"; if(is_file("header.php")) include "header.php"; else include "../header.php"; ?>

Fun for the first weekend . . . but not much more Even though I wasn't one of the die-hards who played the original Pirates, I got swept into the magic of this game nonetheless. Indeed, it is highly addictive and entertaining for the first few days of steady playing. Going through the learning curve of acquiring the finer points of fighting, dancing, sailing, etc, is tons of fun. But after beating the game once or twice (which only takes about 6 hours), the novelty wears off. The developers claim that you can play the game "however you want"--you can be a backstabbing maurader or a "peaceful trader." But most of these alternative lifestyles would leave you bored to tears, shuttling settlers and cargo around. So it really does leave you with one option--raid ships, find your lost family, find buried treasure, get rich, retire. Even if you hike up the difficulty level the game gets repetative as you get bored of the same 5 activities repeated over and over again (sail, attach a ship, swordfight, attack a settlement, or dance). Even within one quest, you have to find the same set of 2 or 3 "bad guys" over and over again--up to 16 times!--in order to solve a complete quest. But for that first wonderful weekend of play, this game is awesome!