I had not played any of the Port Royale games, up until now. I really had no idea what to expect when I saw this game on my desk. If you haven’t played any of the other games, I’d explain it like this: Pirates meet Tropico. If you haven’t played Tropico, get out from under the rock.
The game instantly gives us a choice, this choice decides how the game will play out. You can pick two paths; adventurer (Cool guy!) or Trader (Guy who doesn’t wear hats) and we all know, that those with hats are superior.
The game has a story that changes depending the profession you pick but changes quite drastically. This choice will have you either in and out of wars and battles or sailing from island to island carrying barrels of goods. But traders still make for targets so you’ll get your fair share of action.
The game focuses on two main points: the player’s ability to battle ships, and the ability to manage them. This means dealing out weapons appropriately and setting up trading routes. You also have to hire your crew correctly. The more crew you have the more money you lose but the faster you reload cannons and you’ll have an easier time plunderin’ other boats. In order to hire crew you have to have a bit of love with a town. If a town doesn’t like you then people won’t be jumping up and down to join. So you’ll have a limited amount of people you can hire.
Once you have a good crew, and some good trading patterns you can really kick some arse. Eventually you can form up a convoy which is basically a team of boats. You can nominate one to be the warship, which is the one you control but you can of course have the AI control a few too. Now if you’re like me, and you’re not actually very good at the game you’ll get a load of debt trying to form a huge war convoy to take on a city, you’ll also fail. So it’s important not to go right into the deep end until you’re ready.
The game is really open, you can go where you like when you like. Do what you want when you want, to the games limits obviously. I even stumbled across treasure by accident, that was nice. Perhaps most satisfying is the looks you get from sitting playing a game and shouting “Ar! What a fine day for plunderin’!” or “Ye smelly scurvy dogs wantin’ on me boat!?” at the TV.
The main bad point of the game is only really bad to some people. The game is more like strategy game than action, you have to like this kind of empire building game to enjoy the game. If you’re looking for a thrill packed ride about pirates then get Sid Meire’s Pirates.
The other point, though less of an issue is that the game is clearly better on PC than any console. That’s where it should live, but it’s still good on the console. The interface will be better on PC I’m sure (We got an Xbox 360 copy.) The game is quite slow to start but if you stick it out and dig in you’ll have fun!
The game is not for everyone, but for those who like a challenge, pirates, and managing huge armadas. This is for you.
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