In my opinion, the only thing cooler than a swashbuckling movie is a swashbuckling game where you can roam the high seas and plunder to your black hearts content. Where mutiny and captaincy are within the reach of every man woman or parrot and the very world can be laid waste through your carnage. While this may not yet be possible, I can settle myself that, although rare, Pirate game are still being made. The only problem with these sorts of games lies in the fact that they are very hard to make, and more importantly, very hard to create well. Pirates of Black Cove, by Paradox Interactive is a prime example.
You are essentially a pirate who led a mutiny on your captain, your carnage is panned over through the wide shot introduction. Alls well with your pirating, until you have to unite all of the pirate factions of the Caribbean in order to put a stop to The Pirates of Black Cove and become King of the Pirates. The story is so plainly simple that it works, the goal at the end of the narrative opens up many opportunities for the player to explore this open world title, and what a world it is.
Visually the world is living and breathing, shown from a top-down perspective you are given a wonder of picturesque landscapes. There are two main areas, when you are off-land, and when you are sailing the seven seas. The towns and provinces you visit really do look very nice. Not exactly living and breathing, but good-looking nonetheless. All this is forgotten however, when you decide to sail, the water effects are amazing, coupled with the many ships you encounter do give the feeling that you aren't the only ones roaming the area.
The immersion continues in fine form when you take in the sound department and their work. While the accents do seem a little overdone, this can not be a fault as I very much enjoyed every “argh” quite thoroughly. Even the voices of non-story roles were completed well, with every ship I attacked threatening me in some varied slang with no fail. Coupled with the fitting music and the various ocean sounds, Pirates of Black Cove enjoys a very ambient feel.
The same con not be said, unfortunately for the game play which is a real let down. Attempting to be a tactical game in the same vein as say Warcraft 3, Pirates of Black Cove is slow and cluttered. As an example, walking around the towns you are doing that, literally. You walk at a slow pace with no chance of moving any quicker. While you are given the choice of special abilities for your pirate, it all becomes a fact of how many followers can you buy to finish the job by overpowering with numbers. The ship battles are fought the same way as any pirate games, the same way as Sid Meiers Pirates. This is not a chink in the armour of Paradox Interactive though as they have recreated the feel intensely well and sea battles feel as authentic as ever.
Pirates of Black Cove is aesthetically a high quality game which from any trailer would be in my game collection straight away with no question. It looks gorgeous with water effects, landscapes and ships which look authentic and believable. Given these aspects, coupled with the soundtrack and voice acting usually I would be willing to praise a game beyond measure. What Pirates of Black Cove has done right, however ha been let down horribly by shoddy, slow and grinding gameplay which completely breaks any immersion the player might have.
For a lover of tactics and strategy games I would stay away from Pirates of Black cove. If you are an avid lover of pirate games and enjoy the casual strategy game, I recommend you play Paradox Interactive, Pirates of Black Cove, but try before you buy. Pirates of Black Cove
gave promises that were not fulfilled.
Story: 7
Gameplay: 4
Visuals: 8
Sound: 8
Overall: 7/10
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