Review - Monday 1st January 2007 - 12:00am
This is definitely a trip down memory lane, if you can remember that far. In 1990, a game called “pirates!” was released on the Amiga. It featured open-ended gameplay, exploration, a world map, and redbeard. It was an instant success 15 years ago. It was so good, it seems, that gameleons decided to port it to mobile platform. And might I add to what a fine job they did too. Arrrr.
The game puts you in the shoes of an ambitious, 18-year-old pirate, who ages along with gameplay. You begin with an average ship,a few resources and a handful of crew. You’ll probably want to explore for a while- you’ll be sailing through England, France, Spain and the Caribbean on an enormous game map. Your aim in the game is basically to become the best pirate throughout the seven seas. To do this, you’ll have to trade with friendly towns, carry out missions, destroy rival ships and generally make a name for yourself.
When I first caught a glance of the game, I have to admit that I wasn’t very impressed. Most of the graphics are quite grainy, while the battle animations look inferior to most other games. I don’t know if gameleons were trying to preserve the nostalgic feel of the game, or just rushing it, but it’s definitely an area for improvement.
As mentioned before, the “seven seas” here are pretty huge for a mobile game. You can visit Gibraltar, Havana and other well known cities in their seventeenth century forms. You’ll also be able to pop into local businesses, such as docks, taverns and banks. The taverns are particularly important, as you may recruit new crew members, accept missions, and get up to date on the latest going-ons of the pirating world. You can also annoy countries by attacking their ships. Beware though; you won’t be able to sail safely in their waters if you do. There are also unclaimed pirate cities, which can be used to get discount services, and to store money in more secure banks.
The battle system is very easy to pick up. Simply target a ship (or wait for a ship to target you). You’re then taken to a separate view, where only you and the enemy ship are shown. It’s simple, turn based battling. Your course of action is determined by how far away you are from your opponent. If you’re far away, you can fire the cannons; if you’re near, you can get your crew members to board the enemy ship and attempt to take it over. If your take over is successful, you can use the ship you’ve just stolen, and take its resources, which saves the bother of buying one of the 14 ships available. It also means you can spend more on upgrading your ship.
In short, pirates still has the edge it had on the Amiga all those years ago. The huge map, wealth of cities and towns, open-ended gameplay and surprisingly entertaining battle system provides the player with a game that boasts of a huge replayability value.
