Boards in and cast off! Anyone who wants to be a pirate captain is in the right place with “Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale” by Gaming Minds. Based on games like “Sid Meier’s Pirates” or the space sim “Elite”, video game bumpkins go on the hunt for fame and doubloons in this open-world pirate adventure. Gaming Minds already has experience with the setting because the studio is also developing the successful trading simulation “Port Royale”.
In the middle of the 17th century, players land in the Caribbean as junior pirates. England, France, Spain and the Netherlands have all grabbed a piece of the pie, engaging in intrigue and skirmishes to seize power in the region. A rough breeze is blowing, in which players must first gain respect, accumulate doubloons and expand their own fleet. We hardly heard anything from a story in our listening hours – the main thing is that the cash registers are ringing.
Exciting sea battles
With a small brig it starts from port city to port city. Small or large orders await there: there is, for example, to hunt down other pirates, to transport goods or to provide escorts. In taverns we meet shady characters and are drawn into the intrigues of the governors. Trading ensures regular cash replenishment. However, since the prices are constantly changing, careful management is required. But it never gets as complex as in “Port Royale” or “Anno 1800” in “Tortuga”. This mix of combat and trading simulation will look familiar to some computer game fans – it is nothing more than the old space sim “Elite” in pirate guise.
The core of the game are the naval battles, which are fought in rounds. The naval battle brings with it some peculiarities. So it is important on which side to attack and whether the sails or the opposing team should be attacked with special ammunition. The ships aren’t particularly agile either. As a result, players always have to calculate the cumbersome changes of direction and are not allowed to just throw themselves into battle. This is not particularly fast, but challenges the tactical fans with several ships involved.
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In order to capture a ship, it must be boarded. Instead of action, however, there is only a statistics page in which the chances of winning are calculated. Team size, morale and equipment decide about victory or defeat after an unspectacular mouse click. With each successfully completed order, you receive experience points and doubloons, which are invested in special abilities and better ship equipment.
Unspectacular staging
If too many battles are lost or food is scarce, our crew will become grumpy and desert. Therefore, the booty should be divided fairly when going ashore. In order to keep the crew happy, there are caper contracts in which the captain promises a certain success rate for sunk ships, loot and ship improvements. If the requirements are not met, the morale of the team drops.
After just a few hours of playing, our cash register was filled with several hundred thousand doubloons. The problem: there is a lack of variety. The escort is simple because we were able to dodge the pirates with ease at sea. Of the 18 different ship types, we only saw a handful. We could not buy new equipment because our ships were still too small for better armament. Meanwhile, the orders kept repeating themselves. A little action in the style of the sword duels from “Sid Meier’s Pirates” would not only have done the game good when boarding ships. In general, the open world looks very lifeless.
In addition, there is an unspectacular staging. When the cannons hit enemy ships, the hull shakes briefly and a few burn marks are intended to simulate hits. Nothing more happens until the ship sinks unspectacularly. Since the orders are repeated too quickly, the pretty glittering waves and the few dialogues set to music are only a small consolation. “Tortuga” is a purely puristic pleasure.
interim conclusion
“Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale” is not a game for fans of the great spectacle. The development studio Gaming Minds instead relies on an indestructible game principle: fight and trade. The original sea battles are exciting and the streamlined trading system is easily accessible. The well-known game concept works brilliantly at the beginning, because the greed for doubloons is quickly awakened. During our try-outs, however, the enthusiasm quickly subsided due to the monotonous missions and the lifeless game world. In addition, there is the dry staging, which only allows a little pirate flair. However, “Tortuga” is not a full-price title and provides adequate entertainment for a low price. If you don’t mind the shell, you get an entertaining mix of round tactics and trading simulation, which would have done well with a little variety.
“Tortuga – A Pirate’s Tale” will be released on January 19th for Windows, PS4/5 and Xbox One/ Series. USK from 12. It costs about 25 euros for Windows and 30 euros for PS and Xbox. For our test, we played the Windows version for a few hours.
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