Sid Meier's Pirates

Developer: Firaxis
Publisher: 2K Games
Systems: PC (reviewed), Mac, Xbox, PSP
Release Date: Nov. 22, 2004
ESRB Rating: E
Official Web site

In a nutshell: Yar ... there be a simple strategy simulation off the port bow. Fire!

0:00 I've heard very good things about this game for years, and have a friend who's been trying to get me to play it for nearly as long (hi, Mike). That said, I probably wouldn't be touching it if it weren't freely available on my GameTap account.

0:01 A pirate opens a chest and finds the Firaxis logo. The 2K logo just fades in as normal. Bleh. The title appears over a cloud-covered map of the sea. The cursor becomes a ship's steering wheel during some long-ish loading.

0:03 The best thing about playing old games on my crappy computer: For once I can turn the video settings ALL THE WAY UP. *flex*

0:04 "It began with a celebration. Indebted for years to the Marquis de Motalban, a family's prosperity was soon to be restored -- carrying both their hopes and their salvation." Scenes of a 3-D family laughing and drinking at a dinner party. Then the Marquis comes with bad news: The fleet has been lost and the debt's come due. The family's property is seized by redcoats. The kid of the family tries to fight back, then runs off. "While his family was enslaved, the boy swore revenge." Ten years later, we pan over the docks, and see the now-grown boy begin his quest. I'm not sure how I feel about the silent, all-text and animation story presentation.

0:06 "Seeking passage to the new world, you inquire at a public house." A guy hands my character, a clean-cut muscular boy, a "crew sign-ups" parchment. The default name is "Incognito," which tickles me so much that I decide to use it.

Read the full review at Crispy Gamer