Sid Meier's Pirates!
has terrorized the pixelated seas of of many a platform since its
original release over 20 years ago, earning praise and fans with every
passing iteration. It received a facelift in the 2004 PC re-release, but
the core game – living the life of a pirate – has remained the same.
The newest version is out on iPad, and for a criminally low price of
admission, you can enjoy countless hours and near endless replayability
in arguably the greatest pirate game ever.
Sid Meier's Pirates!
gives you plenty to do. You start out as a betrayed pirate captain, on
the hunt for those who turned on you and kidnapped your family. You can
tackle a series of quests in an attempt to find and recover your kin, or
you can simply hop behind the helm of a ship and take to the
seas--family be damned—carving out an entirely different story for
yourself. The freedom so often romanticized in a pirate's life is made
playable, giving you the choice to behave as saintly or barbaric as your
little heart desires. One moment you can forge an alliance with a
country, the next you can turn on them and burn their city to the
ground.. Pre-tty pirately.
The core game of Pirates! centers upon captaining and managing a
ship. You begin with a small vessel, and it's up to you to recruit crew
members and keep up their morale. The key to a pirate's morale?
Treasure! That, and making sure to not stay out at sea for too long. You
know, it's like real pirate life; you need to port regularly.
Loot-hunting begins with a sail around a scaled down version of the
Caribbean, where engaging enemy ships in close proximity will yield
treasury results. Combat plays out with a real-time combat sequence,
tasking players with skillfully navigating through enemy fire to
maneuver your ship into prime offensive position. You can sink vessels
with cannon fire, or smash into them and mount a sword-drawn offensive
in a bid to take control of the ship. It all comes down to what your
goal is. If you're out toplunder, you can board ships and steal its
cargo, or you can simply terrorize a nation by sending its ships to the
bottom of the sea.
When you're not terrorizing the seas, you can visit towns, where you
can recruit more pirates, seek out rumors in bars, meet with local
officials to find out your standing in the world, and meet with
merchants to repair your ship and sell your stolen goods. It's a nice
way to break up the pacing between sea battles, and adds another layer
of strategy. Which nations you attack determines which ports you can
enter(there's nothing worse than finding yourself in an area with
nothing but hostile ports, so keep that in mind when you're laying waste
to everyone in sight).
Ship to ship combat is surprisingly fun,
and works really well with the touch controls. You tap where you want
your ship to turn and then tap along its side to fire. It's simple to
learn, but it takes a cunning player to whittle down enemy vessels and
become a true pirate captain.
Other actions also work well with the touch screen. Sword battles –
which originally were executed with several different keystrokes on a
keyboard – are replaced with intuitive swipes. And now, instead of
taking over cities through slow, turn-based strategy sequences, you
simply bombard the city at a distance with a really clever shooting
mini-game. Everything in the interface has been expertly adapted to work
with the iPad, creating a great handheld experience.
The best part about Pirates! is that it's the type of game you can
come back to again and again. Some pirate careers might last a few
hours, others several days. It all comes down to what sort of life you
choose to lead and how skilled a captain you are. I never really felt
like I lost a game in Pirates!, even when it only lasts a short time,
because ultimately it's almost as fun to see the consequences of failure
as it is to succeed – all contribute to the epic tale of each of my
pirates.
The Verdict
Pirates! on iPad is an excellent port that could
easily be sold for much more than its sub $10 price. With near endless
replayability, this ranks among the best investments any iPad owner
could make. If you’ve ever wanted to live the life of a pirate, or at
least the highly romanticized version of one anyways, it’s time to set
sail with Sid Meier’s timeless game
