Avast Ye Scurvy scalliwags! Pirates has sailed unto the Xbox!

Pirates! was an outstanding success on the PC when it was released last year, but PC to Xbox ports has always been a risky proposition. Could the same blend of action, strategy, and resource management survive a port to the big black box? In order to secure the game future on the Xbox, the teams at 2K Games and Firaxis took extra development time and added new features. Do these new additions make this a must-have for Xbox owners? Or should Pirates! walk the plank into obscurity?

GAMEPLAY:

As the game opens you are treated to a serviceable, but by no means outstanding intro, setting up the story for the main character. After some basic trait-choosing for your character you are thrust, without any help whatsoever, right into the game. That’s the biggest problem with the game, and it should have been addressed early on. Why is there no training mode for the majority of the games basic features? While some parts of the game are obviously designed, such as a mini-game where you fight off a large number of the enemy crew in order to even the odds for your own attack men, others leave you clueless. Take, as an example, dueling a ship’s captain. Jumping over an enemy's sword swipe is not as simple as tapping up on the joypad, but rather tapping B while holding up the on the joypad. Not knowing this info right off the bat gets a starting player captured during the first duel. A simple tutorial display would have solved this problem, and may have clued a new player in on some of the more intricate details of being a ship’s captian.

Another example is managing crew. A starting player has no idea how to keep men happy(eww...- ed.), and doesn’t even know the cost of divvying up what meager treasure he has. Ship combat is another hurdle to overcome, as there is no indication of what the various shot types do. Lastly, when a person visits a merchant, he hasn’t got any idea what each item he has on hand are for, as they are only represented by symbols. He doesn’t know he needs food to keep his own crew happy, and may wind up getting marooned due to the fact his men rebelled. These are simple issues that could have been addressed during development time and are confusing omissions. Thankfully, any problem described can be overcome with experience. Once you get tossed in jail for raiding the wrong vessel or not having enough crew on hand to capture it, you won’t make that same mistake again.



I put my money on the guy not named “Slappy”.

Despite these flaws, Pirates still makes one fun game to play. It’s very open ended, allowing you to choose the life you lead. Do you become an honest trader, traveling between ports, and exchanging goods for gold? Or do you choose to become a privateer, attacking ships and raiding ports for the King, Queen and country? Even better, do you throw caution to the wind, and become a vicious pirate who has no allegiance to anyone and seizes anything that meets his fancy? The choice is yours to make.

Almost everything in the game is accomplished thru some well thought out timed mini-game. Want to charm a governor’s daughter? A dancing mini-game ensues. Trying to escape from prison? A nice third person stealth game, complete with behind the back knockouts and conveniently placed bales of hay to hide behind. Unlike other games of this ilk, however, these don’t feel out of place and are integrated nicely. However, mention must be made to the fact that this is a rather clean game. When you slice into an enemy captain, there is no blood to speak of. A serious chop to the head doesn’t even slow down your enemy’s fancy footwork, as he still dodges your attacks with ease. I am not an expert on pirates, but I am certain they didn’t get a peg leg from falling overboard.