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Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants | |
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Developer(s) | Gaming Minds Studios |
Publisher(s) | Kalypso Media |
Platform(s) | Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
Release | Windows May 4, 2012 [1] Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 |
Genre(s) | Business simulation |
Mode(s) | Single-player, multiplayer |
Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants is the third installment to the business simulation game Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates and Port Royale 2 . It is set in the Caribbean during the 16th and 17th centuries. Created by Kalypso Media which founded Gaming Minds Studios [3] in 2009 after Ascaron Entertainment went bankrupt, it combines a business simulator with real-time battles and towns that can be owned, built, developed or razed. This is the 1st installment of the Port Royale Series done by Gaming Minds Studios.
The first preview of Port Royale 3 took place during the Gamescom trade fair which was held from 17 to 21 August 2011 in Cologne, Germany. [4]
A sequel, Port Royale 4 , was released in 2020.
The protagonist is a young Spanish commoner who left Spain to explore the New World. An accident at sea casts him overboard, and he finds himself in the Caribbean city of Port Royale. His life changes forever when he meets Elena, the beautiful daughter of the Viceroy. He has two options to win her heart: The merchant "Path of the Trader" or the pirate "Path of the Adventurer."
Path of The Trader details the economic part of the game. Elena and her father grew up from the humble town of Cayman. Cayman had been overlooked by the major European powers and traders and struggled economically. The Trader decides to win her heart through developing the small colony into a bustling city, all while dealing with a superficial rival suitor who woos Elena with gaudy gifts instead of helping the town.
Path of the Adventurer details the combat aspect of the game. Elena is captured by pirates hired by a young Frenchman who plans to marry her. The Adventurer ends up at war with the French in order to save Elena.
Port Royale 3 is an open-ended game, so players can choose to pursue several careers. This could range from a business tycoon to a pirate. Initially, you must trade goods between Caribbean colonies to make money, but over the long term you can have substantial business interests in many Caribbean ports, and support large fighting fleets.
As a business tycoon, you trade with towns to gain their friendship, and can then buy building permits to establish businesses there. Ultimately, you can even come to have your own town, but this can take a very long time. As a buccaneer (with a Letter of Marque), you can attack any of the four colonial nations in the Caribbean circa 1600; from largest to smallest: Spain, England, France, and the Netherlands. If you have not acquired a Letter of Marque, each nation will see you as a pirate.
Ships range from a small Pinnace to a massive Ship of the Line. There are also missions you can complete for money, supplies, or improved relations. At higher levels you can also automate the game to some degree, by setting up trade routes that your trading fleets will follow from town to town.
Fickle politics impact the game. One year you might choose to be loyal to Spain and fight England - but a year later, might join the Dutch in their fight against the French.
Famous pirates of the age also make appearances. These sea wolves are likely to attack any ship or town that they please, including those that belong to the player. They usually operate from heavily fortified bases, but if you defeat them, you'll gain favor with any nation you choose.
Initially, you have operating constraints (how many fleets you may have and how many towns you can buy building permits in), but as you gain levels (based on net worth), you can have unlimited fleets and permits.
As opposed to its predecessor, Port Royale 2, where the player controls only one ship against their opponents' fleet, the player now can enter naval combat with 2 additional escort ships from their fleet which are automated. The player can switch control between the ships, allowing for greater flexibility in combat. The option of being rewarded with one's own town within the game by the viceroy of a nation for contributions (taking over of a warring nation's town), has now been replaced by a system allowing the player to take over the towns existing in the world via military or diplomatic means.
On Metacritic, Port Royale 3 received a rating of 56/100 for Xbox 360, 54/100 for PC, and does not have sufficient reviews for an aggregate rating on PlayStation 3. [5] [6] [7]
Midlife Gamer gave the game 6/10, stating "Action is not the order of the day here. Port Royale 3 is incredibly slow paced especially during the first few hours." and that "The visuals in Port Royale are a mixed bag. The in game cut scenes look really nice; sadly the same cannot be said for the trading over world map. It’s nowhere near as pleasing to the eye as other parts of the game so much so to the point that it looks like you are playing a much older game." [8]
GameSpot rated the title 5/10, noting that although it looked good and played smoothly, despite there being plenty to do in the game none of it was much fun. [9]
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, and vessels used for piracy are called pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding.
The era of piracy in the Caribbean began in the 1500s and phased out in the 1830s after the navies of the nations of Western Europe and North America with colonies in the Caribbean began hunting and prosecuting pirates. The period during which pirates were most successful was from the 1660s to the 1730s. Piracy flourished in the Caribbean because of the existence of pirate seaports such as Port Royal in Jamaica, Tortuga in Haiti, and Nassau in the Bahamas. Piracy in the Caribbean was part of a larger historical phenomenon of piracy, as it existed close to major trade and exploration routes in almost all the five oceans.
Triangular trade or triangle trade is trade between three ports or regions. Triangular trade usually evolves when a region has export commodities that are not required in the region from which its major imports come. It has been used to offset trade imbalances between different regions.
Pirate havens are ports or harbors that are a safe place for pirates to repair their vessels, resupply, recruit, spend their plunder, avoid capture, and/or lie in wait for merchant ships to pass by. The areas have governments that are unable or unwilling to enforce maritime laws. This creates favorable conditions for piracy. Pirate havens were places where pirates could find shelter, protection, support, and trade.
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a video game created by Sid Meier for the Commodore 64 and published by MicroProse in May 1987. It was the first game to include the name "Sid Meier" in its title as an effort by MicroProse to attract fans of Meier's earlier games, most of which were combat vehicle simulation video games. The game is a simulation of the life of a pirate, a privateer, or a pirate hunter in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. It was widely ported to other systems.
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Port Royale 2 is the sequel to the business simulation game Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates. It is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. Created by Ascaron Entertainment in 2004, it combines a business simulator with real-time battles and towns that can be owned, built, developed or razed. A sequel, Port Royale 3: Pirates & Merchants, was released in 2012.
Sid Meier's Pirates! is a 2004 strategy, action and adventure video game developed by Firaxis Games. A remake of Sid Meier's earlier 1987 game of the same name, it was originally published by Atari Interactive but in May 2005 2K acquired the rights to the title from Atari's parent company Infogrames and later went on to publish console and handheld ports of the game.
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Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl is a 2003 video game prequel to the film of the same name, developed by British company Pocket Studios.
Port Royale: Gold, Power and Pirates is a business simulation game set in the Caribbean and partly the Atlantic during the 16th and 17th centuries. It combines business–economic simulation with real-time battles and towns that can be visited for trade and other purposes. A sequel, Port Royale 2, was released in 2004.
High Seas Trader is a 1995 naval business simulation video game. The player runs trade routes, fends off pirates, collects artifacts and offers transport to fellow countrymen in need, all for the sake of climbing up the game's ranking ladder, which in turn allows the player to buy bigger ships, more firepower and larger cargo holds to progress more quickly in the ranks.
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