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Set sail for woe and disappointment.
Set sail for woe and disappointment.
There's a fine line between campy and crappy. The way Pirates of Black Cove's lighthearted "Yaaaarrr"-heavy humor waffles back and forth from amusing to cringe-worthy is forgivable, but a strong personality doesn't save this sinking ship of a game from its numerous shortcomings. Sluggish high seas adventure and dull, simplistic gameplay detract from an otherwise charming presentation that struggles to stay afloat under its own awkward girth. Simply put: plundering loot across the beautifully shimmering waters of Black Cove should be a lot more fun than it is.
With a choice of three over-the-top piratical protagonists, overthrowing your ship's captain to set out for a life of piracy gets things off to good start. Plunked down in the middle of the ocean's island-pocked map, you sail to-and-fro, taking on missions on sea and land for the game's three pirate factions. There's lots of booty to pursue, tasks to tackle, villages to pillage, and places to explore. It's an exciting prospect, except the scope of the gameplay is far more limited than it first appears, making the repetition that quickly sets in even more disappointing.
Exploring the tropical island waters offers some gorgeous sightseeing opportunities as you pass by lush islands and gaze deep into the blue depths. Sadly, that's all you can do at times, since getting where you need to go is a painfully slow process. Even at top speed, it can take minutes of straight sailing to travel between mission hotspots. Waylaying passing vessels – a prime pirate pursuit – only offers a meager amount of amusement too. Ship-to-ship combat boils down to you and your adversary circling around one another and exchanging cannon fire until your foe hits the sea floor. Most enemy vessels are too easy to beat, and the repetitive ocean battles lack much punch.
The going doesn't get any better on land. A large number of Black Cove's missions send your small band of no-goodnicks on island assaults to destroy specific buildings, capture key characters, and cause mayhem. These plodding affairs play out in a very similar fashion each time. Starting from the beachhead, you'll send your main hero and any accompanying rabble you've hired on a slow trek inland. Though there are small pockets of opposition along the way, in almost every case I plowed through them with relative ease, reached my objective marker, and battled my way back to the shore. Moving around is slow and tedious, and the trek back to your ship after the mission is done is a real slog.
Any traditional real-time strategy elements found in these encounters are sparse at best. Most island battles are overcome by selecting all of your troops and hurling them at a particular foe until it's mauled, and trying to do much else hinders your effectiveness in combat. Instead of being able to select and manage individual units, you can only direct particular groupings of units. And the limited unit types (minor variations on melee, ranged, heavy artillery) don't add much to the gameplay. There's surprisingly little room for strategic variation or direction, which feels like a real misstep in a RTS title.
Any traditional real-time strategy elements found in these encounters are sparse at best. Most island battles are overcome by selecting all of your troops and hurling them at a particular foe until it's mauled, and trying to do much else hinders your effectiveness in combat. Instead of being able to select and manage individual units, you can only direct particular groupings of units. And the limited unit types (minor variations on melee, ranged, heavy artillery) don't add much to the gameplay. There's surprisingly little room for strategic variation or direction, which feels like a real misstep in a RTS title.
A smattering of light RPG elements pop-up subtly throughout the game. Completing missions gains you favor with pirate factions, opening up new tasks to tackle, and you'll also earn experience, letting you pick a new ability for your smarmy hero every few levels. These minor nuances add a little extra flavor and purpose to the repetitive task of plodding back and forth across the same islands. You can also unlock a few structures on each pirate factions base area for producing new units, and some buildings allow item crafting when you've foraged the right components.
Closing Comments
Aside from its uninspired combat and limited scope, Pirates of Black Cove is an endearing game at times. I wanted to love it, and kept diving back in hoping that something would click. It didn’t. The hokey character dialogue and D-list voice acting grew on me, and the vibrant vistas in the sprawling world map’s oceanic terrain are beautiful. It’s too bad so many other areas of the game sputter and flop like a beached whale. This pirating RTS adventure hints at depth and promise but just doesn’t deliver.
IGN Ratings for Pirates of Black Cove (PC)
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