Sid Meier's Pirates!

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This game is just moderately good.

My first experience with similiar game was "The great voyage era 2" by KOEI (a japanese game translated in chinese) and that was about 10 years ago. That game came with diversified characters and major plots to choose from. A female Spanish pirate to clear her name, an Arabic merchant to convert all ports, a Dutch explorer of make the first world map and an Italian noble to restore his house. The background was the world, the whole world from China to the New World. And what does Sid Meier's Pirates! gave me? Just the Caribbean. 10 years of hardware advancement ...

Sid Meier's Pirates! was fun at first. It includes the usual elements that make one addicted to the games, getting bigger ships, getting hotter chicks, getting rarer loot, getting more pirate heads on my pikes, etc. Of course after sometime when things became repeatative, the game is not fun anymore. Restarting the game with new character and highier difficulty is just repeating what were done previously. The new character was still trying to save all his family members. Open ended gameplaying process with linear story line.

Fans of previous Pirates might want to play this game for old times' sake. New players might want to play this game for a new taste of different gameplay. But KOEI fans might want to skip this and go back to KOEI's various versions of "pirates".

 

The game is awesome for a week, then you have done everything there is to be done a 100 times over and the game goes to the shelf. It is very shallow and it wouldnt have taken much effort from the developers to give it another week of gameplay by putting in some more villains and some other diversity. There are seven (7) different things it is possible to do in the game, if you dont do one you do another. Dont take me wrong, I am not really bashing the game, it is a lot of fun but for a very limited amount of time.

 

Heh, to think I'm currently playing Uncharted Waters 2: New Horizons (that is the game you mentioned, teekc), and I'm really enjoying it.

 

So....How did this game get ratings as good as Half-Life 2?

 

Because it absolutely and totally rocks.

Well, Pirates! does, Sid Meier's Pirates! is the original Pirates! with better graphics and worse gameplay.

 

Anyone know how to get that stupid little dance with the governor's daughter straightened out ? I seem to make a few wrong steps every time, and i've never succesfully finished one, even though i have these special danceslippers.

 

It's just a test of reflexes. You just have to play enough to remember the usual routines. She wouldn't randomly give directions, instead she randomly chooses from the preset sequences. There is one that involves up-left down-left down-up-left down-left down. There is another that follows as right/left down-left/right-right/left down-left/right.

In case you haven't noticed, you follow her directions (her gesture) to determine which bottom to press.

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The game gets its high rating for exceeding it's precursor and open-endedness. But that's about it. It doesn't get a rating as high as HL2, but PC Gamer, disappointingly, gave it editor's choice 91%. As i go through the article, i seriously cannot find out which quality the article mentioned that made the game worth a 91.

 

Yeah i know, but i always make one or two false moves. I'm close to getting it done, but somehow i always screw up in the end.

 

It's just like the first ones, in this regard.

Honestly, Pirates and Civilization and Alpha Centauri and Panzer General II and Defender of the Crown and a whole bunch of other games. You feast for a little while, and then go do some other things, and then feast again.

It's every bit as good as the first one. There's some...small things that could have been done quite a bit better (or not done at all [dancing]), but overall, it's still an excellent game.

 

Shiver me timbers, it's a good game, and those of ye who disagrees will be keelhauled!!

Arr, mateys!!

 

joa,

Couldn't agree more.

 

Yes, a good game and lots of fun as this was my first pirate game, lasted longer for a week for me as I play it on and off, but its getting boring. I can still enjoy playing it, but it won't last much longer.

I should've bought Battle For Middle Earth instead!

 

Pirates! is great for me and my husband. He has fond, fond memories of the original. He goes into rapture at the graphical display of fluttering sails and dolphins following ships. If you liked/loved the original game, you will feel the same about the update.

Yes, the game play time is short and it doesn't have much of a story. Rescue relatives and take revenge on Marquis de la Montalban - la tee dah. Flirt with girls - boy oh boy.

The point, I think, is replayablity. It wasn't meant for a year-long campaign. You age. You get injured. You accomplish goals. You retire. This takes place around 1500s or so, depending on what era you chose. People didn't live long then anyway, especially buccaneers/pirates/privateers. Backgammon is even shorter and I still return to it just as I do Pirates!

As for PCG's 91% - nostalgia more than anything. Most of the staff are late twenties to early thirties and remember these kinds of games with joy.

The dancing I can do without, personally. The only way my husband and I found to get the 'big score' at the end of the dance was to take Wit and Charm as character stats, wear the dancing boots/slippers and get really, really good (read here: reflexive) on what moves the daughter whips on you. The plain ones are more blatant with hand movements while the beautiful ones barely lift a finger. You can always find more upgrades for fighting skills - poofy shirt, brace of pistols, steel breastplate, finely-balance sword, etc. than you'll get for improved dancing.

As Sid said, "This is the Pirates! I wanted to make back in the 80s." Meaning how spendid the graphics are.