Product Description

In Pirates! you take the role of a pirate captain in the Caribbean in the 17th century, amassing fame and fortune as you attempt to become one of the most revered pirates in history. Test your skills as a sea captain as you explore the high seas and exotic ports in a richly detailed 3-D world. Overtake the enemy and seize valuable booty. Exchange plank-shattering broadsides in fierce naval battles and engage in duels with worthy opposing captains.

As your reputation and skills grow, so will the size and quality of your crew and your ability to take on larger enemy ships, raid and plunder heavily fortified ports and locate ancient treasure. There's a whole cast of interesting and dangerous characters to meet, mysteries to solve, exotic island destinations to discover and powerful alliances to forge.

The new Pirates! has the great gameplay and design simplicity of the award-winning original while adding more challenging and exciting battle options and deeper and more varied role-playing experience, including multiple paths to a wealthy, happy retirement.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5854 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Take 2
• Released on: 2005-07-22
• Rating: To Be Announced
• Platform: Xbox

Customer Reviews

Pirates! Ate My Life
This is essentially the same game that I first played on the Commodore 64 nearly 20 years ago. Graphically it's vastly superior, of course, but in game terms it's all but identical. A bell here, a whistle there, but largely unchanged. Thank God for that! Don't try to fix what ain't broke. Of course, this does mean that it has exactly the same "I'll just go there/sink this/capture that/explore the other" factor that made the original so addictive; it will eat into time you should really be spending on your work, family and social life. Then again, you have the chance to be one of the most notorious pirates who ever lived. Which is more important? I think we all know the answer to that.

Wonderful little game
First off I have to admit this was not quite what I had expected it to be, never having played the original. But I picked it up as it looked kind of fun and it proved to be great - I've barely put it down since!

The merits in this game, as some of the other reviewers have mentioned, are its simplicity and its variety. The gameplay is very straightforward and quite easy at lower levels although you can increase the difficulty as you go along, making ship battles harder to win and duel's more dangerous. The ship controls took a little while to get the hang of, but once you've got it sorted you can hapily sail around the highly detailed Carribean, sink mechant ships, wage war for your nation, or take on all comers (including historical pirates) to be crowned the greatest pirate on the sea!

There are so many elements to this game (duelling, sailing, sieges, dances, trading) that it's hard to get bored. There is a central story revolving around your lost family but the open-ended gameplay means you can do your own thing quite happily. If you do go for the story, though, it is challenging and does require you dedicate your time to it - when i tried first time I kept getting distracted by various wars and as a result was too old to complete my quest.

Although simple, there is an incredible attention to detail that you would expect from Sid Meier - as the central character gets older, for example, your crew gets harder to keep under control as they start looking for youthful captains and your reactions are slower in duels.

There are various concept scetches and the like you can unlock through completing quests in the game, which is a nice addition.

Overall, a great little game. Lots of fun that will keep you occupied for an hour or two at a time, and with such diversity you can keep on coming back to it, trying different things each time. By the way, the game doesn't take itself too seriously - if you're looking for a serious role play game, this is not it!

All Round Fun
Ultimately, Pirates is a simple game in an age where games are becoming more and more complicated with much more involved storylines, not that it's a bad thing.

What makes this such a good game is the sheer variety involved. You play the captain of a band of pirates and you start out with your little ship which you can upgrade and trade in for bigger vessels. There is a storyline you can work through by completing various quests and the gameplay revolves around several different events.

Chase down other ships and engage them in battle. Battles can be won by destroying the enemy ship, killing all it's crew or defeating the captain in single combat. The more crew you kill, the easier these single combats are. On defeating a ship, you can plunder and sink it or add it to your fleet, building up your own armada.

Of course, at some point, you're forced to return to port and divide up your ill-gotten gains, at which point you are reduced back down to just your flagship. In port, you can also stock up on supplies and recruit more crewmen. You can even visit the ports governor and try to impress his daughter with your dancing skills.

With four nations represented(England, France, Spain and Holland), the continual plundering of a single nations ships will see a bounty placed on your head and if you need to dock in one of those enemy nations ports you will face a hostile reception. At this point, you can choose to attack the port from the sea, engage in a land battle or sneak into town.

While none of these individual game types is particularly in depth, it is the variety that makes this game. With reasonable sound, lush graphics and some comedic interludes, this is one you can pick up time and time again and still enjoy.