RETRO – Pirates! Spanish Galleons, hidden treasures which blood is tied to, fierce cannon fire with ships crashing into each other, brutal hand to hand combat – Only one game was able to mimic the life of a pirate and that was the grand classic called Pirates! For the Commodore 64.

The game not only laid the groundwork the publisher, but it became one of the most famous strategy game of history. Although many have tried to copy the success with more ( Sea Legends) or less (Buccaneer) success, a little French dev team’s “corsair” will now sail again to the Caribbean, so that they can plunder the Spanish Empire!

Monsieur or Mister? 

To the sea then, but with which nation’s flag should we raid the ships? Those who liked being a Spanish Rebel or a Dutch “entrepreneur” will be sad to hear that in this game there can only be two nations to choose from: England or France. It is noteworthy that the France person mentioned in the title called Jacques Cartier was never a pirate, but an explorer on the heels of Colombus, but ultimately dying tragically. It seems that the developers should have taken a few history lessons instead of thinking about Pirates!

A pirate with a degree?

Those gamers who are interested in the details will ask if whether there is a difference between a Corsair and a Pirate. Well the difference is not without a reason: While a pirate will pillage anyone, the Corsairs only will do this against the enemy of a nation – such person was Sir Francis Drake, favored of Queen Elizabeth, and was feared by the Spanish, or in the movies Peter Blood who was played by Erol Flynn. These pirates had a “letter of marque” which allowed them to dock in their native country’s ports without any issues (the Spanish did not enjoy this difference within the pirate ranks). Those who liked the first option of pillaging and killing everyone should remember that sometimes they need to resupply from land…

Do not just pillage, expand!

The game’s name difference also means there are several gameplay changes: In Corsairs we do not have to attack, and plunder ships but we also have to defend our country’s colony town (at first it is feeble), and even aid it monetarily, and upgrade it. The investment is worth it: our enemy’s cities will fire on our ships, and if our enemy conquers the colony town we will become homeless pretty quickly. So the most important part of our cities is the development of fortresses that are on a smaller island. This way the enemy will be sunk quicker, and will not be taken over. Of course besides defending we also need to conquer rival cities soon, and develop those also.

Just like in Pirates! We can take all of our gained goods and sell them (sugar, spices, and jewels, etc.). We can fix up our ships, recruit people. However unlike the previous pirate games, people do not join us based on our reputation, we can hire anyone and as much as we want – in this game the life of a human is pretty cheap.

Blood and Gold

In the end, we are pirates, and our coffers are filled the most by conquering enemy ships. The combat is like from the good old MicroProse game: from an above field of view we need to bombard the enemy, so we can get near it and board it. The difference here that while in Pirates! And Sea of Legends we could only attack the enemy captain with our captain, here we control the entire crew: it is mostly just like the battles from Lords Of The Realms II. The captains have an important role: they are the strongest most energetic fighters. If they fight better, our pirate crew will have a high morale, however, if they die, then their confidence might become too small: most of the times they’ll give up the fight. This is however also true to the enemy, and that is why it is important to take out the captains first.

The garrison shall fight until the last man!

Regardless of our towns and forts upgrades sometimes they get slaughtered by the enemy, and all of our riches and women are taken by the enemy. Luckily if we wish we can lead the defense against the pirates, which usually outnumber our troops. Of course with a few great tactics, and troop movement we can defeat them easily. If we win, then we not only save the city but also the ship’s treasures are ours!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it

Of course, after a while the pirate life is not a challenge, we can find a lot of missions in the game, for which we get gold, ships, ranks and other items. The final objective is, of course, to become the most feared pirate of the Caribbean, and not to end up on the rope, but to live peacefully, with gold and high rank, as the most important law of pirate is Death or Glory.

Not Pirates! But still good

If I were to recount which was the most played game in my life, it would be Pirates! The strategies, the trades, the adventures, and the action was such well blended by Sid Meier that no wonder he became famous.

Many have tried to copy the formula, but none of the clones could beat the original. While Corsairs is also not able to do it, it almost does, as the French levity of all, the great atmosphere, the graphics, and last but not least the new features were able to remind me of Al those hours spent in front of the Commodore 64 blasting Spanish ships, and raiding towns.

The game was able to keep what was good in the original game of Pirates!: The ship combat is controlled from above, not too complicated unlike in Sea Legends. The melee combat is a bit weaker, as the controls and AI are not the best, but luckily not that bad. It was an excellent idea to give us the ability to upgrade our towns, not just our ships. This way the title Corsairs is not just a namesake, you are an actual conqueror, not just a simple Pirate. 

Of course, after a while the pirate life is not a challenge, we can find a lot of missions in the game, for which we get gold, ships, ranks and other items. The final objective is, of course, to become the most feared pirate of the Caribbean, and not to end up on the rope, but to live peacefully, with gold and high rank, as the most important law of pirate is Death or Glory.

-Bad Sector- (1999)

Publisher: Microïds

Developer: Microïds

Genres: Strategy

Publication: 1999