Old School Game Review: Pirates! Gold - Nubblies.net Forums

victim · 07-18-2003, 02:16 PM

Disclaimer: I am a ninja, and no matter what is said in this post, a ninja I shall remain. Don't fuck with ninjas.

Argh, mateys.

I was sitting at work yesterday, and all the recent talk of pirates reminded me of an old game I used to play. An excellent game that passed under the radar of many.

Pirates! Gold
Released in 1994 by Microprose, this adventure/strategy/role playing game was ahead of it's time. Imagine the idea of Grand Theft Auto, yet taken 350 years back into the past. That's what we're talking about here. Pimp shit. Yet this is no 3D state of the art game, I found my copy of the sexbear on 6 Floppy Disks in a dusty box in my basement.

You're a pirate. You start by picking the from 6 different time frames during the age of pirates, varying in difficult and feel. Then, you pick from 4 difficulty levels on top of this, from a simple Apprentice to a swashbuckling Swashbuckler. You then pick a national affiliation (Spanish, English, Dutch, French) and a particular strength (Fencing, Wit and Charm, Navigation, Medicine, or Artillery). You then enter your name, and it's time to begin.

I haven't gotten far yet, but you're pretty much free to do whatever you want. The only goal is to gain in wealth and status through any means necessary. You can do absolutely everything a pirate does: sword fighting, ship battling, bounty hunting, finding maps and going treasure hunting, looting towns, recruiting crew members, amassing a fleet, getting married to the merchant's daughter, the governor's daughter, or just fucking every barmaid you ever encounter.

You just keep going until you're forced to retire, retire willingly, imprisoned, captured, or killed.

It's fun, and suprisingly challenging. You'd think that an old game would get repetetive due to it's small size, but this does not. You have free reign of the entire Spanish Main, and a lot of your adventures and discoveries are based on random chance, so the game is different everytime you play. It's a small game in actual size, and the graphics are pretty ancient, but it should be an quick download even for dialup if you can find it out there.

Overall, Pirates! Gold is a true adventure on the high seas. Although severly dated, this game simply rocks.

Score: 8 out of 10

I'll try to get some screenshots and more info about this thing some time this weekend.

Ugly Bastard · 07-18-2003, 02:37 PM

victim-

Nice to see you're finally starting to come around.

This game sounds really fun...go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for bestowing this review upon us.

It's games like these that sound fun to me...Grand Theft Auto is a good game, but with a Pirate twist? Oh my...

I'd love to play sometime.

-Ugly Bastard

07-18-2003, 02:16 PM	#1 (permalink)
victim Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 985 Internets: 10	Disclaimer: I am a ninja, and no matter what is said in this post, a ninja I shall remain. Don't fuck with ninjas. Argh, mateys. I was sitting at work yesterday, and all the recent talk of pirates reminded me of an old game I used to play. An excellent game that passed under the radar of many. Pirates! Gold Released in 1994 by Microprose, this adventure/strategy/role playing game was ahead of it's time. Imagine the idea of Grand Theft Auto, yet taken 350 years back into the past. That's what we're talking about here. Pimp shit. Yet this is no 3D state of the art game, I found my copy of the sexbear on 6 Floppy Disks in a dusty box in my basement. You're a pirate. You start by picking the from 6 different time frames during the age of pirates, varying in difficult and feel. Then, you pick from 4 difficulty levels on top of this, from a simple Apprentice to a swashbuckling Swashbuckler. You then pick a national affiliation (Spanish, English, Dutch, French) and a particular strength (Fencing, Wit and Charm, Navigation, Medicine, or Artillery). You then enter your name, and it's time to begin. I haven't gotten far yet, but you're pretty much free to do whatever you want. The only goal is to gain in wealth and status through any means necessary. You can do absolutely everything a pirate does: sword fighting, ship battling, bounty hunting, finding maps and going treasure hunting, looting towns, recruiting crew members, amassing a fleet, getting married to the merchant's daughter, the governor's daughter, or just fucking every barmaid you ever encounter. You just keep going until you're forced to retire, retire willingly, imprisoned, captured, or killed. It's fun, and suprisingly challenging. You'd think that an old game would get repetetive due to it's small size, but this does not. You have free reign of the entire Spanish Main, and a lot of your adventures and discoveries are based on random chance, so the game is different everytime you play. It's a small game in actual size, and the graphics are pretty ancient, but it should be an quick download even for dialup if you can find it out there. Overall, Pirates! Gold is a true adventure on the high seas. Although severly dated, this game simply rocks. Score: 8 out of 10 I'll try to get some screenshots and more info about this thing some time this weekend.
	get off my internet!!!

07-18-2003, 02:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	victim- Nice to see you're finally starting to come around. This game sounds really fun...go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for bestowing this review upon us. It's games like these that sound fun to me...Grand Theft Auto is a good game, but with a Pirate twist? Oh my... I'd love to play sometime. -Ugly Bastard