Age Of Pirates II, Footage Ahoy!
Is it me, or is sail-boat violence suddenly vogue for PC games? Akella's RPG-with-water Age of Pirates II has the whole show: tall ships with long cannons, men in frilly shirts, cutlass action and buried treasure. While I'm more of a ninja man than a pirate man (really a robot guy, truth be told) I can really see the appeal in what Akella are doing: a wide-open RPG complete with four campaigns, a multitude of quests, and all the usual Caribbean haunts. While I can't exactly see this game hitting Bioware-level high notes of RPG design (Akella's back catalogue does not exactly sparkle, meaning there's a high potential for trash) this is nevertheless a game worth keeping an eye on. Trailer and feature list after the jump.
And here's the feature list from publishers Playlogic:
Fortune and glory awaits you! Destiny awaits you, but destiny though is what you make it…!
Start your buccaneering career by choosing to go it alone and become the most feared pirate on the seven seas or prove your loyalty and take the coin of one of four different navies; French, English, Spanish or Dutch.
Sail the high seas as a swashbuckling dread pirate or as a dashing naval captain. Explore strange new countries and undiscovered civilizations, raid and plunder merchant ships, fortified ports and cities.
But beware, the dead do not sleep easy, and in the dark South American jungles myth and reality intertwine. Solve the ancient mysteries of a vanishing tribe, cross swords with the most notorious swashbucklers ever to sail the ocean blue and make sure that no foe ever sets foot on land again.
Features
* Face fierce ship-to-ship combat or stand toe-to-toe with the most feared swordsmen in the Caribbean
* Choose from 3 different characters and 3 different classes, Merchant, Corsair and Adventurer, each with their own quest line with more than 10 missions
* Four main campaigns with over 40 quests
* Over 40 quest generators allowing for an additional infinite amount of quests
* New combat system for faster fights
* Choose from 3 weapon classes: light, medium and heavy
* New “PIRATES” role playing system with the following characteristics: Power, Impression, Reaction, Authority, Talent, Endurance, Success
* Advanced trading system
* Meet real-life historical characters such as Jamaican governors Colonel Thomas Lynch and Thomas Modyford
* Accurate maps of the Caribbean with a vast array of land-based locations, from dense South American jungle to dark Caribbean cave complexes (3 times the size of the “Caribbean Tales” world)
* 20 times more content than Caribbean Tales
Age of Pirates II is out "soon". I'll see if I can get hold of a copy for some more detailed impressions. Anyone play the original?