23-Nov-2004 Ask a veteran of gaming's 'Golden Age' what his or her favourite game is and there's a very good chance, especially if their formative years were spent in the company of a Commodore 64, that they'll immediately bark out the original 1987 version of Sid Meier's Pirates! If you were then to retort with the 1993 'Gold' version that was updated to run on the emergent PC format, they'll more than likely sneer, muttering something about it losing the purity of the superior, if rubbish-looking, original.
One wonders then what the old guard will make of this 2004 edition, which could justifiably be called Pirates! Platinum, because, as Gold was to the original, so this new Sid Meier's Pirates! is much the same game, only dressed to impress on far more capable machines. The essential question is, underneath the 21st Century graphics, does the 17th Century gameplay still hold water? The answer is a very definite "Yo-ho-ho."
The story and setting will be unnervingly familiar to anyone who's played Pirates! or any of the many stuffy derivatives that have appeared since. You begin, as ever, as a young buck with salt water running through the veins and dreams of finding fame and a fortune across the bright and breezy seas of the Caribbean. And if on your travels you manage to discover the whereabouts of your extended family, who've been so cruelly abducted by the most villainous pirate afloat, all the better.
Down The Docks Predictably, you begin the game in port and are immediately struck by the game's jaunty simplicity, for rather than having to run around a vast 3D set of ramshackle houses, each settlement is navigated via a simple menu. Together with the jolly shanties that play out in the background, the mood is set for a fun and frivolous adventure.
Of course with a menu before you it would be rude not to explore all the options, and so, after paying a visit to the shipwright (who'll repair and upgrade your ship) and the trader (who'll happily exchange coin for all the goods you steal), it's off to sample the local ale at the tavern. Here, rumours of passing treasure ships can be heard, extra crew hired, and later, when you've a tidy sum rattling about in your hold, you can pick up treasure maps and other assorted trinkets from the creepy guy at the back.
Prior to setting sail it's always worth popping round to the local governor's mansion, where you'll be able to obtain a Letter of Marque - official authorisation to plunder the ships of the enemy. More importantly, the governor's home is also that of his daughter, who as governor's daughters are prone, like nothing better than to swoon when hearing about your tales of derring-do. Needless to say every port has a governor with a luscious daughter, so should you place higher priority on emotional rather than financial matters, it's quite possible to impress them all.
On leaving port the view switches to a 3D isometric map view of the Caribbean, and while the geography is generally accurate, that's pretty much where the realism ends. Controlling your ship is as easy as navigating a soap-dish in a bath. Left and right cursor keys steer while up and down change your speed from full sails to what in another ship and another universe would be half-impulse power. And so, after slicing through the sea for a few seconds appreciating the comical but satisfying speed and manoeuvrability on your vessel, it's off to explore, or fight, or trade, or do whatever you want to do. Fight mostly, because it's by far the easiest and most fun way to make money and it's the only way you're ever going to impress the land-locked ladies waiting for you in every port.
Although the ship battles are simple affairs, they are also wonderfully multi-faceted. Movement is, as before, simple and arcade-like (if you remember an obscure Psygnosis game called Overboard you'll know what to expect), but of course in order to hit each other ships must present their widest profile to fire, and their narrowest to avoid being hit, with the resultant movement being not dissimilar to a couple of spoons fighting to stir tea. Granted, the sea battles may appear dumbed-down in comparison to dedicated sailing sims, but they are surprisingly tactical. Not only are firepower, speed and manoeuvrability important, but so too are your crew - the more men on board, the faster your cannons are reloaded. Also, if you have a larger crew than your enemy, you're more equipped to board your opponent's vessel when victory is assured, rather than sink it. You should board wherever possible of course. Sinking is so wasteful.
En Garde Ultimately, unless you've taken the time to carefully eliminate a ship's capacity to fight back or run away, the only way to capture it and the treasures below-deck is to duel the enemy captain. When you board an enemy ship (by ramming it) the view then switches to a toe-to-toe encounter with swords out and frilly shirts flapping in the salty breeze.
While the screenshots may suggest otherwise, sword combat is as intuitive and arcade-like as the battles between ships. Essentially a kind of tug-of-war, the aim is to force your opponent into the sea, each successful blow landed literally taking them one step closer to the edge of the ship. Of course the enemy is trying to sweep you away too, so by studying posture, it becomes easy to predict his next move and prepare a fitting counter.
However, the longer you take, the more crew members are killed, and if you end up being the last man standing, combat can become decidedly difficult. Lose the battle and a cold dark cell awaits (from which it is possible to escape, of course). Victory on the other hand brings you gold, goods and perhaps, if you haven't knackered it too badly, a brand new ship, should you wish to transfer your flag of command.
Going Dutch Whatever the outcome of battle, ships need repairing, sailors need food and, after a lengthy voyage particularly, crews can become mutinous to the point where the only way to quell them is to divvy up the coin and take a break. If your crew does rebel against your cruel reign however, Pirates! at least gives you a chance by handing you a small percentage of the takings and a skeleton crew - in a sense dividing up the booty. While this puts you back towards the beginning of the game and could be seen as an unwarranted frustration, it actually adds to the urge to get back on your feet and prove those mutinous sea dogs wrong.
Returning to port has other benefits too. Swing by the Governor's residence and you may be in line for promotion, which is sure to impress his daughter, leading to an invitation to the ball and one of Pirates! more devilish games of combat - dancing. Fittingly these scenes play out much like the fencing, for as the music plays your partner offers a flick of the wrist as subtle clues as to what move to make. As the dance progresses it can be tricky to pull off a sequence of moves without stumbling and blowing your chances of getting a shag. Pull off an impressive trot however and she'll giggle with delight, heart pumping with barely concealed lust, and when the dance is over she'll whisk you to the servants' quarters and ride you like a stallion. Or at least that's what I thought would happen when after one particularly lustful waltz I was offered a 'Dutch Rutter'.
Snake In The Grass Pirates! is a wonderfully engaging and accessible experience. The setting is vibrant, the characters are full of humour and the gameplay is bursting with variety. The freeform play (now lazily referred to as "GTA-style") links in with each section remarkably well, and although there are areas that lack excitement and challenge, the time spent in them is so short and the game moves on to something new so quickly that Pirates!' less than impressive features are happily overlooked.
One such dodgy gameplay section happens if you wish to enter a French port that's hostile to you (because you've been mercilessly preying on Gallic frigates). You have to sneak in, at which point the gameplay goes all Metal Gear and you have to avoid the guards and sneak around the maze-like streets. Clearly the adventures of Solid Snake were the inspiration, but in reality these sojourns play more like Pac-Man (slowed to a crawl and without the pills) and are only mildly amusing at best.
However, this brief dip into mediocrity aside, Pirates! is a game that's difficult to resist. Like its predecessor, Sid Meier's game effortlessly takes the best of every style of gaming and mixes it into a consistent and enduringly charming whole. Certainly there are games with more strategy, and others with more action, but few, if any, can claim to be as breathlessly easy to enjoy. Little wonder that underneath the plush graphics so little has changed in Pirates! - it simply didn't need to.
PC Zone Staff
// Overview
Verdict
Thar be gold!
Uppers
Full of variety, colour and fun Impressive 3D visuals and Disney-style animation Excellent sound and music
Downers
Dull stealth sections Crying out for a multiplayer mode
If there was one aspect of the original Pirates! that was decidedly dodgy, it was the part of the game where you attacked settlements from the land. Today, having had a ton of real-time strategy games for inspiration, Sid Meier's all-new Pirates! has it sorted. Now, when you send a landing party ashore to attack a village from behind, you're treated to a far more interesting view. It's nowhere near the sophistication of the Total War series, or even C&C (in fact it plays more like North & South, if you remember that), but the 3D view is a welcome one, with cannonballs flying and swords flashing. Needless to say, taking a heavily fortified town is probably one of the most challenging parts of the game, but offers one of the greatest rewards for victory, bringing much coinage and the ability to decide who to install as the new governor.
Send out a landing party to plunder the townships.
// Missed Opportunity
It's an obvious flaw that will no doubt be receiving some love via the inevitable add-on, but Pirates! is a game screaming for some multiplayer action. At the very least there should have been some kind of deathmatch or capture the flag arena, where players could control single ships in battle. It may have seemed a trivial addition to make, but it would have been a great deal of fun. As competent as the AI is, out of all the battles in the game, the ship-to-ship assaults are the easiest to win.
Real human foes could have transformed the ship combat.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Full of variety, colour and fun
