Sid Meier’s Pirates! Classic Adventure for Apple Mac Gamers

Sid Meier’s Pirates! (ESRB: E) is a single player Mac-compatible game separated into several mini-games requiring different skills, as well as an overall “sailing map” mode where the player navigates around the Caribbean. Sailing technique, evasion (running from guards), naval gunnery, turn-based strategy, dancing, fencing and strategic planning are all skills needed to succeed in Pirates.

In the game there are nine computer-controlled historical pirates: Henry Morgan, Blackbeard, Stede Bonnet, Captain Kidd, Jean Lafitte, François l’Ollonais, Roche Brasiliano, Bart Roberts, and Jack Rackham.

The majority of the game is spent sailing from destination to destination around the Caribbean islands. The player will encounter numerous ships while sailing, all of which can be attacked, although enemy ships may open fire at any moment and begin a chase on the sailing map. If a ship has surrendered, or its captain defeated in combat, it is considered “captured”. The player may unload any gold and cargo from the ship and if the ship’s crew had a specialist, like a sailmaker or a cooper, these will automatically be added to the player’s crew. It is also possible to sink the captured ship.

Several events in the game will trigger a swordfighting, where the player fences an opponent in one-on-one combat. These segments may or may not include crews fighting in the background, being affected by the progress of the battle as well.

Pirates! also has land battles in which the player fights battles in a turn-based system on a grid map. This occurs whenever the player assaults a well-defended city (100 or more soldiers in the city’s garrison), or the Montalban’s hideout. Combat is turn-based. During a side’s turn, each of its units can move, attack, or fire ranged weapons. Most units can move up to two squares a turn, or one through forests. Successful land combat on the part of the player will yield a one-time ransom. The exact amount is determined by the city’s wealth and population parameters.

The player may be refused docking privileges at an enemy town. In these cases, the player is given the option to sneak into town. This is done by avoiding the town’s guards who patrol the city and moving towards the tavern, or governor’s mansion, which are pointed to by signs throughout the city. The player may run, walk, or climb over fences, and has hay bales to hide behind to avoid detection. The player may also sneak up behind guards and knock them unconscious.

And finally, upon performing tasks favorable to one of the nations in the game, the player may be given the chance to dance with a governor’s daughter at a ball. Dancing is done by following the daughter’s signals, and moving appropriately. Successful dancing is rewarded with ‘amour’ from the governor’s daughters, as well as gifts or valuable information. When the daughter’s ‘amour’ is high enough, she will request marriage. The game is available from Apple’s online store for $29.99.

System Requirements:
Mac OS X v10.4 with 1.6 GHz processor and 1.4GB free hard-disk space;
512MB of RAM and 64MB of VRAM.