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Ever since watching “Pirates of the Caribbean” a year and a half ago, I’ve wanted to live the life of a pirate. Not the scurvy-ridden, town pillaging kind of pirate, but the romantic, womanizing, swashbuckling kind., Due to the fact that I am afraid of swords and hate rum, I could not make this dream a reality, no matter how hard I tried. I even returned my parrot to PetCo, although I remain a fan of booty and peg-legs. “Sid Meier’s Pirates!” for the computer is the closest thing to living out my pirate fantasy that I can find.
“Pirates!” is a remake of a 1987 game by the same name, and mostly follows the story and gameplay of the original. 18 years has done wonders for the graphics, however. Gone are the three-pixel boats replaced instead by lush, opulent boats of different classes, ranging from small merchant ships to huge war vessels.
The game does a great job of staying true to its roots and keeps gameplay simple and entertaining. If you are looking for an in-depth, brain-stimulating strategy game this probably isn’t the game for you. The name Sid Meier implies a certain degree of strategy, like “Civilization,” and “Pirates!” does have elements of strategy, but for the most part it is not a thinking-man’s game.
You play the role a privateer in search of your family that was torn from you at the age of eight. Although, any form of plot takes a backseat for most of the game. In reality the purpose of the game is to attack other ships, commandeer these ships after you have defeated them and then sell their goods at different ports for gold. Along with navel battles you can also duel, attack towns, romance governors’ daughters and look for buried treasure.
The navel battles are probably the most entertaining portion of the game. As you sail around the Caribbean you can view other ships, their destination and their cargo, and you can choose to attack them if you so desire. When you do battle, you use arrow keys to move your ship and fire your cannons. While it may sound rather simple, it is rather refreshing and straightforward gameplay. Once you cause enough damage to the other ship with your cannons, you will either force them to surrender or you can board their ship and duel with their captain, this is most advantageous when your crew substantially outnumbers theirs. After you win a battle you can keep the boat and then sell it later or turn it into your flagship and upgrade it to make it faster, more powerful and in other ways.
Attacking towns is an interesting affair, as it is setup as a turn-based strategy, as you move your pirates around the land and then computer moves the town’s officers as you fight it out. If you win then you plunder the town – but surprisingly don’t rape the women – and take all of their supplies to sell.
Between attacking ships and plundering towns – in a G-rated manner – you can also accept missions for governor’s of various towns like escorting a ship or seeking out and destroyed ships.
Throughout the game you earn fame points by successfully romancing a governor’s daughter, destroying other pirate ships and taking over towns. There is also a list of the top 10 pirates on the water and you can watch as you move up or down on it, depending on what kind of activities you are partaking in.
“Pirates!” is not the kind of game you are going to play for months and months, but it is the perfect if you are looking to kill some time and want a game that is a real throwback to the games of yesteryear.
Bangor Daily News