Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales

Pirates have been a staple in cross-genre games for years. They sailed the digital seas of titles such as Sea Dogs, Sid Meier's Pirates, and the Monkey Island series, to name a few. Yet all too often developers get caught up in recreating the mythos and don't pay enough attention to the actual gameplay; while the worlds and characters are portrayed in a genuine and authentic manner, it didn't always add up to an entertaining experience. At times, Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales strays dangerously close to the same troubled waters but ultimately manages to right the ship with some interesting design elements and tons of swashbuckling action.

It's a Pirate's Life for Me

As the game begins, we meet Blaze Shark (or Beatrice depending on your character choice) standing on the docks. A shifty-eyed landlubber shoves a mysterious note into Blaze's chest and quickly takes his leave. The note is scrawled with regretful sentiments along with a hastily drawn map. Should you heed the note, you'll embark on a seafaring adventure to reunite this wayward corsair with his estranged step-sisterand in the process join torn halves of a treasure map left by their long dead father.

You can, of course, follow the map and unite with your long-lost sibling in a daytime soap worthy reunion but you can also set out on the high seas and make your fortune the old fashion wayby stealing it. Like many other titles that are plying the video game waters, you can choose to ignore the main quest and simply sail around, living the pirate's life that's so in vogue these days.

You start out with a seaworthy vessel and a crew of mangy dogs who can be complemented by the denizens of the local tavern. Then it's up to you to chart a course and set sail. Age of Pirates boasts visually stunning graphics that are as elegant and powerful as the mighty sea herself. The reflective waters are deep and rich, with perfectly simulated waves, and the horizon's slanting rays blend seamlessly into the sky as your perspective rotates, creating a hazy glare. The only thing missing is the salty tang of sea air.

Ships Ahoy!

As a pirate, you'll obviously spend a lot of time engaged in combat. So it's a good thing that the combat system in Age of Pirates is deep and engaging. At sea you have an assortment of weapons at your disposal to send your enemies down into the murky deep: grapeshot shreds sails and sailors alike, cannonballs can pummel ship hulls, bolo-like weapons called knippels can topple the mast and rigging, and when a heady dose of general devastation is in order, you can fall back on the familiar bomb. But ship-to-ship combat isn't just about throwing a bunch of ammunition at each other: a good captain knows that things such as approach angle and positioning are the keys to winning naval battles. You must glide, swoon and angle your ship's approach according to which cannons are at the ready or else, you'll be meeting Davy Jones a lot sooner than you wanted.

Unfortunately, the control scheme is slow and clunky, making it unnecessarily difficult to maneuver your fleet around. Skippers can't very well text message each other, so it's mandatory to sail alongside your allies and bark orders across with the Talk option. The trouble is that every ship's AI is programmed to avoid collision so you end up chasing your fleet around just to get them to do what you want. Your crew can easily be left to their own devices in sea skirmishes, but coastal assaults are damn near impossible to coordinate.

Also troubling is the fact that ships seem particularly sensitive to wind direction and sail damage. Anytime the white sail meter dips below seventy-five percent, your speed cuts in half and turning becomes laborious and slow. Don't even try sailing against the wind or you'll be dead in the water. But that said, the entire affair has an authentic edge to it that really brings the ship-to-ship combat to life, it's just that the controls can be too authentic and hinder the flow of game play.

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