Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales [PC]

Confusingly, Akella's Age of Pirates traces its history from 2000's Sea Dogs, by way of its follow-up Pirates of the Caribbean, which was Sea Dogs 2 in all but name. In a way, then, Age of Pirates is Sea Dogs 3.Confused yet? None of the series has been very well received, and the same is unfortunately going to be true of this one. Although blending RPG concepts with tall ship combat and building up a Caribbean empire of honest (or not so honest) buccaneers is a great idea, this game misses the boat.

Age of Pirates bears a passing resemblance to the more familiar Sid Meier's Pirates, but includes a real plot, which starts as the game opens with a stranger thrusting a note into your hands, sent by your father 20 years ago. Whether you follow its instructions or not is up to you, as Age of Pirates is open-ended enough that you can ignore the main plot entirely and still cruise about establishing an empire and generally living the pirate equivalent of the good life.

Of course, you can expect to get into the odd rumble. Numerous attempts have been made to capture the colossal tactical depth and drama of tall ship combat. Age of Pirates' try isn't bad: Akella isn't afraid to let your cannons take a full minute to reload, and provide a near-frustratingly difficult aiming mechanism. Whoever said being a captain was easy? Like Sid Meier's Pirates and other games in this style, you need to maneuver your ship to bring your cannons to bear on your enemy while avoiding their own broadsides.

This is a pretty ponderous process, but tall ships weren't exactly renowned for their maneuverability. Once you get used to the pace, it's a system that works as well as any other game that's attempted this challenge. You can also watch it from a first-person perspective down on the deck of your ship.

Age of Pirates' tactical options include the ability to switch out different shot types for specific effects, boarding enemy ships, and -- if the wind's with you -- running away. The latter is an option you'll often be taking early in the game, as you'll be outnumbered by many of the fleets you'll meet. Such is the life of a fledgling pirate; the sea combat is still Age of Pirate's strongest feature,

On shore, things take a turn for the worse. For starters, the controls are a bit of a mess. Although you can walk about the towns you visit, there's little reason to bother -- you'll just bump into people, carts, walls, and so on, and you can visit any important building via the menu anyway. Maybe the wayward controls are an attempt to convey the impression that your piratical alter ego has had a little too much rum. Although the graphics for this section aren't bad, there are times when 2D menus are just a better choice all round.