Sid Meier’s Pirates – PSP – Review

Swabbing the
deck, once again, you find yourself loathing the unmerciful boot of the vulgar
captain of the ship. Unable to take anymore abuse, you lash out, giving the
scurvy dog a swift kick in the backside as he walks the plank after your
successful mutiny. Alas, you are now the captain of the ship and the path before
you is open to do whatever you want. If you want to plunder and pillage then
that’s your right as a pirate. If you want to spend your days trading between
outpost while romancing beautiful woman then that’s your right as a noble
captain. Either way you approach this game, Sid Meier’s Pirates! is a fun
game and even more so now that it has come to the PSP.

Having been
remade in 2004 for the PC crowd (and later for the Xbox), Pirates! had
originally been released in the late 1980s but was beloved by gamers who longed
to play the role of a pirate. Luckily for us, the PSP version is a direct port
of the 2004 hit and it even includes some multiplayer fun to boot. The story
revolves around your character who, as a boy, witnesses the enslavement of your
family by that evil Marquis because of a debt your father owes him. You manage
to escape, vowing to one day seek your revenge against the Marquis and to find
the lost members of your family to reunite them. Of course, to do so you must
rise above the ranks of sea captains and make a name for yourself.

The game begins
with you picking a nationality or a country you wish to align yourself with such
as the French, English, the Spaniards or the Dutch. No matter what flag you sail
under, you are free to capture enemy ships or ships sailing under your own
nationality and become a famous pirate. The game allows you the freedom to roam
the open seas and to freely play the game the way you want to play it. That
means you can ignore the main objective (which is finding your lost family
members and facing the Marquis) and simply sail into the Caribbean sinking ships
or trading goods until you become too old to captain a ship. Years will pass and
your character will age but you can always retire your character and start anew
with a fresh young captain.

It’s this
freedom that makes Pirates! open-ended gameplay such a rare and fun treat
to play and thankfully all the elements found in the PC and Xbox version work
perfectly on the PSP. Yes, things are changed a little to accommodate the PSP
control scheme (like the dancing segments) but everything else stays relatively
the same and that’s great news. If it isn’t broken then why fix it, right? You
will still sail the ocean blue, battle pirates via ship, duel with swords, break
the hearts of lovely (and not so lovely) Governors’ daughters and search for
gold. You can spend money repairing your ship or adding upgrades and for every
ship you plunder you can sell anything of value to pay your men their deserved
bounty or suffer a mutiny.

You can guide
your ship around the map, often encountering a number of ships from trading
ships, galleons, pirate ships, Indian canoes and even an armada. At any point
you can engage a ship in battle and this is where the screen focuses on the
ships in battle. You can fire cannons and avoid cannon fire yourself or ram your
ship into your opponent so you can board it. At times your crew will be
outnumbered but you will be given the chance to meet your opponent’s captain in
a duel. You’ll be given the option of selecting swords that appeal to your
fighting style but all the duels are relatively the same. You can step back,
block and parry. This might seem boring but trust me it’s not bad at all.

You’ll discover
many things at each port, whether you hear news of a fugitive, the whereabouts
of a pirate or maybe even hints of where a family member might be located. It is
in each major port that you can gain titles from the Governor (which means
you’ll own property as well as get discounts from merchants) and even earn the
chance to marry a woman of high society. Winning a Governor’s daughter opens a
dancing mini-game where you’ll hit the directional pad in synch with each
dancer. These are fun little distractions that make the game feel massive and
epic in scope. You can even sneak into a city, opening a stealth mini-game
that’s actually pretty fun.

Visually
speaking, Pirates! looks a lot like the PC and Xbox version, only the
game does have that shrunken appearance that was made to fit the PSP screen.
While you can zoom in during the sailing and ship battles, it’s still hard to
tell whether you’re attacking a Spanish ship or an French trader ship until it’s
too late. This often leads to sinking ships from your own nationality. Still,
it’s hard to complain when the graphics look this good. The environments look
beautifully detailed and the water effects are stunning. Even the character
models look great.

The game’s music
is also a delight to hear and there’s a different tune for everything from
sailing to dueling to dancing. It’s great to hear a great soundtrack on the PSP
and it’s even better to hear some detailed sound effects as well. You’ll hear
everything from seagulls to other pirates clinking mugs at the taverns. When
your cannon fire hits the enemy’s ship, you’ll hear screams. There’s no voice
acting per se but the characters do speak in a sort of funny gibberish that’s
ten times funnier than what you’ll hear on The Sims.

Despite having
been released a long while back on the PC and just a year or two on the original
Xbox, Sid Meier’s Pirates! finds itself on the PSP with much success. It
not only feels like it was made for Sony’s handheld but it still remains to be
one seriously satisfying game with a lot to offer gamers who are looking for a
great adventure/strategy game to take on the go. If you played the game before
this one is still worth checking out but if you’ve never played the game before
this is a game you should consider playing right away on your PSP.

Gameplay: 9.0
The game feels
right at home on the PSP and the controls for everything from guiding your ship,
fencing and even dancing work perfectly. You’re free to play the game anyway you
see fit and the story-based missions are actually fun to complete.

Graphics: 8.0
The PSP
widescreen can be a bit small at times but this doesn’t stop the game from
displaying some wonderfully colorful backgrounds and characters. The ocean water
look fantastic and the visual effects are actually pretty stunning.

Sound: 7.5
There’s no
real voice acting here, although the characters in this game do speak a sort of
nonsensical gibberish. The music is a real highlight here and it changes
throughout the game depending on the situation you find yourself in such as
battle or exploration. Even the sound effects are pretty good.

Difficulty:
Medium
Like most Sid
Meier games, strategy plays a huge role in this game despite the fact that you
are given the freedom to play the game anyway you like. There are tons of things
to consider like how much supplies you should carry for a crew of 96 and whether
you should take on Captain Kidd with minimal sails. Some sword fights are harder
than others as are some sea battles.

Concept: 9.5

Who doesn’t
want to plunder a pirate ship, search for lost Incan gold, dance with beautiful
Governors’ daughters and discover exotic islands in the Caribbean? Pirates!
really allows you to live the life of a pirate or you can spend your days
trading between ports or sinking Spanish galleons. Oh, and the story of revenge
and rescuing your family is also pretty fun. There’s also wireless multiplayer
fun to be had.

Multiplayer:
8.0
The strategic
ship battles make a perfect multiplayer mini-game fit for up to four players so
this makes for a fun little diversion from the single-player game. There’s no
online multiplayer but the Ad Hoc runs smoothly.

Overall: 9.0
If anything,
Sid Meier’s Pirates! is still a charming and very entertaining game that
translates perfectly on the PSP. It’s easy to get lost in this game’s open
environment and since there’s a lot to do in this game the replay value is
extremely high. This game is for anyone who has ever longed to be a pirate
without the Johnny Depp-styled mascara.