Pirates: Battle for the Caribbean (PC) review "If you're expecting me to break into some tirade about how Pirates is much more intricate than it seems, well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. "

Pirates: Battle For the Carribbean is an easy game to summarize: You have a fort in the middle of the ocean. Some ships - navy ships if you take the pirate campaign, pirate ships if you take the navy campaign - come paddling by your island, you blow them away with a cannon. They try to blow you away with their cannons, and you counter by hitting their cannonballs with flares. You win the level, you get some upgrades to make your island better, and that's that. It's not even a very complex battle system; you aim the shots by clicking where you want the cannon to shoot, you hit the ships by clicking where they're going to be, not where they are.

If you're expecting me to break into some tirade about how Pirates is much more intricate than it seems, well, I'm afraid you're going to be disappointed. That's the whole shebang. Simple? Very. Monotonous? Occasionally. Entertaining? Definitely.

It's all in the technique.

When the screen becomes filled with explosions and the air becomes field with clicks, you'll understand. Pirates had a definite arcade style to it; you kill and kill and kill until someone manages to kill you. It'll always get harder and harder; more frequent enemies, more specific objectives - it can get a little overwhelming? So what's a pirate to do when odds need evening?

Mines, perhaps. Or maybe increase the defense. Or maybe add in another cannon. Or power up the fort with a few of the power-ups available after every mission. Think wisely. Know your strenghts. Imagine what needs to be improved, then go about spending money to improve it. Again...simple.

I'll cut it short here. No need to drag this on. No need to sound the trumpets and break out the fanfare. You want a little summary? Fine: Pirates: Battle For the Carribbean is easy to learn, easy to play, and easy to afford (yay, freeware) There's no reason it shouldn't be on your computer? Will it rock your soul to the foundation and change the way you think about life? No. But whenever you feel the need to blow something - or a lot of somethings - straight to hell for no good reason, this game is a highly recommended excursion.

Click, click, click, boom, boom, boom. Bliss.

Staff review by Zack Little (May 05, 2007) A bio for this contributor is currently unavailable, but check back soon to see if that changes. If you are the author of this review, you can update your bio from the Settings page.