"Smooth Sailing"

Like its ancestors, this edition of the trusty ol' Pirates! franchise represents the triumph of freedom and quality gameplay. The game gives you an introduction, a boat with a small crew, and then sets you out to do whatever you darn well please. Most people will gleefully set their ship against another craft and pummel it with cannon fire, starting a long and glorious career of piracy. But you could play the game without ever resorting to violence, and simply be a sea trader that zips a wide variety of goods back and forth between different ports, looking to buy low and sell high. Of course, most people will do a mix of both: raiding other ships, and selling the swag at high prices as they sail the dangerous seas. Did I mention the tactical land battles when you raid a town on foot? The lively sword duels with enemy captains? The intricate dances with governor's daughters? Exciting ship battles? Searching for buried treasure? Sid Meier's Pirates! is an embarrassment of riches, featuring a load of gameplay possibilities which are all intriguing and enjoyable. While blockbuster titles like Doom 3 represent empty hype and technology, Sid Meier's Pirates! takes the opposite tack: pure enjoyment and replayability. If you're looking for a game that wraps you up in hours of engaging fun, look no further.

Like its predecessors, Sid Meier's Pirates! is set many centuries ago, during the buccaneer era. Four powers - the English, French, Spanish, and Dutch - are all vying for land, money, and influence. You'll start your pirate career by choosing a nation to represent, but it's hardly an ironclad arrangement, as you can turn around and sack that nation's ships and cities whenever you like. Nations will overlook minor transgressions if you help fulfill some of their goals, but if you routinely sack the ships and cities of a major power, don't be surprised when their warships and towns fire on you on sight. Nations that you DON'T annoy will grant you titles and land if you perform favors for them, such as conquering enemy towns in their name. A truly wily player could manage to curry favor with all four nations, although this requires some serious maneuvering. Most people will probably be a loyalist to their native country and pummel everyone else, but you should talk to any governors you come across - you'd be amazed at how often you get random titles and land, simply for doing pirate-y deeds like raiding ships. Oh sure, you didn't steal that Dutch ship to please the Spanish - you just wanted the money. But why tell them that? 400 acres is nothing to sneeze at.

Ship-on-ship battles are great, great fun. You'll have to keep the wind in your favor, juggle different ammunition types, and aim those cannons properly for maximum damage. While this sounds like a lot to handle, it's all done with the numeric keypad, and it becomes second nature after a few bouts. You can aim to completely destroy and sink your opponent, or more likely, whittle down their crew a bit so you can move in and capture the ship (and its cargo) for yourself. Just be careful - towing around a bunch of banged-up boats can severely slow you down. And needless to say, some captains aren't fond of being boarded, and they'll draw their sword and battle you for ownership. The sword duels are fun as well, and you'll wear a big smile as you fight bravely across the deck, with your crew and their enemies fighting, shouting, and flying all over the place around you. If you win the duel (which, admittedly, is pretty easy most of the time), the enemy ship is yours, along with its cargo. You can sell excess ships and goods later for a tidy profit, which helps supplement your usual income of theft and pillaging.

But it's not all work, work, work in the pirate game. There's socializing as well, with comely barmaids and wealthy governor's daughters. As your rank increases, governor's daughters will seek your company, usually to dance at the latest ball. The dancing 'minigame' is surprisingly fun, and requires quick relfexes and delicate timing. Should you dance well and impress your lady fair, she'll reward you with information or gifts - or even her hand in marriage, eventually. While some gals are prettier than others, it doesn't pay to be shallow. Dance with every girl who asks - it's fun, after all, and it's good manners. (And, more importantly, the girls give you stuff.)

If you feel like getting off the darn ship for a while and stretching your legs, there's still fun to be had. Finding or buying treasure maps can lead you to buried riches, provided you can decipher the directions well enough. And if you've amassed a large enough crew, you can assault an entire town from the land. This will switch the game into strategy mode, where you move your pirates on a battlefield grid a la Advance Wars, Fire Emblem, or many other similar strategy games. While this element of the game isn't nearly as in-depth as 'regular' games in the strategy genre, it's still quite fun, and provides some nice gameplay variety. Juggling different unit types and staying in protective cover is key. Unless, of course, you're looking to lose a bunch of men to prevent mutiny - in which case, just send 'em out into the open and let them absorb enemy fire for a while. Sure, that's evil... but hey, you're a pirate.

Your overall goal, of course, is to amass as much wealth as you can. Cold hard cash helps, of course, but titles and land are also essential. And needless to say, marrying a beautiful and wealthy woman always looks good on the resume. If you prefer infamy to cash, you can concentrate on building a nasty reputation by obliterating other pirates, sacking towns galore, and defeating large warships. And as mentioned earlier, you can choose to live a life of peace, and concentrate on smart trading, treasure-digging, and avoiding those pesky enemy pirates.

The game is absolutely gorgeous, although it probably should be, seeing as how it's essentially a graphical overhaul of an older game. But be that as it may, you'll be swimming in eye candy. The water is stunning, and the storms that roll by are wonderfully depicted. While some will complain about the overly cartoony presentation, the colorful characters add a lot of fun to the sword duels. (Although I must say, the player's character is way too clean-cut.) The dance scenes are well-animated, and the ships look terrific as they battle - we're talking sail damage, injured sailors flying overboard... all that good stuff. A first-rate job.

The sound package is also fabulous. The characters talk in emotive gibberish, much like The Sims, and it has the same pleasing effect. The sounds are all spot-on, with sword clashes, cannon firing, and the other pirate essentials coming off perfectly. Best of all, the classical music selections for the dance sequences are well-chosen, and terrific to listen to. Sid Meier's Pirates! is the very definition of 'quality presentation.'

The game is obscenely easy on the lower settings, but you can choose to up the challenge level every time you divide up your booty with your men. You'll get a bigger portion of the loot on the harder settings, so if you want to create a really huge treasure pile for your retirement, you'll have to crank up the difficulty. The longer you sail the seas, the more money you can sock away - but time and sword wounds will eventually catch up to you. (Although there is definitely a certain charm in being an old pirate who can still raid a ship with the best of them.) Each career can last anywhere between 5 to 10 hours, depending on your actions, but the game is so replayable that it's impossible to gauge how much value Pirates! packs in. This game will probably be a fixture on your hard drive for many years.

Sid Meier's Pirates! is, quite simply, a fierce and wonderful addiction. It provides that perfect blend of a simple interface and tons of quality gameplay. While there's no official multiplayer component, the game is so entertaining than you can have fun while simply watching a friend play and encouraging him to perform all kinds of misdeeds. You can even enlist a friend as your gunner, and have him handle the sails and cannons with the numeric pad while you steer with the arrow keys. Charming, fun, and lovingly constructed, Sid Meier's Pirates! proves that PC gaming still has plenty to offer.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 01/03/05