If you’ve never tried Port Royale or Patrician, but are looking to explore a truly engaging “period piece” that will provide hours of entertainment, take Rise of Venice for a spin. As the latest offering from Kalypso and Gaming Minds, the game succeeds at re-creating an age out of mind through the very modernity of its design, and the presentation is as slick as any other new release you’ll find out right now.
Rise of Venice hasn't been built from scratch but compared to Port Royale 3 it comes with added politics, a 3D map and adjustments in all the right spots. It's a classic trading sim where everything works together extremely well and it will keep you busy for weeks.
While I do have rose tinted specs regarding Patrician 2 and 3 this is probably better than both of those.
It's as good as if not better than Port Royale and better IMO than PR2 and 3.
The plot/politics side is greatly enhanced from the previous games and trading has been smoothed (but not nerfed) The need to keep a pen and paper handy just to see if a route is profitable or not is no longer required.
That was always annoying. There you are, in front of a £1500 PC, using a calculator to work out whether buying bricks from Barbados and selling them at St Kitts was worth it or not. It didn't really add to the game.
Well that's all fixed now. The GFX are good, the combat is optional (good as I have no interest in it) the gmae is a solid deep trading and strategy game.
Some of the reviews pro and player seem a little annoyed that it isn't a pirates and swashbuckling game and review it as if it SHOULD have been.
Guess they don't understand the real pleasure of a deep logistics and trading strategy game and maybe next time the pro game review sites are handed a game like this to review and the editor is working out who to give it to then some of those who have reviewed this should just own up and say "You know what I just don't 'get' this sort of game maybe give the review to someone who does"
Would they give the next CoD or Battlefield game to someone like me to review someone who can't stand FPS's? I don't think so.
The game is exactly that what it claims to be: an economic simulation with tradings and industries.
A shame that this title as well as GMS' prequel "Port Royale 3" got bashed by ignorant reviewers, who misunderstood (or were too lazy to read on it first) and assumed that it's going to be a pirate action. The strategical depth is very thorough, the graphics are WAY better than its sequels and the gameplay is smooth.
The story might not be the best but this game isn't about the story. The story is simply a tutorial.
Overall, a successful simulation for the deep strategists out there.
This is a game that demands a lot up front but pays off down the road as long as you stay patient when it comes to online homework and in-game experimentation.
Rise of Venice excels because of the complex and enticing economic system, but forgets to build something good around that. This makes it hard to actually enjoy the game.
In a year awash with excellent PC strategy titles, Rise of Venice is stranded on the shores of disappointment. But at least the trade skills it imparts may enable you to swap it for a better game.
This game does what it is meant to do, simulate trade during a period, perfectly. If you are expecting something else, than you will be disappointed, but if you are looking for a deep simulation and are a history nerd in general, there is really no alternative.
If you like game serise Age of Exploration(made by KOEI) or Port Royal series, this game also you'll be like. But I feel this game is lack of contents. Only one short single story. I think need more characters and randomable or hidden stories(event).
It's a good solid game in the Patrician & Port Royale tradition sort of a cross of both. I'm keener on the trading side of things and not the "pirate battle" stuff which I get sick of pretty quick. I find the map a little hard to see; supposedly there are things marked on it (pieces of treasure maps) but I'm having a hard time seeing them. Overall it's a solid trading game.
Rise of Venice is a very standard ship trading simulator, which has copied everything from previous games in the sub-genre. It does this well... I experienced only one bug, though it was a critical bug which ruined my campaign play (there was a mission where the goal spawn never spawned). Otherwise, it's well-polished. With RoV, the sub-genre's been given a fresh coat of paint (though... identical games didn't come out more than a couple years ago, so this isn't particularly needed). It suffers the same problem as similar games, where there's quickly nothing interesting to do once you've figured out the trade mechanics. You cart product from an area which produces the product (or where you produce the product) to somewhere where they don't produce it, and take the profit.... over and over. I frankly think EVE Online has effectively rendered this subgenre obsolete or it would, if it weren't subscription-based. You can cart goods around and arb all you want in EVE, and it's plenty more deep and interesting when the buyers and sellers are real people, instead of waiting for consistent, predictable goods consumption having trading being just a small part of a much more grand picture helps a lot in maintaining engagement, too. Ship combat in RoV is quite clunky, and for whatever reason, I consistently had trouble getting the ship I was controlling to board enemy ships when I was right up alongside the enemy vessel, so I eventually just stopped manual ship combat and switched to automatic battles. This also isn't uncommon for the subgenre. Overall, I'd say it's shockingly unambitious, very forgettable, and merely a facelift for people who may not have already played almost-identical games. I mean it's not a "bad" game it's just a knock-off of something I've already played. If you have played almost-identical games, well... Why pay to play what amounts to practically the same game twice?
The game is good in many ways if you have played the patrician port royale games before
some things are done nice but in my opinion its the same repeating that the whole series was about... trade up to get some cash buy few production buildings and produce the rarest stuff and sell it for big profit unending stream of cash
I yet again made the mistake of playing this game and finding it dull/boring/repetitive after 3/4 hours
this will be the last patrician/port royale/rise of venice game for me...
KALYPSO makes great games the only problem lately is. they are always lacking replay value and alot of essential gameplay elements..
conclusion: PLAY: if you like repetitive tasks games DON'T PLAY: if you are getting bored after doing 2/3 hours the same stuff and don't feel like you accomplished something
SummaryRise of Venice drops players in the Renaissance era, where they start out as a young merchant, looking to make his mark and build a trading empire. Begin with a meager group of trading ships and build them into a mercantile fleet that will make your enemies and friends alike green with jealousy as you fill your coffers with gold! Rise o...