Product Details
 | Sid Meier's Pirates! |
| List Price: | $19.99 |
| Price: | $9.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details |
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Ships from and sold by BLS Mart
34 new or used available from $2.98
Average customer review:
Product Description
From Sid Meier award winning creator of theCivilization Series.Product InformationRaid the Caribbean as a 17th-century pirate captain in this epic open-endedseafaring adventure.Pirates! offers players the chance to take on the role of a privateer the in Caribbean.From here the game is pretty much up to you. You can get involved in tradingtreasure hunting ship fights town assaults duels and all manner of otheractivities. The game is wonderfully episodic and presents a variety ofopportunities to the player based on context. You pick your nationality fromSpanish English French and Dutch a starting date and a special talent suchas sword fighting or ship handling. Dig up buried treasure Plunder French ports Engage in fierce naval battles Romance governor's daughters Duel enemy captainsOnce you've created a captain you're given a ship and a few men and taskedwith charting your own course through the waters of the Caribbean and thesometimes stormier sea of European politics. Based on Sid Meier's 1987 hit ofthe same name.Product Features Experience an all-new story built upon the most fun and compelling features of the original Pirates! game Live out multiple quests through a non-linear open life timeline where every decision poses distinct challenges and possibilities Witness the consequences of your actions in current events throughout the Pirates! world Battle overtake and command 27 different ship types enhanced with assorted ammo cannon and other upgrades Take on various foes including merchant and military captains ferocious pirates evil gentry and even rival suitors - each with different skills and abilities Confront enemies on board ships in seedy taverns on the ramparts and even at the Governor's mansion Wield weapons - or anything within your reach as you fence against foes Engage in fierce naval battles fighting single enemies or multiple ships Sneak into towns escape outProduct Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #1094 in Video Games
- Brand: 2K Games
- Model: 710425218392
- Released on: 2005-07-25
- ESRB Rating: Everyone
- Platform: Windows XP
- Original language: English
- Dimensions: .40 pounds
Features
- Experience the dangerous life of a pirate in this action-adventure game
- Play a Pirate Captain in the 17th century Caribbean, amassing fortune and fame
- Engage in fierce naval battles; battle, overtake, and command 27 ship types
- Explore the high seas and exotic ports in a richly detailed 3-D world
- Multiple quests through non-linear, open life timeline; enhanced sound effects
Editorial Reviews
From
the Manufacturer
Originally released in 1987, Pirates!
received unprecedented critical acclaim for crossing multiple game
genres to offer unique, unrivaled gameplay options. Pirates! set
the industry standard for innovative game design with its unique blend
of open-ended role-playing, real-time adventures and thrilling action
sequences.
Now it's time for Sid Meier and Firaxis Games to bring
this pioneering action-adventure game into the 21st century. An entirely
new game engine will deliver updated gameplay, stunning new features,
spectacular 3D graphics and enhanced sound effects, so players can fully
experience the intrigue, adventure and danger of life as a pirate on
the Spanish Main.
In Pirates! you take the leading role of a
Pirate Captain in the 17th century Caribbean amassing fortune and fame
in an attempt to seize your rightful place as one of the most revered
(and feared!) pirates in history. Test your skills as a sea captain
exploring the high seas and exotic ports in a richly detailed 3D world.
Overtake the enemy and seize valuable booty. Exchange plank-shattering
broadsides in fierce naval battles, and engage in duels with worthy
opposing captains.
The new Pirates! carries on with the
great gameplay and design simplicity tradition of the award-winning
original, while adding more challenging and exciting battle options. It
offers a deeper and more varied role-playing experience that includes
multiple paths to a wealthy retirement. This and many other features and
additions make this gaming classic one of the most highly anticipated
releases of this century!
Game Features:
- Experience an all-new story built upon the most fun and compelling features of the original Pirates! game
- Live out multiple quests through a non-linear, open life timeline where every decision poses distinct challenges and possibilities
- Witness the consequences of your actions in current events throughout the Pirates! world
- Battle, overtake and command 27 different ship types, enhanced with assorted ammo, cannon and other upgrades
- Take on various foes including merchant and military captains, ferocious pirates, evil gentry and even rival suitors -- each with different skills and abilities
- Confront enemies on board ships, in seedy taverns, on the ramparts and even at the Governor's mansion Wield weapons -- or anything within your reach -- as you fence against foes
- Engage in fierce naval battles fighting single enemies or multiple ships
- Sneak into towns, escape out of prisons, navigate around adversaries and surprise unsuspecting vessels Dispatch landing parties of buccaneers in strategic battles to take over entire cities
- Increase your riches and impress the governor's daughter with your charm, fame, heroism -- even your dancing abilities
- Collect items (swords, spyglasses, armor, hats, coats, etc.) that improve skills or provide other new benefits and view them in a new inventory system Enhance your gameplay experience with downloadable content including flags, sail emblems, character skins and more
- Action Game of the Year
- Computer Gaming World Magazine
- Historical Game of the Year
- Compute Magazine
- Best Fantasy/Role Playing Game
- Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts and Design
Customer Reviews
A Pirate's Life For You
There's a LOT of game in this
box.
There are enough delightful aspects to make it worth a
geezer gamer's time and enough light-hearted and simple action to be fun
for any kid old enough to enjoy _Treasure Island_. For the hardcore I
imagine it's just a romp.
Pirates! is a beautifully-rendered set
of minigames stitched together as a story-construction kit packed with
yer basic pirate tall-tale elements, plus an extra or two just for fun.
We
got the swordfighting part, the ship-jacking part, the town-pillaging
part, the pirate-treasure part (complete with fragmentary clues).
We
got ripe chaos in the colonies, bad men, good women, and you.
Oh.
Did I mention there's dancing?
The action is in sailing, sea
battles, sword fights and dancing. The controls in all of them are
simple enough that the games are almost instantly immersive, and the
acting is never bad, sometimes outstanding, with a lot of rewarding
attention to detail. I'll mention the tavern maid after she whacks a
lout with a bottle and the exulting Spaniard captain.
The pace is
fast enough that you start out busy trying to keep up, the controls
simple enough that you can definitely learn how, and about the time you
do learn, the depth and detail of the game starts seeping in around the
edges.
The Caribbean political and economic situation is
constantly changing. Everything about a colony except its existence
depends on what comes in or out, by sea. The ships in the game are
merchants and smugglers and immigrants and invasion fleets and raiders
and garrison troops and couriers. And pirates, of course. You can, ahhh,
interfere with this traffic, with consequences.
Another major
story element available is getting yourself hooked in to the
Caribbean-wide gossip networks of Governor's daughters, tavern maids and
mysterious travelers. The latter two will chat with anyone, but the
Governors' daughters are choosy about who they'll talk to. Who wants to
talk to a pirate that lacks charm? Dance with the ladies, Cap'n.
Dancing,
like swordfighting, has a definite rhythm and depends on paying very
close attention to your partner. You get better -- there's a basic
common repertoire of simple four-step sequences that you soon learn to
recognize -- but the variations as you climb the social ladder (did I
mention that aspect of the game?) get increasingly complex and the
timing and cues subtler and more varied. Swordfighting is child's play
compared to the dances women invent.
I've only mentioned some
major and minor parts -- sea battles? assaulting cities? (that one's not
an action game)? marriage? climbing the social ladder? -- and there are
lots of details I won't mention at all. I'll summarize them all this
way: they fit.
There's nothing like it. If the minigames
themselves were deeper, I suspect you could completely lose yourself in
its world. As it stands, it's just a gloriously good game.
I
played this on a machine with a (low-end) Radeon X200, a gig of RAM and
an Athlon 3500+. I had to crank all the graphics options down to the
minimum (although I can run 800x600 rather than 640x480, which matters),
set the power-saving CPU speed option to "Always On", and go into the
advanced display settings to keep it from forcing e.g. antialiasing. I'm
pretty sure the real bottleneck is the graphics card, and that if
you've got even the least of the gamer graphics cards you've got nothing
to worry about; this one is great up to the low-end 3D stuff but
quickly runs out of steam after that.
Yo
Ho Ho and a Bottle of Fun
This game is undoubtedly one
of Sid Meier's best. The game is easy to learn, fun to play, has GREAT
graphics, and several different difficulty levels.
"Pirates" also
has an interesting (if innaccurate) historical aspect. Nine famous
pirates can be tracked down and defeated in the game, including
Blackbeard, Henry Morgan, L'Ollonais, and Jean Lafitte. History buffs
like myself will of course know that Lafitte and Blackbeard were about
115 years apart in history, but it certainly doesn't take any fun out of
the game.
There are several different modes of play that keep
the game interesting- sailing the seas, battling between ships, duels
between you and various opponents (Ship Captains, Military Officers,
Wanted Criminals, and other Pirates), tactical attacks on cities (my
personal favourite), and dances with governors' daughters. Each mode of
play features fast paced yet simple gameplay and excellent graphics.
When
you aren't sailing around the world collecting loot, you can also play
the storyline. This includes hunting down the evil Baron Raymondo to
gather information about your family who was kidnapped when you were a
child, followed by daring attempts to rescue them based on the info you
gather. Even more important and dramatic is the search for the notorious
Marquis Montalban, who had kidnapped your family in the first place due
to a debt they owed. Another major game villain is Colonel Mendoza, who
will kidnap any fair lady you are on the verge of marrying.
The
scale of the game is also impressive. There are dozens of cities and
settlements to visit, each one either allied to the French, English,
Dutch, or Spanish. There are also Pirate Havens where you may be asked
what city is most vulnerable to attack. You are also able to expand your
character's abilities by purchasing or recieving as gifts everything
from pistols to armor, to improved rudders, to telescopes, to dancing
shoes, to shrunken heads, all of which improve the ability of your
character.
The game has so many options, quests and possibilities
that you can play for hours on end without anything seeming stale.
Truly one of the best games I have ever played.
And yes, you can
dig for buried treasure.
ARRGGHH!
This is my favorite game.
There are so many cities it's almost impossible to remember everything
so it feels much like a new game each time you play. Sometimes the sea
travel seems slow but they did speed up the ship battles in the last
patch. There is no lewd behavior or language, no blood and guts, and no
death so I think that this game is pretty family-friendly.
No comments:
Post a Comment