Sid Meier's Pirates! is an addictive open-ended action/strategy game that allows players to take on the role of a 17th Century treasure hunter, explorer and trader in nefarious goods. The crux of the plot revolves around the swashbuckling, rapier-wielding hero's attempts to reap revenge on an evil Spanish nobleman who wronged his family.
The graphics are truly spectacular. A combination of expertly rendered and beautiful colors bringing the lush green and deep blue hues of the Caribbean to life in ways never before experienced in console or PC gaming.
The game's interface is user friendly and actual game play is remarkably easy to pick up considering the huge amount of action and the amount of options that players are given in regards which places to go, which people to see and, more importantly, who to trust.
Half Life 2
Publisher: VU Games
Platform: PC and X-Box
Taiwan release: already available
The game that reinvented the first-person shooter is back with a vengeance this month, as Gordon Freeman returns to gaming store shelves in Half Life 2 in an adventure that is even more technically and graphically amazing to behold than the last.
If you never played the original then before setting out on Freeman's latest adventure you're advised to purchase a copy. Half Life 2's storyline is weak and players unfamiliar with the Black Mesa incident and the Combine will be slightly confused as to what, who and where they are.
There are no cut-scenes or narratives this time around and players are immersed in frantic run-and-gun action from the start. As soon as the shooting starts it's a nonstop battle for survival. The graphics are stunning. Not that you'll have much time to absorb their beauty.
Armed with a formidable arsenal, sadly most of which is recycled from the first game and includes the machine gun, shotgun, crossbow, and, of course, Freeman's trusty crowbar, players are tasked to destroy all enemy forces.
Players will be on their own for much of the game, but in some of the later stages you do get the chance to fight alongside allies, both alien and human. You never develop any attachments to your teammates, though, and, in what is the game's biggest flaw, some of them have a tendency to get in your way, especially when fighting in confined spaces.
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