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Platform: Playstation 2 Genre: Action Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: Westwood Studios ESRB: T (Teen) Released: Q1 2002 Support AE! Buy Games Here:
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Pirates: The Legend of Black KatScore: 8.5 / 10
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Pros: - Two definite
game modes: sword fightin’ and sailin’ - Expansive
levels: especially for the sword fighting - Impressive game design and implementation
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Cons: - Some blocky
textures during the action - Camera issues
where you can’t see someone behind you while they take cheap shots - Save, save, save, save (Especially whenever you’re going sailing) |
Related Links: Review: Onimusha (Playstation 2) Review: Escape from Monkey Island (Playstation 2) Review: The Mark of Kri (Playstation 2)
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"I
recommend Pirates for those that are looking for something more than a
straightforward hack and slash game – something a little more
engaging.
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Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat is a decidedly different type of adventure game, one where you get to live vicariously through a female pirate in the Caribbean. So don your best scallywag-fighting clothes and climb aboard!
Pirates holds two levels of action, the first puts you in direct control of Kat (short for Katarina de Leon), fighting skirmishes and general adventuring for treasure, buried or otherwise. Kat possess the ability to detect buried treasure (I had a girlfriend with a similar ability involving me and my paychecks) which she’ll need to collect to buy weapons, tools, and help upgrade and repair her ship the “Wind Dancer”. The second type of action involves the Wind Dancer itself, the sailing portion of the game. Not only is it the preferred way to navigate between islands (or worlds if you still think in a Super Mario kind of way) but it also represents some of the more strategic action of the game. For example, around the islands are usually a series of enemy ships looking to paint some kills on the bow as well as an encampment or fort of some kind. “Do I go after the ships then focus on whittling away at the fort?” or “Do I try and destroy the fort first, set up a base for repairs and then destroy the ships at my leisure?” – these questions become an integral part of the game.
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As mentioned, the melee action is where you look for treasure – either buried or on the corpses of those foolish enough to oppose you. Here you can explore and generally battle against all sorts of baddies ranging from inept guards and disgruntled crustaceans to the more frightening undead horde and bosses. Besides her trusty cutlass, Kat can also use a variety of tools and other weapons ranging from throwing knives and incendiary devices to magic spells – it gives a well rounded feel to the action. Besides walking, Kat can also move around the locals by uncovering and using warp pads |
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which bring her to normally un-explorable places on the island or to secret areas such as an underworld gravesite (or something equally macabre). The action for this mode is good, with a fine balance between exploring and fighting to maintain your interest, but it can certainly get repetitive after a while. My only complaint about this action is with the camera. There is nothing as infuriating as getting hammered by an unseen opponent.
The
visuals are a mixed bag with the detail varying from high on some
objects to mid-low on some textures – from one moment you’re looking
into a gorgeous reflecting pool where you can see your own visage
through the waves to an enemy who looks downright cubic on the edges.
It’s not bad, just surprising to see such a disparity in the graphics
in some areas of the game. The sound is good, not amazing, but competent
-- it doesn’t distract from the action at any time. The adventuring is
where all of the sight gags and programmer humor and tributes take place
– from the grog which heals (most likely props to the Monkey Island
team) to the parrot which serves as the save point.
The
cerebral portion of the game is in the sailing. In this game, the
majority of the difficulty is derived in figuring out a strategy to
defeat all of the enemy pirate ships as well as any
encampments/fortresses built on the island. From a lifetime of gaming,
we’ve somehow developed a theory that the best way to destroy
something is to attack head-on, thereby surprising the enemy and
allowing our general superiority to dominate from the inside. This game
will take you out back and wail on you with a wet newspaper if you try
those kinds of tactics. The goal is to defeat your enemies without
sustaining too much damage to your own ship because repairs are costly
and a pain to implement. The “health” of the Wind Dancer is measured
in two ways – hull damage and sails. (Some of you were thinking
shields, right?) Both attributes can be fixed with materials stowed
on-board the ship but these critical supplies always seem to be in short
supply when you really need them (especially when you’ve started
exploring a new island).
The
real tactics of sea battling is in forcing your enemy into a bad
position and then damaging them while they cannot get a bead on your
ship – it certainly is easier to say than do. The strategy becomes
more involved when engaging an enemy base, you have to try to destroy
the cannons or at least damage a section enough for you to move in close
and finish off the target (which is usually the time when those 4 ships
you forgot about decide to join the battle). Needless to say, I heartily
recommend saving often when attempting something involving a ship –
you’re going to die often so I hope you didn’t do too much between
saves.
The
transition between the two modes occurs whenever you find a pier and
dock the ship (this even works during the middle of a battle -- for some
reason, your enemies won’t fire on a docked ship). It’s the quickest
way (or sometimes the only way) of exploring all areas of an island. The
graphics in this mode are really good; everything seems authentic about
the sailing except for the final explosions of a sinking ship.
(There’s no fuel, they might have some gun powder but I doubt that
it’d blow up like that.)
All
in all Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat is an interesting game that is a
lot of fun to play. I recommend Pirates for those that are looking for
something more than a straightforward hack and slash game – something
a little more engaging.
-
Tazman
"Gimme
the funnies." "Here, you can read the coupons." -
Meatwad and Master Shake (Aqua Teen Hunger Force)
PS. There are codes to change Kat’s outfit. If you’re interested pop me an email and I’ll send it along (or just post the damn thing if harassed enough).
(April 1, 2002)
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