Reviewed: August 23, 2005
Reviewed by: Brendon Hivner
Publisher
2K Games
Developer
Firaxis Games
Released: : July 11, 2004
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB: Teen
8
8
8
7
7.9
Supported Features
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
Thankfully, living the life of a scallywag is becoming a bit more popular in games these days, but Sid Meier’s Pirates! was out before the vast majority of pirate games that came on to the scene (it was first released in 1987). But while games like Pirates of the Caribbean and Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat were games that explored the open-ended style of gameplay in the form of action and adventure, Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a remake in the form of a strategy/action title relying heavily on simple mini-games and timed button presses.
While the game first focuses on you trying to get back at the Spanish nobleman who did your family wrong, Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a game you can play in your own style, being extremely open-ended. Ultimately, you want to be able to retire with as much loot and fame as possible. Sure, you can exact your revenge on the bad guy, but the game is designed for you to be able to do your own thing.
Many things are involved in being a pirate, as any man worth his salt will tell you. You trade goods, sneak around hostile villages, woo the governor’s daughter, get into ship battles and numerous swordfights. Being the head of a ship demands good leadership ability too, so you’ll have to know how to properly ration out food and decide how you will divide your plunder. You can decide if you’ll make a newly won ship a part of your fleet or if you’ll sail it to a nearby port and sell it off. And that just barely scratches the surface of what the game has to offer.
With all there is to do in Pirates!, the pace is fantastic. In fact, the game, simple as it seems when talking about mini-games, holds a lot of depth. And yet being a part of this game and accessing its depth is so easy. Pirates! is a very simple game to pick up and play, and you can do all sorts of cool things within the first hour, which becomes very a very hard game to put down. There’s never a moment where you’re too far from achieving something. These small rewards in bite-size chunks make for a very addictive game.
Sword fighting and dancing are probably the most difficult mini-games because they require timed button presses. After a few tries you’ll start to recognize the game’s patterns, but even if you foul up there’s still a good chance you’ll emerge victorious in one way or another. The actual problem here is that, because these games are meant to be fast-paced, everything unfolds the exact same way.
You then notice that everything in the game is pretty much the same, which sorely hurts the epic feel. For example, every tavern is the same, looks the same, and has the same patrons. The unemployed seadogs are on the left, and the bar maid and bartender are on the right, with the “mysterious” stranger in the middle at a back table. The character models are exactly the same, save for at each pub, the clothing each character wears is a different color.
Sword battles and dances are the same too, but in a cinematic way. They are scripted exactly the same no matter what you do, which is a shame. Fortunately, the pacing is so excellent you can often play for hours without knowing it. The beauty of its simplicity mixed with tight, responsive controls makes Pirates! easy to pick up and hard to put back down. And yet, even with its simple design, the game boasts more depth than what initially meets the eye.
Visually, Pirates! won’t win any awards for pushing the Xbox hardware, but the light-hearted touch of the game shows in its crisp and clean design. The vivid coloring of the game certainly reminds you of the Caribbean, and though the cartoonish look of might put off pirate purists, it’s hard to resist the charming feel to the visual style. There are also many small details to be found (especially when sailing) to help with the game’s charming atmosphere.
Unfortunately, the framerate chugs now and then, and while it wouldn’t normally be an issue, the frames drop only at the most inopportune times (like during timed button sequences). Especially when dancing, anything that hurts the rhythm you’re trying to sustain makes the experience frustrating.
There’s nothing like good old fashioned gibberish to ye feel like a scallywag. Not really, but the Sims-like talk of the game’s characters simply can’t be denied. The musical score is more than good enough, as no pirate experience is complete without fitting music. The music helps to set the scene, and each action in the game is accompanied by appropriate music, but again with a cartoonish, fun touch.
Pirates! is a fairly meaty game in the single player alone, but there are also Vs. ship battles that up to four players can join. While not much more than a tacked-on extra in the grand scheme of things, it’s still pretty fun to gather some friends up and blast one another for awhile.
There is also downloadable content being promised via Xbox Live, like sails and flags (among other equipment), and you’re also able to upload your high scores.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! has all the makings of the being the greatest of pirate games, but a few things hold it back, mostly because of the “sameness” it projects. Plain and simple, as deep as it is, Pirates! doesn’t have the epic feel of many games of this type due to its similarities throughout.
You never seem to get the feel that you’re traveling to all-new places, killing much of that exploration that makes these sorts of games great. Sure, you can still go about your business and be the swashbuckler you want to be, but your methods of travel (except when you’re on the open sea) feel limiting.
Still, the ship battles area blast (ha!) and the pacing of the game assures that you’re only a few steps away from accomplishing something for yourself, making the simple formula quite addictive. And the whole pirate mood is definitely here. Know what you want: If you’re looking for something along the lines of Pirates of the Caribbean or Morrowind, look elsewhere. But if the action/strategy genre gets you scurvy dogs hyped, this is just the game you’ve been waiting for.