Port royal 2 (Port Royale 2 (PC))

Member Name: ross88guy

Product:	Port Royale 2 (PC)
Date:	25/06/05 (3732 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very addictive, Extensive gameplay

Disadvantages: Frustrating in the begining may cause you to lose interest., Many other games of the same nature on the market.

Ascaron's latest creation Port royal 2 combines extensive game play with an origional idea to create this "best in its class" game.

One of the first things to be noticed on slipping the CD into the drive, you are immediately confronted by the nigh-vertical learning curve that is inherent in Port Royale 2 (PR2), and this will stay with you whether you decide to toy with the Free Play mode or go for one of the handful of scenarios.

You choose a nation to represent, from Spain, France, Holland or England, and then an era (from 1570 to 1660) before setting sail to make your fortune. This both serves as an indicator as to where you will be based and the kind of challenges that await you. For instance, the Spanish hold more colonies in 1570 as opposed to 1660, and this knowledge you can use to your advantage when plotting the course of your entrepreneurial empire.

Starting off in Free Play grants you a ship, a warehouse for stocking goods, and a truly puny amount of cold hard cash in the year 1600. From there, you must invest in local businesses and both the import and export of goods, hopefully making a sizeable profit at the same time.

The more assets you have, the higher your 'rank', and the higher your 'rank', the more profitable the missions you can take on from the local Governors, the more profitable missions you have access to, the richer you become and so it goes. Such is the freedom of choice presented to you, however, that you don't have to even do that!

Instead, you can just hang around your hometown and store goods in your warehouse, buying and selling as other traders do the dirty work for you. Indeed, when you make enough dough you can even start considering buying out a few businesses and create a monopoly.

Still, that's kinda boring, and the real money is to be made on the high seas of adventure, so it's in your best interests to get out there and see the world. Thankfully, the basic business of Caribbean economics is a breeze. If a town has a need for rum and cannot produce said product on its own, you set up base in a town that actively distils rum and cart it on over.

As the different types of ship have, naturally, different attributes, who wins tends to come down, more often than not, to who has the bigger ship, as opposed to who has more elite skill. Don't expect epic Master and Commander-type battles, however, as, like many strategy games, good graphics are more the exception than the rule here.

From a distance, I must admit, buildings and civilians look good, but up close they disassociate into a quagmire of blocky sprites, being 2D, whilst the ships, despite being 3D, suffer just as much, with simple texturing and nigh-amateur modeling ruining any kind of potential aesthetic appeal. Still, it's serviceable, but I'm certain a tad more work could have, not to mention should have, gone into the visuals.

Port Royale 2 is not a game for the masses. It's in-depth, difficult and occasionally hair-pullingly frustrating. Regardless, it features pirates, rum and some of the heaviest economical micromanagement to be found outside of a Republican budget and that has to be a good thing. You'll love it, or you'll hate it.

Summary: