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Mixed or average reviews - based on 23 Critics What's this?

User Score

Mixed or average reviews- based on 14 Ratings

  • Summary: Age of Pirates – Carribean Tales is a naval game devoted to pirate adventures on the Caribbean seas of the 17th century. It models all the details of the pirate life and misses nearly no part of a swashbuckler's sword swinging adventures. Taking the role of reckless fortune-hunter Blaze or r redheaded daredevil Beatrice – the player will navigate his sailor through the Caribbean, trade multiple goods, plunder merchant convoys, accomplish quests, build up his fleet, capture and rule colonies and much more. Following his lucky star he lives a life of high adventure, full of naval battles, bloody fights and treasure hunt, in a world of piracy and sea romance. In addition, the game can be played in 3rd person perspective, exploring your colonies and fighting side by side with your crew of loyal cutthroats and corsairs. [Playlogic] Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 23
  2. Negative: 8 out of 23
  1. Tense, drawn-out battles ahoy! Combat at sea has never been such fun. [Sept 2006, p.96]
  2. The controls are easy to get into and figure out, and the option to play the story or just do whatever you want to do makes it a definite that there are lots of hours of gameplay to be found here. The controls were clunky.
  3. Age of Pirates is plagued by slipshod sword fighting and a cluttered interface, but its breadth and freedom--no plot constraints here--are absolutely commendable. [Oct. 2006, p.69]
  4. A countless number of rough edges and some major bugs sap just about all the potential for entertainment from this overambitious, underdeveloped game about the pirates' life.

See all 23 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 2 out of 7
  2. Negative: 4 out of 7
  1. Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales is set in the 17th Century Caribbean, and is in my honest opinion, the BEST offline pirate themed game on the market. The only reason I did not give a score of 10 is because the main quest of the game is flawed. The goal is to take over all the colonies of the Caribbean, however, no matter how well you develop your colony (Castle level is the highest), other nations just seem to come in and take it over like it has no defense whatsoever. In other words, your colonies cannot defend themselves on their own, which is bad, very bad. You spend thousands of dollars for nothing. So, since the game is open-ended, I'd suggest ignoring the main quest, just play as you wish and don't take over colonies, because you'll just lose them. It's near impossible to keep running around from colony to colony trying to defend them. It's just too hard. No offense to the designers at Playlogic, but they could have had a perfect 10 game, but they ruined the main quest. Also, as many have stated, the game is very buggy, but fortunately, with a mod called, "Supermod," most of those bugs have been fixed. The game may still crash on occasion, but if you save often, it won't be a problem. So, despite the main quest being a total wash, the rest of the game is incredible. The open sea scenery is jaw dropping, and sailing through storms is so realistic, it's both scary and fun. You have your choice of two characters upon game start, Blaze Sharp or his step-sister Beatrice Sharp. Then, you have a second choice of which Caribbean Power to affiliate yourself with, England, France, Holland, Spain, or my favorite, the Pirates. You can receive missions from people on the streets, in the taverns, at the store, or from the governors. The pirate governor or "Pirate King" who is located on the Island of Isla Mona will only give you missions when you acquire a high enough reputation with the pirates. A high fame I believe also helps. Also, the missions are always available. They never end. So, if you get tired of sinking ships on the sea, trading, smuggling contraband with the pirates, or harassing the colony ports, there will always be a quest from someone you can grab. The game also keeps track of how many ships you defeat, be it through cannon fire, grappling, or surrendering. There is some replay value, because you can do something different each time, and from what I can tell, the trade goods which colonies import/export are also randomized upon game start, which is very nice. I won't go into detail, but as your character levels up, there are many skills and abilities to learn. If you've ever played "Pirates of the Caribbean," the system is very similar. All in all, it's a fantastic and underrated game which everyone should give a try, again, despite its flaws and bugs. Cheers! Expand
  2. BradG.
    8
    The short review is based upon the fact that after about 10 hours I haven't experienced a single bug or crash. This game is Sid Meyer�39;s Pirates! with 50% more depth. The hand-to-hand isn't quite as fun as the Pirates minigame but the ship to ship combat is incredible. It's like reliving the set piece battles from Master and Commander each time you head into battle. Clive D is right though, the main plot seems to be broken. Thankfully the free-form gameplay is fun enough on its own. Expand
  3. ChristinaH.
    5
    It is so frustrating that they have not recreated Sid Meyers Pirates! Every pirate game that has come out since was only better in that it had great graphics, other then that the games have been dumbed down. What happened to convoys? Marriage to the govs daughter, etc? And though the original was pixelated and you had to change out the huge floppy disks, the game was great and addictive. This one has so many bugs, crashes constantly, and is almost unplayable. Shame on you play logic for not beta testing and leaving out some of the best parts of the original pirate game! PS: For those Sid Meyer's Pirate addicts out there, it is now public domain and you can down load it simply by searching for it on Google for a free download! even plays in windows instead of DOS! Expand
  4. RobertT.
    0
    It is advertised as being online. Maybe it was 3 years ago. I see posts in Forums where it has not been working online internet service by Playlogic or atari since 2006. So where are the games I ask? Expand

See all 7 User Reviews