A classic. This game should be in everyone's library.

It is a sandbox game, meaning you have free movement and to choose what to do and where to go.

The difficulty options can make the game easy or very difficult and thus cater to all gamer types.

Graphics are great, userface is friendly, music is good, options for replayability are numerous.

I've never played the original, so I can't compare on that level, but Pirates! is really a fantastic game, especially for the price. It's hard to categorize since the gameplay is comprised of so many different elements (action, strategy, navigation, et cetera), but on the whole, I've found that its lightheartedness makes for a fun change from heavier gaming. There's not much in the way of "story," but the gameplay is what really shines here -- with the multitude of minigames and objectives, there's a lot to do. My only complaints are that the game can get repetitive after extended play, and that the jump between certain difficulty levels is staggering.

I've played this in the past, quite a long time ago now, on console, and was quite pleasantly surprised to spot this on sale here. Glad I put the money in now though, since the game is, in many games, exactly what a game should be - fun. You can spend a fair amount of time just engaging in the namesake activity of piracy. The game is, all considered, quite easy, but this doesn't really detract from the difficulty, as it isn't so easy as to leave you feeling utterly unchallenged. There are a few niggling pieces of irritation - such as the tedium of sailing from west to east over long distances, or trying to pin down a specific character. All considered, however, there's enough to capture your interest for at least a few days, and you might well find yourself coming back again a week or two later.

An excellent game for a casual bit of fun. Not at all complex, and makes for a very pleasant romp around the Carribian. It is a cute roleplay.

Perhaps it would have been nice if the game provided you with an indication of prices purchased at, so that you would know if trading was profitable.

This is another game I'd borrowed from the library and never completely gave back. It was just too good! The fighting, the quests, the beautiful governor's daughters you can woo... the treasure... and definitely the large range - both in selection and fire power - of ships make this a fantastic pirate game. It's 3D, so not for your office computers or what have you. But it's a great game for 2005-variety 3D, and for $10. Sid Meier makes good stuff. (Most of the time; Railroads was too easy, but that's a whole other story.)

Recommended, and $10 is a good price for it. It's RTS, not turn-based like Civilization (for the most part; land battles are turn-based), but it's still another good Sid Meier's game.

Take on the life of a successful or unsuccessful buccaneer in the golden age of Caribbean Piracy!

It's a great game with outstanding gameplay, another masterpiece by Sid Meier and a game I recommend to all.

probably one of the most addicting games i have ever played. the graphics look cheesy and the mini-games are not that complex, but the fun factor in this game is un-rivalled. you will never regret this purchase, thats for sure.

This is a great sandbox style game, doesn't force you to follow the storyline quests, you can choose between rescuing your family, hunting famous pirates, trading goods, conquering cities for your nation or do actual pirating and becoming the most wanted man in the Caribbean, the mini-games are fun, the graphics style doesn't look dated. But I have two complaints about gameplay; one, your character gets older as the in-game years pass, this makes the duels get harder and harder until it's practically impossible to win; and two, there is a permanent east-west wind blowing, sailing to the west is no problem, sailing to the east is tedious.

Even with these flaws, the game is fun and replay value is good, definitely a must-buy if you like other games by Sid Meier.

I bought this on sale with my Gamersgate points. Was only $1! Certainly the best game I've gotten for free. Its outside the current era of games, with limited wide-screen support, which is disappointing. The game is tons of fun for hours, but eventually the available features get repetitive and boring. Plenty of bugs that were never fixed, especially related to finishing the storyline. I've never finished the storyline because of this coupled with highly tedious features in the game.. Like long travel time. Loosing sword fights makes you loose your whole armada and sets you forward several months.

There's basically no variation between the allegiances you can pick from, aside from starting position and starting power. Its almost like choosing difficulty level, where the Spanish are 'easy' and the Dutch are 'hard'.

For all its faults, I'd say its a very good game and worth buying. But there's certainly a lot more titles you can spend $10 on, especially with Gamersgate's frequent sales.

I know some people really bash this game, but it is a fantastic update to a great classic (and no, I wasn't old enough to be playing such things when it first came out).

I think the graphics are great - especially the oceans - and the playability is 2nd to none. I actually went on to purchase the Wii version of the game as well, which doesn't quite match up to the computer version. I can just get lost for hours in this game. Anyone who is looking for something simple to play that doesn't require a ton of thinking, but provides hours of entertainment would find this game useful. Sid Meier rules!

As someone relatively new to this sub-genre, I started with Mount and Blade. I knew it was based on Pirates!, which I had heard about many times. But I never got around to playing it.

While the setting of Mount and Blade appeals to me a bit more (land, specifically), I can see where this game has been influential for strategy games. It has the open-ended nature and is a bit easier to get into than Mount and Blade (where you seem to lose your followers and money in an instant when you first start).

It would be nice to explore the towns a little more like in Mount and Blade, but that isn't really a necessary feature for either game and is more of an immersion issue. At times, I found the battle system to be more rewarding. Technically it's easier, but in a strategy game, that can be welcome. It allows you to focus more on the economics and quests.

The graphics hold up decently to me (as someone that prefers art over tech). It has decent animation and everything is stylized so it's a little bit less prone to aging, even though it's an older game. Not that it stands up to Mount and Blade with mods, but it's servicable.

Ultimately, people should give this game a try if they want to ease into the genre, and if you want to get swept up in a swashbuckling strategy game (how can you not use that word in a Pirates! review?).

I remember playing this game along time ago when it first came out at my friends place. We literaly stayed up all night playing it was such a fun game. I've been searching for it for so long and i'm glad i've fanally found it. The gameplay is captivating and there are so many different facets to the plot it keeps things interesting.

I love that your not just pilaging boats your conquoring towns and wooing girls and findin a crew and building your ships and battling on sea and single player combat.

this game has everything you need and more a MUST buy classic.

This game is a must own. Playing this game you can't even tell it's from 2004-2005. There is such a variety of things to do and the graphics and humor have such a delightful charm.

Basically you play as captain of a ship who must take on quests and missions living the life of either a pirate, privateer, or merchant between 1600-1700.

You can buy goods at one port for low prices and sell them at a wealthy port for high prices, you can take place in naval battles, sword fights, dances. You can piece together treasure maps to try to find a treasure in a hidden location; doing this you can actually embark onto land and from a fairly far distance camera you lead yourself and some sailors around islands searching for landmarks from your treasure map to find treasure.

There are very few flaws and odd things with this game. One of the major ones I've found was sometimes your ship gets stuck on land and there's no way to budge yourself off unless you load a previous save, luckily there's multiple autosaves. There's also smaller things I wish were a little better, I like to play as a peaceful merchant and I wish there were ways to purchase new types of ships, but from what I've seen so far the only way to obtain new ships is from capturing them from other captains.

As I said above this game is simply a must buy. It's one of the best pirate/sail games out there and if for whatever reason you're on the fence about this game just bite the bullet and buy the thing, you won't regret it.

The game might be dated but still very addictive. The ship battles are fun and being able to freely travel is great. The mini games such as battles with captains and dancing with ladies is fun at first. Soon you get bored and annoyed because there is no really point to keep doing it. Still a fun game that for the price should be picked up.

Great, while a bit dated, game! You must check it out if you like Mount & Blade and similar free roaming games.

Set in the 17th Century Caribbean: Pirates! places you in command of a ship as you sail your way to various ports and cities of the Caribbean: Plunder your way to victory! And when you're done, retire and divide the loot! And then? Start again! :D

This remake of the classic game is great.

You can expect a game of good quality and fun from Meier. If you like other of his games you will like this one. You can own a piece of classic PC history you can use in a modern OS without glitches or a computer science degree.

It's not as good as the old version (due to having a few annoying bugs with the treasure fleet, and a less lived-in world) but it's still a solid four. (Since the old Pirates is a strong five ;)

Some of the new minigames can be a bit tricky, so I would have appreciated the opportunity to designate different difficulty levels on different parts of the game, but I guess I'll just have to practice more instead.

Anyway and anyhow - it is a good game and at the moment a very cheap one. Fire it up and make your mark on the Spanish Main. :)

Pirates ! (1987) was actually my first ever computer game :) . I can still remember playing until i literally fell asleep on my Amstrad CPC (i was eight y.o. at the time). This remake is pretty great, keeping all the excitement of the original and adding really beautiful graphics, famous pirates and new missions...Don't hesitate, Sid Meier is a pure gaming genius and the price is so low you will literally get back gaming gold for your dime !!!

Sid Meier's Pirates!

A very fun game whether you enjoy the naval battles or plundering ports and strongholds, there's always something to do.

I think it's slightly similar to mount and blade which in my opinion is not a bad thing!

At this price you really don't have an excuse not to try it.

This is a Sid Meier's classic. A very solid game that will entertain you for a very long time. There is a wealth of things to do like raid ships, find treasure, capture cities for your nation, climb the top 10 pirates list and complete the main quest. There are also a couple of different start scenarios giving different tastes of the game.

Really fun game. It makes time pass rather quickly. The replay value is huge and so is the cash value for this game. It is very easy to get your money's worth from this purchase.

This is probably one of the best games ever. Although the graphics may seem a bit dated, there is just one word to define this game: fun. The mechanics of the game can be seen as complex at the beginning, however, after two hours of playing, anyone would note that it is not a difficult game, but a game it can be played almost at any moment just for fun. In my opinion it is a must have for any good gamer.

This game is silly. But you'd be even sillier if you didn't get it. The ships fights are fun. The land fights are fun. The duels are fun. Goodness even the dancing is fun. You even learn important life lessons. i.e everything is fun when you're a pretending to be a pirate sailing in a ship bigger than a city. The graphics are cartoony but you're playing a cartoon. Apparently there was a story but i was didn't notice i was having too much fun. While the gameplay does become repetitive after a few days of straight play time it is less a failing of the game and more an indication of our ability to grow old and tired of life. The description lists 11 features but neglects to mention the most important: "More fun than actually being a real pirate". To conclude don't be a real pirate, that's illegal, buy this instead its way more fun. 5 stars.

It is a good game, but when you have been playing it for some times it start to get boring, because practically you are just doing the same things all the time. But all the time before that it is a very good game. It has a very good game-play, especially the fights between ships are very good. The sneaking and attacking towns bit, is also very good.

Overall it is a great game and YOU SHOULD BY IT!!!!

Its one of the best games I have ever played. Its an old game but the graphics still looks more than ok. An excellent remake of an old classic. I have litterally put hundreds of hours into this game.

It will be the best money you have ever spent.

I have nothing bad to say about this game, It runs great on any system. (I even downloaded it at school in less time than it took a teacher to blink.) The battle control is very responcive (Would recommend a mouse for that, the number pad is a bit off.) Sneacking in and out of hostile towns, Taking over said towns, Beating the crap out of your girlfriends other sutors, Telling your crew to man up and deal with it after being out to sea for five years and finding yourself on a rowboat. Wait, That last part isn't good.