Sid Meier's Pirates!

I’m not normally the guy that beams with joy whenever an old classic is revitalized and updated. The main reason for this is the many disappointments I’ve had with such updated classics.

Though my low expectations have rarely been proven wrong I couldn’t help but feel excited when I received my copy of the 2004 version of Sid Meier’s Pirates! The happy days of Amiga gaming came right back to me and suddenly I couldn’t wait to travel the Caribbean as a fearsome pirate.

Yarr! The seven seas be my home!

You’ll quickly notice that few things have changed since the original game. It may not be quite what you expected but at the same time it feels very comfortable knowing most details inside out. It’s not all old news of course, and the graphics do look a lot better than back then.

You’ll be given a ship right away, so you need not worry about working hard to get the basic pirate-starter-pack up and running. But in Pirates! you don’t necessarily have to play the role of a merciless villain – you can make an honest living as a hard working merchant or diplomat if that’s your preference.

Depending on the current diplomatic climate you’ll gain various benefits from attacking certain nations, among which we find Spain, Holland, and France. This can advance your social status and even make an impression on the governor’s daughter. But to really woo her, you must engage in some piratey Dance Dance Revolution…

It’s all about the ladies

When it’s time to impress the women, the game switches to a ballroom where you must match dancing steps with the keypad. If you manage to be a true pirate Lord of the Dance she’ll fall for you. The general rule in the game is that the prettier the lady the harder the dance.

And just remember that just because the lady thinks you’re nice you still need to provide her with jewellery and the likes to keep her interested. In turn your sweetheart provides you with valuable information about your family, wanted criminals’ hideouts etc.

I’ll take ‘em all on!

Of course everything can’t be all dancing and partying – as a pirate you usually spend most of your time at sea hunting for fame and treasure. Any ship you encounter can be attacked, in which case the screen changes to a close-up of the two ships, and from here you can either choose to board the enemy immediately or soften him up with your cannons first.

Depending on your upgrades you can choose between three types of cannonballs. There’s the standard round ones, balls with chains to destroy enemy sails and finally you can fire metal shards directly at the enemy crew.

Settle it with swords

When you feel the cannons have made their point it’s time to board the enemy ship. If you’ve completely demoralised your opponents they’ll surrender immediately, if not, then you have to beat the enemy captain in a swordfight, and you have to bear in mind that your crew’s performance in the battle is dependent of your own skill.

Victory means taking over the ship with cargo and crewmembers who will rather join your pirate ranks than swim all the way home. If you are defeated, however, you’ll be thrown behind bars for up to a year, unless you posses the cunningness to avoid the guards and escape before the end of your sentence.

Participate in the community

As you wreak havoc at sea your reputation grows and this will enable you to gain promotions from the governor provided his in a good mood.

In the towns you can buy supplies and upgrades and you can also pay a visit to the local inn to recruit new crewmembers, hear some gossip – and perhaps get some useful information. In the inn, you sometimes also find the mysterious stranger some dodgy character sitting in a corner, who can provide you with new skills, jewellery, treasure maps and so on.

“Dear scumba… I mean esteemed colleague”

Finding hidden treasures is always cool but usually the owner of said treasure obviously feels differently about this. Of course getting some angry pirates to hunt you isn’t all bad, if you can teach them a lesson. As we all know, the quickest way to the top is to kick the crap out of the competition, right?

As a bonus, people will generally be very grateful if you rid the seas of another pirate, so dealing with your rivals is also a good way to get promoted.

Aging gracefully

As time progresses, your character will get older and eventually your abilities and health will decrease. You are free to continue your career as a pirate for as long as you wish, but bear in mind that battles will grow tougher and tougher and your risk of being sent in jail therefore increases.

Luckily you can retire when you feel the time is right. Depending on your performance you can end up spending your retirement as everything from beggar to farmer. The ultimate goal is to become a governor but that of course takes a lot of skill.

The new robes

The graphics in Pirates! generally keep to a retro-like presentation that suits the game well. Make no mistake; the visuals have been updated to match today’s standards but Pirates! doesn’t need to be packed and disguised in flashy graphics.

While the retro-style works well for the visuals the same cannot be said of the sound. Music in the game is decent but the sound effects could have used some more work. Specifically the indecipherable chatter that makes up conversations in the game should have been replaced with some good voice acting.

If you are a fan of the original game there’s no question about it, get Pirates! and get it now. The game is still great despite its 17 years of age.

Newcomers that haven’t played Pirates! before can also buy this game without worries. Sid Meier and his crew have managed to update one of the major classics of gaming so that it is now a worthy example of the fact that good gameplay never goes out of fashion.

Source: Boomtown DK
English version by: Julian Henlov (Progrock)