The game is a pirate simulator where you take the role of a pirate from a country of your choosing and then are just dumped into a big-ol sandbox to do as thou wilt! You can help the English fight the Spanish in their war they got going on. You can plunder towns and other ships, you can sword fight with other captains on their burning ship.
This game really reminded me of something and I just couldn't put my finger on it until I went to a town to buy from a merchant. That's when it hit me. This reminds me of some of the Oregon Trail games I've played. Not the 1971 Oregon Trail, the first game I played on the list, no the early 90s Oregon Trail games from Mecc where you have to balance your crew's well being along with supplies for the long trips you'll be taking. You have to balance how much supplies you'll have vs the weight of your ship. Except rather than just going down a pre-set path, you can go wherever you want!
But here is where we start to see a bit of the seams coming undone. See, they tried to make this a realistic simulator. So things are really REALLY far apart. Towns, ships, ports, everything will be spread out along the Caribbean. You will sail for DAYS before you see anything of value.
I also wish the fencing wasn't so clunky. The controls are really unresponsive and delayed. I didn't feel like I was accurately fencing, but rather just moving my joystick in random directions hoping to land something.
However, those things aside, it's actually a pretty solid simulator. I had a good time! The menus are easy to navigate, the towns are fun to explore, fighting enemy ships and storming towns ended up being more exciting than I had originally thought. Overall i had a good time and I really could recommend it to those looking for a good pirate simulator. Just make sure to hit up the Amiga version for its beautiful visuals.
Next up: We finish up 1987 with Wizball.
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