit monotonous as there are only a very few outcomes possible. And that's not to mention the dancing with the governors daughter - here is another mini-game where you have to impress your would-be sweetheart in order to receive some news of buried treasure, a wanted man in a nearby port, or even news about your missing family. The family quest is quite baffling at times; with you have to sail around the Caribbean dancing and asking at taverns for news of your misplaced relatives. Indeed, if you choose to try and find them all, you will come up against the same villain time and time again. With each defeat he gives you a small piece of map with the location of your lost family. So in order to 'get 'em all' you will have to face this bounder many, many times. Sadly this does not really get any harder, until you find the culprit's hideout.

The game mechanics are simple, but when combined Sid Meier's Pirates! is one of those games that just eat away your time, and when you put down your Xbox controller it may well be in the early hours of the morning. Something really clicks with this title, the fact you are free to do as you wish helps this enormously. You will have fun searching for upgrades to your ship, or hunting the other pirates in the game or looking for buried treasure. Although many of the mini-games are quite basic, it all fits in to a fairly believable world.

As a pirate captain you will need to keep your crew happy otherwise they will eventually mutineer. There are items and special crew to find to help them stay contented for longer - food is a must, so make ure they don't go without for long. So the more wealth you amass the better; but there will come a time when you have to divide the plunder, but at least you get to keep your flagship. One day, however, you will need to retire, and when you do this you get a retirement screen which catalogues your pirate's accomplishments in the game, while also giving you a glimpse into your characters post-pirating career.

The graphics in Sid Meier's Pirates! are functional at best, we've seen much better, but the game oozes a style all of its own, which makes up for a few rough areas. The controls are well mapped and you will soon be sailing at least one of the seven seas after just a few minutes of gameplay. The sound too is fairly unimpressive, but the whole package together woks well and even when you get to the point of retirement you will want to start all over again - a sign of a really great title.

The Xbox version has been tweaked over its PC counterpart quite considerably; the map is cut down in size, but still includes all the features from the PC original. There is the inclusion of 'Even the Odds', where if you find yourself heavily outnumbered you will be given the opportunity to try and make things a little more even by playing through a series of interactive action sequences. The Xbox version also features a truly addictive Vs multiplayer, where up to four players can go head-to head with ship battles and duels. Here the gameplay has been tweaked again, and you will need to know your port from you starboard. The game also features scoreboards to upload on Xbox Live and there is also is the promise of downloadable content.

Overall Sid Meier's Pirates! is in a league of its very own, and while much of the game is a little rough around the edges - this title really is a gem, and not to be missed.

John Grothier

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Review Summary:

Take the helm of 27 upgradeable ship types and visit ports to receive missions, build your crew, search for riches, trade goods and even dance with the governor's daughter. Huge open-ended gameplay with a verity of missions battles and treasure to be found. The Xbox version feature the inclusion of a highly addictive 4 player versus ship battle mode and upload your accomplishments via Xbox live and download flags and other content. Live the life of a pirate captain.

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