Sailing around a tropical paradise in my ship while trying to amass a small fortune without getting killed by Pirates.  I have never seen a game that so closely mirrored my true life ambitions.  I too would like to amass a small (or large) fortune.  I too dream of leisurely sailing the Caribbean in my own ship (or any other vehicle for that matter).  I too do not wish to be killed by Pirates.  All of this is a simple way of saying that High Seas is one heck of a good game.

Installation and Registration: Simply download the installation file and install it via ActiveSync (or for those of you who have already upgraded to Vista, Windows Mobile Device Center).  Play the trial for 15 minutes.  Trust me, this will be more than enough time to get a feel for the game.  It took me about five minutes to get hooked.  Once you are hooked, register that game to unlock unlimited play.

Gameplay: It is 1696.  You are the captain of the trade ship, Wormwood.  You engage in trading commodities with various cities around the Caribbean.  Remember, buy low and sell high.  To earn some extra cash on the side, you may also take on a few small small missions: taxiing a passenger to another city, delivering a message, or various other trivial tasks…for which you are moderately paid.  Watch out though, these missions can lead to attacks by other ships who wish to intercept your passenger or message.  But then, that is what the cannons and pistols are for, aren’t they?? 

Politics: At the beginning of the game, you select your national alliance. There are five nations represented in the game: Spain, England, FRance, Holland, and Pirates.  Every city in the game is affiliated with one of those nations, so your national alliance determines how other ships react to you.  By trading, completing missions, fighting other nations, and even bribery, you can increase favor with other nations.  Increased favor means those ships may not attack you or you could be given a discount in their ports.  So, be careful accepting missions that you do not sabatoge relationships with one of your allies by transporting an important letter for their enemies.  This is a strategy game which really makes you think about every action you take. The politics in this game plays an important, but subtle role in this strategy. 

Reputation: Your reputation is an important part of the game.  It can mean the difference between carrying a message for $300 or rescuing an important hostage for the Governor and earning $1000.  Your reputation is developed by completing missions which benefit that nation, and winning battles against that nation’s enemy.  Your actions in battle, however, can also have a negative impact on your reputation.  Don’t worry, though, because you can always buy your way into the favor of a Governor.  You would be surprised how far a $5000 donation to the Governor’s favorite charity (himself) can take you!  Additionally, your reputation can also lead to the patrons in the tavern treating you better and giving you better information when you speak with them.

Navigation: Navigation is central to this game.  You must navigate your ship across the various islands to complete missions or trade various commodities.  In the map screen, tap on any city to learn its affiliation, and which commodities are the best bargain for purchase or for you to sell.   Additionally, the screen will tell you how long it will take to sail to that location.  Many of the missions assigned in the game will have a time limit assigned to them.  You will not get paid if you exceed that time limit, so the distance between various locations can be critical to your strategy. 

Additionally, the map contains several green dots, which are patrol points.  These are waterways which you can stop to patrol.  Frequently, ships carrying hostages will try to hide out in these patrol points.

One thing I liked about this game was that the navigation was easy to follow.  Too often I have played similar games, in which it is too difficult to determine where to go.  This is an easy map to read, and it provides you with all of the information you need to determine which step is in your next best interest.

Harbor: The Harbor is the entrance to every city.  As soon as you reach land, your crew will be instantly replenished by people you encounter in the harbor.  Additionally, from the harbor, you can reach the tavern, the shipyard, and the trade hall.  Capitol cities will also provide you with access to the Governor from the harbor.

Tavern: The tavern is where you can socialize with other travelers.  Talk with the other patrons and they may ask you to perform a mission for them.  Buy a round of drinks for the bar, however, and you will be rewarded with a more valuable mission or important trade rumors.  Then again, sometimes you are rewarded with the idle chatter of a drunken barmaid.  Although these missions frequently are worth only small sums, they are a great way to ensure you always have money in your coffers. 

Shipyard: The shipyard is a sailor’s best friend.  After a battle, you can limp into a shipyard to have your boat repaired or upgraded.  Additional, in a capitol city ship yard, you can trade in your ship and purchase a new one.  Many of the ships, however, will be locked until you increase your character traits.  One problem I had here was that every shipyard in the game offered the same upgrades at roughly the same prices.  I would have liked to see different shipyards or nations offering different options so that you could better customize your boat.

Trade Hall: The trade hall is where the real money is made in this game.  There are eight goods to be traded in this game, and each city has its own needs.  The more of an item found in that city, the less it will cost.  Likewise, the less of an item, the more they will be willing to pay you for it.  Arrows next to each item tell you whether the price is higher or lower than average.  Additionally, you will periodically learn of world events which could triggers a surplus or a need for a particular item.  For example, a hurricane might hit a city, wiping out its food supply.  If you happen to appear there with a shipload of food, you could make quite a bit of money.

Character Traits: Four character traits: navigation, gunnery, leadership, and negotiation, determine how you interact with the world around you.  As your navigation skill increases, for example, your ship will take less time to sail from one city to the next.  Likewise, as you increase your negotiation skills, you will receive additional discounts on goods and services.   Completing important missions and winning battles can increase these traits.

Combat: While navigating the seven seas (or at least this one of the seven seas), you will frequently come into contact with other ships.  Based upon your reputation with those countries, those ships may attack or pass by and keep going.  Likewise, even if a ship does not attack you, you may decide to attack it anyway.   To fight a battle, you must aim at the opposing ship, select your ammunition (round shot causes damage to the ship, chain shot causes damage to the sails and grape shot will kill the crew.  You have unlimited round shots, but can only carry up to 50 grape and chain shots before you will have to purchase more). 

At any point in the battle, you may attempt to flee by moving your ship away from the enemy ship, or board by moving closer to the enemy ship.  Once you are close enough, your crew will board the enemy ship.  You can then capture the ship by defeating all of the crew.  This stage of the battle is played by unscrambling letters on the screen to complete words.  The larger the ship you are fighting, the more letters in the word.  Unscramble them quickly to maintain your advantage.  Be aware of your missions, however, some of the time you may be asked to retrieve something or someone from a ship, which means you will fail the mission if you sink the ship.  In those instances, you must board and capture the ship.

I have to admit that while I liked the idea of the battles, this was not my favorite part of the game.  I found the battles to be somewhat underwhelming.  I think this is because they could have been made much more exciting — particularly in the board phase.   Even if gameplay was not changed (and I will admit to quickly losing my enthusiasm for spelling puzzles in this one) a simple cut scene of your crew flooding across to the other ship would have been a site to see.  Nonetheless, I wish the combat portion, particularly once you have boarded another ship involved more action and variables…and less spelling.

Status Screen: The Status Screen tells you everything you need to know about your position in the world.  The first screen tells you how you rank on each of the four character traits, as well as how much money you have. 

The next screen tells you the overall condition of your ship.  Here, you can view the level of arms and condition of your ship and crew. 

The next two screens tell you whether you have any pending missions, and what type of cargo you are currently carrying for trade.  A special screen also records any special items you may have purchased during your travels, such as maps and charts.  Maps and charts may be expensive, but they will help you avoid damage to your ship and discover new ports to explore.  The history screen gives you your total score, as well as a breakdown of how you are doing in the game.  Finally, the reputation screen shows you how you rate with each of the nations in the game.

One thing which was surprisingly missing from the status screen was a list of hostages you have rescued.  Frequently, when you rescue a hostage from pirates, the hostage will join your crew giving you a special skill.  A list of these hostages and skills would be a nice addition to the game.

Graphics and Animation: If I was disappointed by anything in this game, it was probably the static animation.  The graphics in the harbors are completely static.  Essentially, regardless of where you are, when you are on land, you are looking at the same five paintings again and again throughout the game.  I think this would have been acceptable, given the fact that this is a strategy game, not an adventure game, if different cities had a different look or feel to them.  This was not the case.  The only way to real graphical distinction between cities was the flag flying on the top of the screen.  I would have preferred that there be more variation or differentiation between cities, particularly cities of different nations. 

Although there is additional animation in map mode as it depicts the sailing and battles, this mode is still somewhat one dimensional.  I would have loved to see more robust cut scenes during sailing — particularly when disaster strikes in the form of a storm or reef.  Likewise, the battles could have been significantly enhanced by adding some small cut scenes or additional options into the battle.  I also was not fond of the spelling games for boarding other vessels.  I would like to see these battles become more animated.

On the other hand, I do have to applaud Venan for their approach to this game.  They did not try to make it something it wasn’t by weighing it down with unnecessary graphics.  I liked this simplified approach.  I have played too many of these games which overcomplicate things considerably more than is necessary.  Keeping the graphics simple and straightforward avoided this problem. 

Conclusion:  I admit that this is a relatively new genre of gaming for me.  I have not played a lot of what I call "trading games", however, I have played enough to realize that they frequently can fall into one of two traps: overcomplicating the interface, and trying to make it into an adventure game instead of a strategy game.  Venan cleverly avoided both traps with this High Seas.  While I would have liked to see more variety in the various locations, and a reformatted combat sequences, I can nonetheless say that this is a fantastically made game.  It is simple without becoming insulting.  Additionally, there are a variety of skill levels which ensure that you will never become bored.  Once I started playing, I was instantly hooked.  I now find myself in the late 17th century Caribbean all too often.  Now, if I could only find a way to put myself in the early 21st century Caribbean…

Vital Statistics:

Name: High Seas: Guns & Gold

Version: 1.0.13

Platform: WM 2003 SE

Also Available: WM5

Developer: Venan Entertainment

Available From: Venan Entertainment

                           JAMM Store

Price: $9.95

Tags: Venan High Seas Just Another Mobile Monday

Be Sociable, Share!

• 

Related posts:

1. Review: Prepare To Weigh Anchor and Set Sail For Free Trade, Adventure, and Piracy on the High Seas With Astraware’s TradeWinds 2.
2. Review: Sail The Seven Seas On Board The Corsair
3. Review: Sky Force Reloaded Offers Even More High Flying Arcade-Style Action.
4. Review: Sky Force is a High Flying Arcade Style Action Game
5. Review: Battling It Out With The High Fire Power, But Tiny Miniworld Of The NanoBotz