|
|
Port Royale 2
|
|
|
|
|
|
Graphics & Sound:
Is it just me or does there seem to be an unusually high number of sixteenth century Caribbean themed games coming out recently? Maybe it’s just me. Port Royale 2, from Ascaron, is the sequel to, surprise, surprise, Port Royale. Port Royale 2 is a simulation in which you try to amass wealth in the conflict-filled and pirate-infested Caribbean of the 1500 and 1600’s.
Graphically, there are very few surprises and even fewer things to say. Your perspective is a typical overhead God-view. The game itself is very attractive, with vibrant colors and plenty of attention to detail. The waves ripple, the trees sway, and tropical birds fly through the air. There is even a window in the interface that features extra pretty pre-rendered graphics when you do certain things like complete a mission or talk to people in a town. Simulation games like this have to sacrifice some graphical quality since so much goes towards number crunching, but Port Royale 2 doesn’t disappoint. The audio experience is pretty similar. Your usual mix of Caribbean sound effects, birds, dock bells, cannon fire, and the typical music, steel drums, organs, etc… It’s not THX, but it gets the job done and sounds good. |
|
|
Gameplay:
The primary focus of Port Royale 2’s gameplay is simple, make money. The more money you make, the higher your rank gets and the more stuff you can own/do. The first, and most basic, method of making money is by trading. You buy goods in towns where they are produced, plentifully and cheap, and then sell them in towns where they are scare and expensive. However, this method of money-making is rather monotonous, and you probably won’t want to keep doing it on a large scale for very long.
After you’ve amassed enough capital, you can start to build businesses. Businesses require materials to build and people/resources to produce their goods. Until you can start producing the resources for your businesses yourself, they seem to work very much like a more specific form of trading since you still have to buy the materials and sell the finished product.
Aside from just buying and selling goods, you can also do missions to earn gold and reputation. These missions are given out by governors who live in the more well established cities. These missions involve going to a specific location on the map and doing something, usually fighting pirates.
If all of this seems rather boring, you always have the option of resorting to piracy yourself. Assuming you have the necessary firepower, this can net you a lot of wealth very quickly. However, it will also severely lower your relationships with the nation you attack, and you won’t be welcome in that nation’s towns. But that’s alright, since you can just sack and plunder the towns too. This can all be very fun, since Port Royale 2 offers a fairly entertaining battle system. While it does seem to artificially limit the number of ships you can control in the battle, it’s still fun running alongside ships and attacking them with various different types of artillery. |
|
|
Difficulty:
The main difficulty, for me anyway, was making sure my expenses from crews and workers never got so unwieldy that it was outweighing my income. After you play for awhile, politics also gets thrown into the mix, and you may find yourself being chased by enemy fleets. Then there’s always the pirate element. Unlike the original, Port Royale 2 offers a difficulty option. So if you’re a total loser when it comes to simulation games, like me, you can always set it to easy.
|
|
|
Game Mechanics:
No game set in the Caribbean is complete without ships, and in Port Royale 2 you’ve got tons to choose from. You’ll eventually need quite a few as you create new convoys and increase the size of the ones you have. Ships don’t come cheap however. Between building costs, paying captains and crews, and fixing them up after battles, you’ll spend quite a large amount of your gold reserves on your ships.
With dozens of port cities, a huge selection of ship types, political intrigue, and people clamoring for more grapes, Port Royale 2 has everything a fan of Caribbean history would want. It’s also a good buy for fans of simulation games. If you’re like me however, and aren’t a huge fan of either, Port Royale 2 probably isn’t for you. |
|
|
-Alucard, GameVortex Communications AKA Stephen Triche |
Minimum System Requirements:
Windows® 98SE, ME, 2000 or XP, Pentium® III (or compatible) 700 MHz CPU, 128 MB RAM for Windows® 98SE/ME, 256 MB RAM for Windows® 2000/XP, 700 MB free HDD Space, DirectX8 3D Graphics card with 32 MB RAM, DirectX Sound card, Internal 4 speed CDROM drive, DirectX 9 installed |
|
Test System:
Windows XP, Pentium IV 2.8 Ghz, 1024MB of RAM, Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB memory, Sound Blaster Audigy II |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
