Another day, another nautical game to sail the seas on. Republic of Pirates aims to give your strategic and city-building sea legs a stretch. Crazy Goat Games have done a serviceable job but it doesn’t quite reach great depths. There’s a degree of polish and some lovely touches that give the game plenty of character. Unfortunately, the structure of building your own plunderer’s heaven can feel rigid and lacks some surprises.
The story places you within a destabilised archipelago. The titular republic has splintered due to the inevitable greed of all involved. After all the bloodshed, one man has risen to the top and he’s also killed your dad. That should be more than enough motivation to topple him and, with the rest of the key players scrambling, there’s opportunities for cooperation. It’s not exactly a fully-featured narrative. Characters do get introduced but I wouldn’t say they foster any genuine relationships. They are a means to show you more mechanics rather than propelling the story along.
Republic of Pirates leans more towards the city building than the ship combat. As you land on new islands, the routine of settling the place is quickly established. From building basic huts to house workers, the tech tree expands to encompass textile and agricultural options. Of course, it’s mostly nautical themed. Your little colonies must be kept happy with rum, markets, clothing and brothels to ensure society doesn’t collapse.
The campaign does a solid job of teaching the game’s structure. Amassing a fleet to tackle the rival empires is a long process so the people management fills that time nicely. There are situations where you’re waiting for resources to stockpile. Wood is usually the bane of my existence as everything tends to require it. You can speed time up and, at least in this mode, combat is introduced within specific missions.
The rigid nature of the campaign does allow for a gentle introduction to the mechanics. I feel like knowing what to build and when can be a tricky act to balance. Thankfully, there are plenty of tutorials on hand. Missions have simple objectives and you’re never juggling more than two at a time. Notifications arrive when you’re low on resources or involved in combat and the tactical map allows you to peer further afield. It can feel leisurely when you’re not pestered by enemies and can really focus on expanding your little empire.
The flip-side to this is the lack of jeopardy. Whilst it does inject some roaming scout parties to scour the map, they rarely land on your shores. When it comes down to it, there’s not a lot for your ships to do. They can pick up debris which is an easy source of plunder and are a means to travel to new islands in the archipelago. Once enemies are engaged, combat is a semi-automatic affair. Shots will be traded without your intervention but ship-specific abilities can be triggered from a menu. All of these operate on a cooldown and, depending on the size of your vessels, you might want to keep some out of harms way.
It’s basic but, given the time it takes to build them, I wouldn’t want this to be any more complex. Strength in numbers was my main strategy and I will say the encounters escalate in a measured way. Even the townsfolk, who need to kept satisfied, don’t revolt at the first sign of rum running dry. These likes and needs are more about unlocking the next tier of housing.
Away from the campaign is a more free-form mode that offers you more maps to play with. I wish it was flush with more options. It can feel like you’re picking a more campaign location without the staggered progression. At least it can offer slicker pacing and a more unpredictable challenge. Alas, there’s no multiplayer which I think this game could benefit from.
These games can always be fiddly to handle on a controller. Whilst Republic of Pirates can feel ham-fisted, the menus are straight-forward. The shoulder buttons act as modifiers and you have a toolbar at the bottom of the screen that allows construction options to be flicked through. If actions needed to be done in a hurry, I’d be more concerned. Dipping into the menus for each building is not a slick process but I’m not sure how else you would translate this to a controller.
Camera movement is fine and you can tweak cursor speed to your liking. Unfortunately, there is some acceleration that is exacerbated by higher sensitivity settings. When zooming around the map, it can be handful. The tactical map comes in handy when you need to regain your bearings. Selecting multiple units is as simple as drawing a box around them. Splitting them in to groups is not an option but you’re rarely dealing with that many ships.
The presentation is decent. Cutscenes are kept simple and character interactions are largely discussions with some some well-done portraits. The voice acting is sound and their performances do sell how much of a scoundrel Jack is. Everyone’s a little cheeky and ready to backstab which gives the cast some personality. Selecting a ship has the crew burst into a variety of sea shanties. There’s not enough there to prevent them going stale, but it’s nice when you first hear them. It’s a good way to know you have a unit selected, at the very least.
Visually, it’s detailed. Islands tend to settle into blocks as you build roads to link up to the rest of civilisation. The isometric perspective gives a good overview. Unfortunately, some buildings aren’t that distinctive. I didn’t like having to click on a mill just to know what I was looking at. Plantations might suffer the same issue but the cotton and hemp fields give them an area you can spot at a glance. Different tiers of housing come with a new look so you can tell your peons from your lords and ladies.
I do think Republic of Pirates is a decent entry to the genre. The campaign offers a leisurely pace that does well to introduce all of the mechanics to you. The structure leads to repetition and the seafaring seems secondary. The controls mostly hold up, although they still feel have moments of clumsiness. Under duress that might be more of a problem. It doesn’t offer a great deal of depth or variety but has a base competency that is fine.
+ The characters have a sprinkling of personality.
+ The controls mostly hold up.
+ Teaches the mechanics pretty well.
- Ship combat feels more like garnish than a main course.
- Some building types can be hard to distinguish from one another.
- Could use some multiplayer or additional modes.