Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants

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Jim here, with my short & sweet review just in time for the official launch of the boxed edition next week.

Sadly, I missed out on playing the previous versions of Port Royale. Port Royale 3 is my introduction into the series, and from the start until now, my experience has been rather pleasant, indeed.

To me, PR3 is Railroad Tycoon meets Age of Sail, both of which are legendary and beloved gaming series' to me. There's simply a lot I love about this game. I love the acts of trading goods between ports, stocking up my ships with goods at one port, then selling them all at another, and watching my profits rise higher and higher. I love outfitting ships for war, shanghai-ing sailors into servitude, arming them with swords and muskets, and hoping they don't mutiny. I love the aptly-paced real-time combat, outsmarting the AI with my naval combat maneuvers, and slowly and expertly filling their ships with holes and lead until they sink in the drink. Surprisingly, I also find myself enjoying the main campaign's storyline, with the adventure, love, and political intrigue.

Yes, of course, it's not a perfect game. There are more than a few things I find bothersome with PR3, but thankfully none of them are things that break the game for me, or are causing me to dislike and quit playing. The buy/sell slider is one of my most irksome griefs, as it's a nuisance to use. For what it's designed to do, it does work, but it requires much more effort than is warranted, in my opinion.

Another string of errors I've noticed come in the way of mismatched verbal and written dialogues. For example, the character speaking will say `ship', but the on screen text will have it written as `vessel'; spoken `city' is written as `town'; `commodity' is written as `good'. Again, not something that breaks the game, but still a noticeable error, and something a quality editor should have caught and fixed by now.

Looking at the official blog and forum posts, it's clear that a multitude of fixes have already been instituted, with many more in the works. As long as that continues, it works for me. In it's current form, PR3 is absolutely playable, and worthy of the 4 stars I gave it. It's solid economics engine, engaging combat, clear and colorful graphics, and interesting storyline will keep me coming back to play until the finish.

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I can't think of another game like this on the PS3 or the Xbox 360 for that matter. It's definitely very cerebral and more of a trading/economic simulation game than a fast-paced action game, although the sea battles are quick and fun and play well on the PS3 controller. The game is a bit more serious (and slower paced) that something like Sid Meier's Pirates. I would have given it 4 starts but for some reason the PS3 version doesn't support multi-player, while the PC version does? If you like games like Sim City, the older Port Royale titles but want to play something in that vein on the console, I think you will enjoy it quite a bit.

Buy Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants Now

This is a fun strategy game with enough inner workings and plots to keep you satisfied for hours. It's a lot of fun to hunt down and destroy pirate ships along with their lair. It's not as "big" or in depth as Sid Meyers Civilation, but definitely worth adding to your collection(especially now that the price has come down from it's initial full retail) if you like these type of games.

Read Best Reviews of Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants Here

For those who are looking for a relaxing game to enjoy after a tough day at work, then Port Royale 3 is perfect. However, if you are looking for heart racing action then you should probably look elsewhere. I'll review this game for exactly what it is: a trade and economic based game. While you may engage in battles here and there, most of the gameplay revolves around sailing the Caribbean and setting up trade routes.

Players have the option to either take over a territory through economic means or to attack and conquer it. This adds another element to an already complicated game. Let's compare the good and bad.

The Good

* Relaxing game for those seeking something other than one of the fast-paced action games that dominate the market.

* Multifaceted gameplay

* In-game tutorials that make it easy to learn the complexities. This is important as Port Royale 3 has a steep learning curve.

The Bad

* Can get very repetitive.

* Captains on "Automated Trade Routes" sometimes do some really dumb stuff!

If you're like me and some days at work provide enough heart racing action, then it's nice to have something other than a game that puts you on the edge of your seat.

Want Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants Discount?

This game has a very high learning curve. Trade is what this game is all about, although I do like the ship to ship combat. I do want to make one thing clear if you've played Pirates Gold this is not that.