As you move up in reputation, so too should you try to move up in your armada. The right flagship is critically important. You can add a great many upgrades to your boat over time and it is the only ship that will persist throughout your career if you choose to keep it. So go ahead and experiment with the different vessels and find one that matches your style. Different ships require different tactics. Small ships carry small crews and light guns but are fast and highly maneuverable. With a small ship, such as a Sloop, you can whip back and forth in front of the enemy forecastle and pepper them with grape shot to reduce their crew numbers in preparation for a boarding or you can run right in under their guns and simply go for an immediate boarding. With a big ship, like a galleon, you can simply broadside the enemy and throw chain shot into the rigging, then maneuver in for a boarding with a large crew. Any way you slice it, you need to either board them or sink them.

But let me make a quick point. Sinking a ship is stupid. I have yet to find one good reason for sinking a ship. If you sink it you get nothing. No gold, no potential crew, no special crew, no additional information, nothing. Just the credit for sinking a ship. If you capture a ship, you get all the lewt they carry (if you want it). All the gold, all the food, all the spices, all the guns, any crew that want to defect, and special crewman who can help you out but fixing your sails at sea or keep your crew morale high. Once you’ve raided the ship you can keep it or sink it, along with any of the cargo you didn’t want.

Now that your career is on it’s way, it’s time to get serious about your real mission. Finding your family. Throughout your travels you will come in contact with many different sources of information. Perhaps it is the barmaid who will give you the lead on your lost sister. Or perhaps it’s the governor’s daughter who will dish out the good after a nice dance. Incidentally, every governor has a daughter, just one daughter. Odd, but true. Track down the leads and force them to give up the pieces of the map that will reveal the location of your missing family members. It is very important to keep this mission in mind since most of your time will be spent trying to further your career.

At its core Pirates! is a collection of small games that all work together to present one cohesive environment wrapped in an ongoing storyline. These different game elements include the personal combat of fencing, the quick fingers of ballroom dancing, the quick thinking and seamanship of ship to ship battles, the forethought of managing your crew and cargo (including where to trade which goods for the best price), the decision making of sneaking through a hostile city and the strategy of unit command when raiding a city. All of these things are what makes for a long and successful career in Pirates!

The graphics are good, not outstanding and certainly not Half-Life 2 caliber but very effective presentation considering all of the different facets of involved. Audio however is top notch. A good, appropriate soundtrack accompanies high quality sound effects. The interface is clean and effective, and the controls, while initially awkward, are very effective once learned.

So here are my keys to success. Don’t burn your bridges before their time. Early in your career, before you looted everything the wind blows by, be sure to get a letter of marque from every country. At some point you will have run afoul of just about every country and it will be a lot easier to get back in their good graces if you already have a commission (and a couple of titles) from them. Fencing. I you learn nothing else from this review, know this: Fencing is the only thing you need to be a successful Pirate!

Pirates! is an absolutely fabulous game that is nothing but fun from start to finish. And as an extra bonus it is family friendly. No blood, not wound and no death. Some mild violence from the fencing and ship battles, but it’s all very mild.



Avast! Fun abounds!