|
Related Material
PICS | Trans | Rom | Movies | Music | Help
Time needed to play: 4 hours
Pirates Gold is a console version of the ancient PC game Sid Meier’s Pirates! If you know the name Sid Meier, you know that it is equated with some of the best strategy games ever designed. Sid is responsible for Civilization, Alpha Centauri, and many other great games.
This game falls more into the strategy genre than the rpg genre. It has a very minimal story but many gameplay options. The setting for the game is The Caribbean Sea. The Spanish, English, Dutch and French all have colonies in the area and they are constantly at war with one another. Since most of these countries keep their navy close to Europe, this leaves their colonies somewhat unprotected. This makes a grand opportunity for a pirate or privateer. To set up the game you pick the time period you want to play in, your nationality, and your best skill. These few choices can make for very different games.
The gameplay is very solid in this game. The battles and navigation are easy to control, yet fun. You have countless options, from trading, to working for the governor of a colony, to piracy, to raiding towns. There are several different types of ships to acquire and many varied quests to complete. You can’t really win the game in the traditional sense. Instead, you retire whenever you are getting old enough that a life of piracy is difficult. The game then tells you how you fared based upon your marital status, gold acquired and rank in the navy. It gives you a short epilogue of what your character settled down to become after piracy based on these and many other factors.
There are four types of combat in the game: ship to ship, ship to town, captain to captain, and army to army. Ship to ship involves you and your opponent maneuvering in the open sea and exchanging volleys of cannon fire until one ship is destroyed or boarded. When you attack a town with your ship you must avoid being hit by the fort’s cannons and land close enough to scale the fort walls. Either of these results in a captain to captain sword duel in which you pick a sword and duel the opposing leader until one of you is defeated. In an army to army battle you and your crew march across land to attack a town. This involves controlling multiple units of cavalry and rifleman and using them to dispatch the enemy forts and soldiers. All combat is played in real time and is very exciting.
The only major problem with this game is its lack of story. Their really isn’t a plot to follow other than the random events that occur throughout the game, while this allows for variable outcomes and makes for great replayability, gamers who are used to Final Fantasy and other traditional console rpgs may be dissapointed.
Pros
-Great gameplay
-Easy to control
-Very good replayability
Cons
-No story
Tips
-Its best to stick to the smaller ships like sloops and pinnaces. They are easier to handle in battle and aren’t affected by shoals in the water.
-Be very cautious when you attack a town. Make sure the wind is with you so you can sail in fast.
-Keep track of the Silver Train and the Treasure Fleet and attack them when they are docked at a town with few forts and soldiers.
-Keep good relations with at least one country by not attacking its ships so you will have safe ports to dock at.
|
|