The Pirates brand name is one that is synonymously renowned with gamers of most ages. The first title, a classic, was released way back in 1987, and was built upon in 1993. Fast forward to 2004, and Sid Meier’s Pirates made its third appearance on the PC. The turnaround time between titles significantly dropped when an Xbox version was released soon after. With most people having had their fun with the titles by now, it was somewhat surprising to hear that, almost three years after the 2004 release, Sid Meier’s Pirates would find its way to the PSP. While a lot has been simplified in order to bring the game to he handheld, the development team have done a splendid job of doing so.
The story for Sid Meier’s Pirates is a very basic one that leaves a lot open and up to the player. You take the role of an anonymous youth whose family was kidnapped by the most notorious pirate of the times. At age twenty, the defaultly-named Incognito sets off on the literally open seas to discover fame, fortune and find his missing family. You start off by picking your name (though Incognito actually suits him), your speciality (this can range from fencing to charm to navigation, each of which have a positive impact on that aspect of the game), your captaincy rank, and the time era which you play in. Keep in mind that the default era, 1660, is the easiest, because that was the time that pirates were most active, and you’ll get the most out of the game.
You're going to have to earn your keep for a ship that big.
Following this, you choose the country that you wish to side with, though it's possible to gain rankings and acclaim with all four countries. The Spanish have a huge amount of ports throughout the game, the English and French have a fair amount of concentrated ports, while the Dutch have very few ports. However, the Dutch seem to be at war with everyone most of the time. It’s these variations that will force you to play diplomatically for a while, but you’ll eventually have all countries in your favour if you play the right way. Advancement within each country brings its rewards, primarily rankings that will bring player bonuses.
For those who are unaware, Sid Meier’s Pirates from 2004 effectively took the sandbox genre to the open seas. While your ultimate goal was to find your family and take down the scurvy dog that started all this by investigating the Caribbean Sea, there was plenty to see and do in between. There was no way that the depth and intricacy of the PC version could have been brought over entirely intact. However, as we mentioned in our hands-on preview, the developers have done a very fine job of bringing the game to the handheld format. The core gameplay and depth have remained intact, but things have been simplified so that the game is facilitated for the handheld medium.
Once you’ve joined a country, you almost immediately take over as the ship’s captain, and from there you’re left to do pretty much as you see fit. Within the first ten minutes of gameplay, your steering your ship and are on your way. Steering is as easy as pressing left or right on the D-pad, taking into account the direction of the wind of course. Just as steering is easy, so are naval battles, which become commonplace if you want to capture other ships and make your own fleet (of up to five ships) or advance in the game in general. If the ships come too close together, you’ll be forced into a duel with the opposing ship's captain. Win, and the ship, crew and stocks are yours for the taking, or sometimes you’ll find something more valuable for your quest. Lose, and you’re left with your rear end hanging out the seat of your pants, without a ship and sometimes in jail.
Would you have preferred strategy or action?
Apart from battles and duels, both of which are simply and intuitively translated, you got to do a fair bit of investigating. In each of the several towns that you enter, you can speak to the governor, who will give you tasks, information, promotions and the opportunity to take his daughter to the ball. The last exercise, if completed properly, can yield valuable items or information. Towns also have a tavern, which can be used to hire crew, or speak to the bartender for clues or “the Mysterious Gentleman”, who gives out clues, sells items and gives quests. Finally, towns have merchants for trade and shipwrights for repairs. Whether or not you can utilise these in town will depend on your status with regards to the town nationality. There are also Missionaries and Villages where you can trade, as well as gain tasks and information.
Your status can be raised through gaining ranks with a country, capturing pirates, finding their treasures, your family and - later on - lost cities. Your quests are primarily unearthed as you play, with the primary one being to defeat the head pirate of the time and find your family. To do so, you have one big map, that indicates exactly what you need to do to advance. However, there are a myriad of interesting and fruitful sidequests along the way. Most will involve you finding an elusive fugitive and/or several map pieces that point to a treasure that needs to be retrieved.
Whilst speedy players can wipe through the game in around ten hours, and those who take a bit more time can clock it at around fifteen, the game’s variety of scenarios and intricacies allow for great replay value. Finally, there has been a multiplayer mode added on top that allows for naval battles over ad-hoc. It doesn’t add that much to the game when compared to the singleplayer, but can certainly be fun in short bursts.
Duels are great fun.
As good a job that has been done on converting the game, there are a few noticeable faults. For the most part, the game is technically competent, with quick load times and proper function. Still, the load times can get excessive in number and there are a couple of instances of ships sailing across land. In terms of gameplay, there can be some quiet moments when you’re sailing, especially against the wind over long distances. These feel rather out of place on the handheld. When "raiding a town", the game reverts to a strategy-type grid, though we couldn’t help but think that an action set-up would have been more appropriate. Finally, as you play, you’ll find a number of inconsistencies and gaps. For example, we had beaten and captured the Evil Baron Raymondo, to find out information about our family so many times that we’ve lost count and wonder why he didn’t just give us all the information in the first place.
Graphically, Sid Meier’s Pirates is quite reminiscent of its 2004 PC predecessor. Obviously, it doesn’t have all the details of the original, but the most important aspect has made it over very well. That is, the over-the-top and exaggerated style of the game that gave it such a unique personality. Technically, apart from a few inconsistencies, the game runs rather smoothly, and with enough detail to be functional. In terms of sound, the actual soundtrack is rather jovial and upbeat, but only when you approach a town. Otherwise it cuts in and out rather quickly, and generally feels like it’s being under-utilised. Sound effects do a good job, but become a touch repetitive. Voicing is confined to a simlish-type language.
Overall, Sid Meier’s Pirates is great little game that has been well developed to take into account the differences between a PC and a PSP. The result is a game that is not only playable on the go, but a lot of fun as well. It retains the depth, variety and personality of the PC game and even though there are a couple of blemishes, the final product is one that can be enjoyed by just about anyone. That is, as long as you’re willing to get into the spirit of things.
Still a good game either way, should be able to find the PSP version cheaper anyway.
Loading...
