Age of Pirates
Ages: Teen

Let me tell you – girls like to play pirate as much as boys do and Age of Pirates makes that happen. You can be a swashbuckling Jane, rescuing her kidnapped sib, hire a scrungy lot of men from the local tavern, pillage, board ships and engage in hand to hand combat and make a bloody name for yourself. Or you can sail around the Caribbean visiting ports of call while learning the basics of sailing, and what the difference is between knippels, grapeshot and cannonballs.

The graphics are gorgeous, the sea, the sky, the sun sets are travelogue quality. The battles, once you have mastered maneuvering, recall the O'Brien novels. But life upon the sea takes a lot of planning and that is the downside of this game. There is a lot of information to be absorbed, and while it adds to the authenticity, it shouldn't be so much work to play the game. My other gripe – the female character deserves as much clothing as the male. Her pants are transparent and she is in serious danger of coming out of her blouse. This may titillate 13 year old boys, but it is a wasted opportunity to create a visual character that would appeal to women. Not good marketing when there is a need to broaden the market.

Another note – this game plays only on Windows XP. You no longer can count on games running on Windows 95, 98, or 2000. If you are using older versions of Windows, make sure to read the bottoms of the boxes before making purchases.

Reviewed by: Editor - 10/06

This game is an interesting concept which is bogged down by a typical Barbie heroine and a set of far too complicated instructions. The graphics are good but the vertical and horizontal sensors are too sensitive, netting a very clumsy character interface. It has enough puzzle pieces to keep ones attention with a nice historic flavor and attention to detail. So much detail that only the most tenacious will plod through the mechanics to get to the action. While the instructions are spelled out in the manual with excruciating detail, some simple steps are not, such as how to address a character (chase them down, get in their face to ask a question), that you already possess a vessel or how to get on it (walk off the end of the pier). Definitely not user friendly, nor for the novice. But a great game if you have a lot of time on your hands, like complex steps and enjoy untangling string.

Reviewed by: Adison Garzon - 11/06