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History, action, strategy, and fun.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 21 / 22
Date: January 26, 2007
Author: Amazon User

A beautiful update to a classic, highly playable game. This game is based on one of the first "sandbox" games in which you determine the pace, direction, and goals of the game. You start out motivated by revenge: what did the robber baron do with your family? Soon, you get a ship of your own and can sail the Caribbean at your leisure. The only things that constrain you are the rules of the sea: don't run out of food, don't run aground, don't mistreat your crew or they will mutiny, and don't pick on other vessels that are bigger than you.

You can outfit your ship with different cannons/sails/powder/bunks/armor, any of which affect your ability to do battle. Your character can ally himself (sorry ladies, no "Monkey Island"-style gender equality in a Sid Meier game) with different factions (English/Spanish/Dutch/French, all loosely based in history), and go dancing with governor's daughters in order to win their favor ... and if you're lucky, they'll also give you land, gold, influence, or useful gifts like the +10 Fencing Ability Puffy Shirt (I am not making this up)!

Did I mention the swordfights? They're straight out of Hollywood, full of chivalry and derring-do. You don't need to be a fighting game expert to win a battle; the action sequences are only a small part of the overall experience.

As you move through the game, you'll meet different characters along the way who will give you tips on how to avenge your family, get rich and famous, or dig up buried treasure. Each encounter suggests something else to do, and the whole game is nicely randomized and dynamic enough that it feels like a living, breathing world rather than the collection of code and mini-games that it really is.

Kids will learn some history and Caribbean geography from the experience. Codgers who played the original will enjoy the lush graphical and sound updates. Everyone else should have a good time. Everything is done with a light touch, without gore or brutal violence. There's not too much reliance on heavy-duty strategy, role-playing, or twitch skills, so it's the kind of game that almost anyone can get into. The only problem I've seen thus far is putting down this habit-forming game, because there's always something new to find and do.

Highly recommended. (The game is also available on Windows and XBOX. Personally, I prefer the optimized controls of the little portable version.)

Arrrrr!; even better than the original

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 14 / 15
Date: January 28, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I confess; the original version of Sid Meier's Pirates! ranks as my favorite PC game of all time. A very deep, instantly playable game engine powered by a seemingly endless array of adventure paths made the original an ingeniusly addictive (and semi-historically accurate, to boot) pasttime.

Thus, I waited with baited breath for the PSP version, only to let out seafaring cries of joy when playing this oustanding sequel. The same aspects of the PC original are alive and well...only bigger and better. Equally as playable, now chock full of outstanding graphics, clever new features and a terrific soundtrack that is truly toe-tapping. The clever programming across the board shines on Pirates! for PSP; this a polished title that is a must-have for fans of the original or RTS/adventure offerings.

For Pirates! newbies, one of the strongest suits of its namesake predecessors was the ease in picking up the title + playing it right out of the box. The game's depth and features become obvious after hours of addictive adventuring.

Only after you've allied with the Dutch for better access to ports...parlayed status with the Spanish to find buried treasure...recruited crew from Pirate towns...escorted boats from Missionary settlements...then sank your first three English merchantships to keep the crew happy...do you realize you've been consciously making all these decisions all the while, yet they seem both second-hand in nature plus non-complicated to manage. This is -- and was -- the beauty of Sid Meier's Pirates!; just don't blame him if you miss your flight due to a driving obsession to capture the notorious John Morgan before takeoff.

Happy seafaring.

WITH THIS GAME, WHO NEEDS A BATTLESHIP?

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 20
Date: January 29, 2007
Author: Amazon User

THIS GAME IS SIMPLY AWESOME. THE MUSIC IS GREAT, THE GRAPHICS ARE BRILLIANT, AND I'D BE WILLING TO SHOOT SOMEONE TO GET A COPY OF THIS GAME IF I LOST IT. I'M SERIOUS. THE ONLY FLAWS OF THIS GAME IS THAT IT CAN SOMETIMES GET A LITTLE GLITCHED AND THAT YOU CAN'T CHANGE THE NATIONALITY OF THE SAILS OF A CAPTURED SHIP. IF YOU DON'T BUY THIS GAME AFTER READING THIS REVIEW, YOU SUCK! I WILL TRACK YOU DOWN, FOLLOW YOU, AND HIDE COPIES OF THIS GAME IN YOUR
FRIDGE, DISHWASHER, AND BODILY ORFICES!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!!?
...YEAH, BUY THIS GAME.

A pirates life for sure !

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 8 / 8
Date: February 13, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Pirates for the psp is one of the best games to hit the psp for sure . The graphics and the audio for pirates on the psp , seems to work out well for the psp version.
Ok the fun factor in pirates is where your out on the sea doing what most pirates would do attack other ships and so on. You can play pirates in kinda two ways , follow the path that the game wants you too or just be a pirate and do whatever you want to do. You can still have great loads of fun playing anyway you choose . There is a great amount of replay time with this game , giving a fun time to whoever is into the pirate type games .
I was little unsure i would like this game when i first seen it. So now after have played it for a good while now i honestly enjoy it.
If you was looking for a pirates type game or something to keep you hooked on the psp i would honestly say Sid Meier's Pirates is worth the money !

At least it's only thirty bucks

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 5 / 12
Date: February 19, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I bought this game based on all the good reviews it received, so after playing it I felt obliged to write one of my own, so other people like me don't make the same mistake.

The graphics and music are fine. Not mind blowing, but still respectable for a psp.

My serious problem with this game is how little there is of it. After about an hour or two to learn the ropes I quickly amped the game all the way up to its hardest level.

The ship to ship combat is remarkably shallow and easy. You basically sail in circles and shoot at the other ship. You give and take little enough damage that conventional sailing ship tactics really play no part, excepting that you want to try and broadside the other ship while keeping away from their sides.

The dueling mode is, if anything, even easier and an easy out to actually having to fight ship to ship battles. I fought around 30 duels, most of them on the hardest difficulty, and only lost twice. If you win the duel, you get their ship, period.

Treasure hunting mode is mind numbingly easy as well, look at the map, navigate there while retaining at least one digger. Once you understand what you're supposed to do, this is impossible to fail at.

The only mode even slightly engaging is the land combat, which is basically an extremely dumbed down version of Field Commander. The only reason it's more entertaining than the rest of the game is that you often face far greater numbers who have more firearms than yourself.

Overall, this game is a complete waste of money. I played for ten hours and felt I had done everything there was to do in the game. The fact that it seems promising when you first start playing doesn't take away from the disappointment that is soon to follow as you wonder to yourself, "Is this it?"

Easy to learn, so much fun to master

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: February 21, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I went through and beat this on two difficulty levels because it was that much fun. Even if you do not want to play the missions all the time, you can do a lot of pillaging and attacking. Just watch how "old" you get, after awhile, you are forced into retirement. But for an older gamer like myself, when I actually do have 20 minutes or a half hour to play, this was great. It was better than I remember it on my old Commodore 64...

Not an excellence, but definitely a keeper

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Okay, lets me start with the things I hate in the game. I really hate the land searching (finding treasures, lost cities, relatives), kind of a weak excuse for a minigame. And the land battles system sucks, they tried to make a TBS (Turn-Based Strategy) mini game but it doesnt work. Sword fights are okay, but gets pretty boring unless you choose the toughest difficulty (Swashbuckler), which I do not recommend for your first game, takes alot of practice to master swordfighting. What I love about the game is that it actually have quest to complete following the storyline, but sometimes unrelevant. The game itself is pretty educational, lots of geographic detail and names of ships. Play it as many times as you want, its a sandbox, but you will eventually realise that you are playing a repetitive game. For a $30 value, it is definitely worth keeping.

I gave it a good 4 star on the fun scale, because it is a great deal of fun packed into the life of a pirate. But still, no game is perfect, at least for me.

Become Jack Sparrow!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 7
Date: March 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

This game takes place in Carribean where the gamer becomes a pirate and do various quests to find his long lost family. This game has tones of minigames and good battle system to keep you addicted for at least 20 hours.

This is a must buy at $30!.

The smile hasn't left my face yet!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 11 / 11
Date: April 02, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was an extremely avid fan of the original "Pirates!" game on the PC almost 20 years ago, and I am very pleased that the PSP version has come out. I recently picked it up on a whim while at a local electronics store, remembering fondly the hours upon hours of enjoyment I got out of the original, and I am happy to say that this version also gets it right.

I decided to simply start playing instead of reading through the manual, and I was very pleased in that the gameplay and controls are highly intuitive and very easy to master. It's also rewarding in that you do not have to wait a long time before getting into ship battles and swordfights - you can dive right in from the get-go, a refreshing departure from other games in which you have to build up strength, weaponry, etc. before you really get into the fun part of the game.

The swordfight scenes are basically the same as the original's, albeit with much better graphics and cutscenes. I didn't care too much for the new version of land battles, which now are turn-based, because the original was played in real time and was, in my opinion, a lot simpler and flowed better. There are also a better variety of side quests you can embark upon, such as searhing for buried treasure, to plundering Inca cities, to finding lost relatives, to hunting down really bad pirates. As in the original, you get to choose from one of several strengths that you can possess, such as superior swordsmanship, to superior gunnery skill, to skill with navigation, and the like. I found, just as in the original, the most useful skill is that of "Wit and Charm." With such a skill, garnering information from various people, such as bartenders, governor's daughters, and others becomes much easier. I also really liked the dancing mini-game you play in order to win favors from the governors' daughters.

Just as in the original, it is basically a "sandbox" game in which there are no real set goals that you absolutely *have* to perform in order to advance in rank and prestige - you can completely ignore the starting premise of the game, that of avenging your scattered family against the evil Marquis de Montalban, and simply do your own thing, whether it be trading goods, to fighting under one of the four flags, to simply pirating and preying on every ship that comes your way. In this respect, this game is more open-ended and more sandbox-like than even the famed "Grand Theft Auto" series.

Even if you never played the original, this is a highly enjoyable, highly addictive game with immense replayability. I recommend it with 5 stars.

addictive though somewhat repetitive.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: May 09, 2007
Author: Amazon User

Sid Meier's Pirates! is an open-ended, role playing, character adventure set in the late 17th century Caribbean that is essentially a collection of several different minigames.

As captain of your own ship with a personal agenda to recover and avenge your loved ones, you sail to various Caribbean ports or engage other vessels on the high seas. A variety of career paths are possible: Buy low and sell high as a reputable merchant, privateer for profit for a fledgling European empire, or become the scourge of the Caribbean who victimizes anyone who crosses your path.

Your adventures play out in a series of minigames: ship battles on the high seas, wooing the governor's daughter on the ball room, and crossing swords with a rival captain or suitor. The minigames are charming but fairly simple and easily mastered. As your adventure progresses, the mini-challenges do not become more complex; rather, your reflexes diminish as your character ages.

Despite the monotony that results from the minigames repetitivity, the rewarding storyline will coax you into capturing one more ship, sailing to one more port, or wooing one last lass in order to acquire another tidbit of information needed to avenge your family.

I've played the game a couple times (there is a learning curve on how to complete tasks efficiently, before your character's age becomes too much of an impediment), but have not yet achieved its ultimate goal of revenge. As such I cannot comment upon its ultimate payoff, but the game is entertaining enough overall that I am sure I will give it another go.

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