You know how some games are really addicting, despite the simplistic nature of the way they play? Games like Sim City, or any of the Sim titles for that matter have that quality, as do games like Warcraft, or Diablo. They appear simple at the beginning, but as you continue to play, more doors keep opening up, more options become available, and the game is seemingly always giving you something new to experience. These games are deceptively deep. These games never get old. These games are destined to be classics. Sid Meier’s Pirates is one of those games.
"...this title is built on a strong foundation."
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I guess when one thinks about the addictive nature of this title, it only makes sense that it’s roots come from an earlier age in gaming, one many consider to be a golden one. The original Sid Meier’s Pirates released way back in 1987, and I wasn’t fortunate enough to own a computer at that point. I didn’t get to play the original, but if the original were half as good as this game, then I’d say I agree when it’s referred to as a classic. Even Sid Meier himself refers to it as his favorite work. It’s obvious this title is built on a strong foundation.
Pirates, fittingly begins with a flashback. Your characters wealthy, and evidently happy family is just sitting down to dinner. An Evil Captain to whom your family may or may not have connections with crashes the party. He kidnaps them and forces them into servitude. Naturally, your character (only a boy in this memory) escapes, vows he will free his family, and that he’ll see vengeance is brought down upon their captors.
After this, one more cinema plays and you pick which nation you’re going to represent, be it the English, Spanish, Dutch, or the French. The governor or whichever nation you pick asks you to attack a city of one of its enemies, and then you’re cast off into the open sea. The entire Caribbean opens up for your gaming pleasure, and what kind of adventure you go on, is ultimately up to you.
There are a few elements to keep in mind when sailing, however. The environment can sometimes be a nuisance or a blessing, depending on which way the wind blows that day, and you don’t want to crash into land, or wrecked ships. More importantly though, you are the captain of a crew, and a crew needs managing. This crew is a finicky bunch, and if you want to succeed, you’re going to have to keep them happy. One thing you’ll need to do is make sure there is lots of money to split amongst them. The more money, the happier they’ll be. And how does a pirate get money? By digging up buried treasure! Well, that’s one way, and a good one at that, but there are numerous ways. The easiest, quickest, and most accessible way is to loot other ships.
It’s not hard to find another ship. They sail about in a very high frequency. You do have to be careful with what ships you attack though. For example, you don’t want to pick an English ship to attack if you’ve allied yourself with the English. You’ll want to attack something Dutch, or French. Or maybe even another pirates ship. What you attack is ultimately up to you, but there might be consequences when you go back to town.
You can either sink the ship (which gets you nothing) or you can board and capture it. Ship to ship combat is fun, though not overly deep. You’ll need to get close enough to the ship to attack it, and still be able to avoid the enemies fire. You can try to take out their sails, knock their crew off board, or just plain old breech the hull. Some ships are faster than others, some have more firepower, and some have more durability, but your best bet for money’s sake it to board and capture.
"Every time I board a ship and out-swashbuckle an enemy, I usually yell ’Garrrrr matey!’ No lie."
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Most times when you board a ship you’ll have to sword fight the captain in a duel to the death. Not many games actually get me excited, so this part Pirates took me by surprise. Every time I board a ship and out-swashbuckle an enemy, I usually yell “Garrrrr matey!” No lie. After you beat an enemy you’re greeted with a wonderfully put together cut-scene detailing the pirates final moments, be it him falling off the back of the ship, or starting on fire and diving into the water to put it out. I do however wish there was more variety in how they’re defeated; you really do defeat a lot of enemies the same way, making you a very unoriginal pirate.
After you capture the ship you have the option to expand your crew by taking the ships crew, and you have the option to take all the ship’s cargo, which you can sell in towns and cities much like the graphing calculator classic Drug Wars. Different towns and cities offer different prices on goods, so you can get money that way as well. If you take the cargo, usually you’ll need to take the ship as well, which can also be sold off.
The town is basically a menu. You’ll sail into port, and you’ll receive a list of options. You can talk with the governor, visit the tavern, talk with the merchant, see what the shipwright can do, or divide your plunder and disassemble your crew. The shipwright can upgrade, repair, and buy ships off of you. There are all kinds of upgrades available for ships, but each port has only one.
The merchant is where you’ll find the second part to a happy crew. You’ll need to buy food on a semi-regular basis, depending on the size of your crew. The bigger the crew, the more food you’ll need to buy. No food equals an unhappy crew. Food can also be looted from ships, so if you’re looting regularly, chances are you won’t need to buy any.
The tavern, which is probably my favorite place to visit, offers up several options. You’ll be able to talk to the barmaid, who knows all the latest gossip, from which ships have the most gold to plunder, to what kind of underpants an enemy pirate wears. Maybe not that, but they overhear a lot. You can then talk to the mysterious traveler in the back of the pub, who can sell you items or offer information. You can also increase the size of your crew. Sometimes you’ll gain information about your lost family here as well.
Talking to the governor can be an interesting experience, though it’s predictable after a while. He’ll always greet you, tell you which nations his is at war or has a treaty with, and congratulate you on your latest accomplishment. What he does next depends on the nation he represents. If you’ve attacked a bunch of ships from his nation, he’ll reprimand you, sometimes demanding reparations. If you’re in good standings, you’ll probably get promoted to a higher rank, and maybe be introduced to the governor’s daughter.
The governor’s daughter may ask you to dance, and if I’ve learned one thing from this game, it’s that governors usually have ugly daughters, no matter how the game describes them. The dancing is performed with the number pad, like the rest of the game. She’ll make a motion with her hand, and you’ll have to press the corresponding key to follow her. You can swoon her with some smooth moves, which sometimes grants you an item, or information, or you can screw up completely and have her blow you off.
Sometimes the governor will ask that you take an enemy city by force (like in the beginning of the game, which I respectfully ignored the first time I played), and for that you’ll need to amass a crew of a larger size. You’ll then take them on land, and raid the city, which is done through a simple yet effective turn based strategy game. The map is divided into squares, and you’ll then move sections of your crew forward, as will the enemy. Eventually they’ll attack each other, and usually who ever has the most troops wins, and there isn’t much strategy involved, but it’s a nice diversion which nets you some serious credibility with whoever asked you to do it.
The game isn’t without it’s faults though. Mainly the faults are small, but detract from the experience still. Talking to the governors of any town, ruled by any nation is largely the same experience. Sure they look a tad different, and the rooms do as well, but they all do the same thing. And they’re really bad at keeping track of your loyalty, since it’s possible to work for all the nations at the same time, lessening the need to stay loyal. I also would like to have seen more variety in the animations during sword fighting. I once kicked two seperate people through the same exact banister (which mysteriously reappeared) in the same tavern, one after the other. Also, it’s not uncommon to get sick of the same exact things happening in every tavern in the whole Carribean. It’s small flaws like this that keep this title from perfection.
"the barmaid, who knows ... which ships have the most gold to plunder, to what kind of underpants an enemy pirate wears."
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Some may find fault in the replay system the game employs, but I commend it. Your character ages as you play, and it’s up to you to retire him. Eventually, he becomes too old for the rigors of pirating, and his sword skills diminish in speed, making fighting harder, and sometimes impossible. You’ll then retire him, and need to start over, which means you could try the game from a whole new perspective, and play a whole new different way. You could always loot that English schooner you had your eye on, or rescue that family you neglected (God knows I forgot about them). The thing that makes this game so great is that the game never forces you to do something. You’re allowed to do what you want, when you want to do it.
So really, how you experience the world of Sid Meier’s Pirates is up to you. Sid Meier knows that the player is capable of creating their own enjoyable experience when given the right tools, and those tools are provided in the form of Sid Meier’s Pirates. Look no further for buried treasure, it comes in the form of one of this era’s soon to be classics.
