Corsairs (PC)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 2.5 stars OK
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 5.9 (2.5 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Andrew Park
• Reviewed on: 07/07/1999
• Updated on: 05/01/2000
• Released on: 04/30/1999
• Originally published on GameSpot: Corsairs (PC) Review

Microids' Corsairs takes the standard real-time strategy model, tosses in a great deal of new ingredients, shakes well, and decants the not-quite-ripe mixture into single mission-sized mugs. The resulting brew is, all things considered, a cut above the most common of swill, if for no other reason than its distinctive flavor. However, its unattractive colors and bitter edge of frustration will probably keep it from endearing itself to the palates of more discriminating strategy grognards.

Corsairs takes place on the high seas in the age of sail; you may opt to serve either France (as the intrepid explorer Cartier) or Britain (as Captain Blood). Once you make your choice, your corsair sets out upon his journey, armed with his own vessel and a message from the local governor containing the details of his next mission.

From the get-go, you'll be faced with a handful of immediate objectives. One of the most common tasks is building up a substantial fleet. This can be achieved by docking the corsair's vessel at a nearby friendly trading post and initiating building in the town's shipyard. Up to twelve different kinds of ships are available, each of which varies in terms of number of cannons, storage capacity, crew, speed, and toughness. Each ship can then be customized in terms of its cargo and crew, its munitions, its sails, and its behavior in future battles.

Of course, ships aren't free. In order to keep his fleet strong, your corsair will have to pay for each new craft. Keeping one's pockets full is an endeavor in itself and can be remedied by means of trading various goods (silk, coffee, sugarcane, copper, jewels, and spices) for money in various ports of call or by discovering pirate loot buried on a deserted beach.

Once you've lined your pockets and amassed an armada, it's time to unfurl your sails and get to work. The missions, though generally linear in nature, usually involve a handful of various goals sent to you by governor's missive. You may find yourself waging real-time ship-to-ship combat against dastardly pirates, attacking an enemy trading post or searching for buried treasure.

All this might sound interesting enough and sufficiently different from most other real-time strategy games. Unfortunately, despite its promises of high adventure and pirate riches, Corsairs winds up nickel-and-diming itself to death. Frankly, Corsairs isn't gold, and it doesn't glitter. Though the decor of some of the interface screens, bedecked with yellowed parchment and oil-painting portraits, is more or less spot on, on the whole, the in-game graphics are poor at best. The ships and ports - and nearly everything else in the game - are low-resolution, hand-drawn sprites that look decidedly dated. The members of your crew, shown in an overhead view during boarding combat, look especially bad. Though a ship's crew is composed of three kinds of units - the corsair, the officer, and the bald-headed grunt known simply as the sailor - the majority of troops on deck will be the same-looking sailors. As such, you will spend most boarding combats staring down at hordes of shiny, flesh-colored bowling balls with swords stumbling over each other.

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