Sea Dogs

Details: Category: Computer; By ccgr; 01.Jun; Hits: 8207

System Requirements Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP 233MHz CPU 64MB RAM 650MB hdd space 3D accelerated graphics Windows compatible sound

You are Nicolas Sharp. the son of a famous pirate, who disappeared with his treasure when you were a young lad. Wanting to follow in his footsteps, you board your ship, and your mother wishes you well and gives you a medallion with your father?s face on it. It?s time to head out to sea!

Where do I begin?

You?ll start off neutral but there are many flags you can sail under. You can sail for England, France, Spain, or become a pirate. You can switch sides whenever you please, but to re-join another it will cost you some reputation points and gold. When you strike an allied ship on accident or on purpose you will become a pirate. Whomever you serve will send you on various quests and offer you protection if an allied ship is near. Pirates on the other hand will attack you regardless. The town you start off in belongs to England to it?s pretty easy to start the game with the English quests. It?s also the only group that does not charge for a letter of marquee. Once you choose a side the other sides (except pirate towns) will attack if you sail near their town.

What kind of quests will I go on?

You will get quests from the town leaders, merchants, tavern owners, shipyards, and civilians alike. They can range from simply delivering a letter to capturing a town. The rewards are often lucrative and offer you experience as well. Civilians will approach you for finding lost loved ones and transport to different islands. The storeowners will ask you to deliver goods and possibly wipe out their competition?s cargo ship etc.

What do I do in towns?

Talk to everyone you meet. Hearing the latest rumors will trigger news quests. You?ll also meet people you can hire, mainly in taverns. You?ll need a first mate for steering your prize ships you steal. A carpenter can repair your damages as you sail. A surgeon will help your crew survive better when boarding enemy ships. Each person you hire impacts your attributes so don?t just hire any bum you find. Oh yes, if you choose not to pay your crew you may dance your last dance on the end of a rope if you catch my drift. You can buy and sell goods at the stores, be careful not to over burden your ship! The shipwright can sell, upgrade and repair your ship. There are different classes of ships and you can sail the better ones as you level up. Lastly some towns offer female comfort but Nicolas is a bit particular with his ladies. He at least has the decency not to mess around with the sheriff?s wife.

What are my skills?

These are the skills you have to consider when leveling up. When you level up you can assign points to the skills you choose. You get more points if you choose an easier difficulty level. The staff you hire impacts them as well too!

Sailing-The basics for any captain
Repair-Help save money by repairing your own ship
Commerce-Helps you get the best deals
Gun Laying-Good aim is important
Reloading-The faster you can reload the better!
Coordination-Get the most out of your ship and crew
Boarding-A must have for capturing ships
Defense-You?ll be fired at often; it?s better know how to defend yourself
Grappling-A must have for hijacking ships, the better the skill the farther out you can be to hop on

So how do I get gold?

The best way to get gold is to board and plunder ships. In order to do that you need to sail right next to them and grapple onto their ship. Two things will determine your success: the number of crew you have, and your fencing abilities. If you can?t board a ship, you can always blow it out of the water and pick up its cargo. Finally, doing quests and getting rewarded is a decent way to make some money.

Graphics

This game was made in 2000 and the graphics are dated by today?s standards. Many of the character models are recycled throughout the game. Also when you are talking with people, even in cut scenes, their mouths do not move when they speak. On a positive note the ships are nicely detailed from the outside. When you?re zoomed into your ship or enemy ships, you don?t see any crew members aboard which is hard to imagine since many ships carry 300+ people.

Sound

The background music in this game is superb. The different towns have their own music that fits wonderfully. The voice acting is fairly good on the characters that do speak. I did encounter a glitch where a female model has a male voice, which was kind of funny. Also one of the surgeons you can get on your ship (Dick Oakenwood) has a voice that reminds me of a chipmunk.

Interface

Those who played Elderscrolls III will be familiar with the journal for logging your quests, even if it duplicates them sometimes. There are different controls for roaming around town and sailing/fighting. You can customize them though. There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to sailing and docking. Once you get the hang of it, it?s not too bad.

Appropriateness

This game has many issues that shouldn?t be too surprising for a pirate RPG game. You curse like a sailor, which is not as bad as some game these days, but it?s still there regardless. There are women who are eager to please. Many towns have priests/inquisitors who will put you in the good graces of God for $100. They also will burn any witches you report to them. Finally you can steal ships and kill their captains.

Final Thoughts

This game is very fun and open ended. There are many ways to play it and there is plenty of loot to be claimed. There is no multiplayer, its not needed since there are various sides you can play. It does have a few glitches but nothing that?s a showstopper. Although this game is fun, it has many of the same issues that plague RPG games. This title is hard to find in stores, I got my copy on Ebay.