Sid Meier's Pirates! (2004 video game)

Some elements like sun sighting were removed, but other features have been added, such as a ballroom dancing mini-game and an improved turn-based land combat system.Pirates is separated into several mini-games requiring different skills, as well as a "sailing map" mode where the player navigates around the Caribbean, looking for things to do.Sailing technique, evasion (running from guards), naval gunnery, turn-based strategy, dancing with the daughter of a governor,[15] fencing, and strategic planning are all skills needed to succeed in Pirates.This is assisted by a visual representation of the keypad in the lower right corner of the screen, which also shows the function of each key at any given time.The player character's family receives a visit from an evil Spanish nobleman, the Marquis de la Montalbán, who proceeds to enslave them all for failing to pay their debt to him.Ten years later, the player character, now a young adult, enters a tavern to start his journey to the Caribbean.At this point, the player has to name the character, choose the difficulty level, special trait and starting era, in addition to which nation to sail with at the beginning.During the sailing segment, the player navigates between areas of interest in the Caribbean, including colonies, cities, missions, pirate havens, and others.Finally, if the player wishes, they may sail the ship onto the shoreline, allowing the crew to disembark and begin to march.During the course of the game, the player can acquire large amounts of resources from ships captured, including cannons, food, supplies, and trade goods.This is offset by smaller villages having fewer tradeable goods and less gold than larger cities, which also will trade less under poor economic conditions and small population size (which the player can also help or hinder).The player must decide to start a battle, although enemy ships may open fire and begin a chase on the sailing map.The most common goal in ship-to-ship combat would be the capture of the enemy vessel, either by directly boarding it and carrying the deck, or by subduing the ship by cannon fire.There is great emphasis on knowing the particular strengths and weaknesses of one's ship, and the ability to gauge wind direction continuously and act accordingly.Automatic aiming is also applied to the shot, which may (especially in lower difficulties) cause the cannonballs to be fired at a narrower angle to the ship's heading.Several events in the game will trigger a sword fighting mini-game in which the player fences the opponent in a one-on-one combat.This often takes place in taverns, when the player challenges the captain of the guard, or when confronting a known criminal and attempting to bring him to justice.When the player woos a governor's daughter, she will eventually request him to defeat a jealous suitor in one-on-one combat.Each combatant can also defend against incoming blows with a dodge (against high chops), a jump (against low slashes), or a parry (against middle thrusts).When the player properly performs a blocking move or strikes the enemy, the bar shifts towards the opponent, indicating that he has lost advantage.This has the effect of giving time for the advantage bar to swing back to the neutral position, equalizing the fight somewhat during this cut scene.In addition, selecting the "fencing" skill at the beginning of the game will give the player character a faster performance during a sword fighting duel.As the player character ages, his sword fighting capabilities will gradually decrease, causing him to become slower (less so if the user selected the fencing skill at the beginning of the game).The enemy also has exclusive access to cavalry, which is a specialized close combat unit that is extremely powerful when attacking open, flat terrain, but poor on the defense and on hills and in woods.Upon performing tasks favorable to one of the four nations in the game and thus being promoted enough, the player may be given the chance to romance a governor's daughter, starting with a dance at a ball.When the daughter's 'amour' is high enough, she will request items such as a diamond necklace or ruby ring (purchased from the mysterious stranger at the tavern) or notify the hero that someone seeks to fight a duel over her.If caught, the player character is thrown into jail, where he must remain to serve a sentence of several months, bribe a guard, or attempt an escape.Each bears his own unique flag and is present on the "top ten pirates" list with the player ranked tenth.[17] Steve Butts of IGN highly praised the solid gameplay design that combines a large variety of activities and allows the player to choose one's own style of play.[47] It received a runner-up position in GameSpot's 2004 "Best Strategy Game" award category across all platforms, losing to Rome: Total War.