Caribbean Quarter Pounder: Port Royale 3

I thoroughly enjoyed Port Royale 2 and if your idea of buckling swash and living the life of an outlaw on the high seas involves cargo management and financial ledgers, there's every chance that you enjoyed it as well. While the combat was about as much fun as scurvy, the economic simulation was deep enough to create a compelling experience and taking up quests across the Caribbean made it feel more like a place than a spreadsheet. Port Royale 3 looks handsome in this trailer, which also contains the greatest press quote in the history of press quotes. Observe.

Did you spot it?

I appreciate the fact that the 17th century's closest analogue to thermonuclear warfare - a cannonball - occurs as if to herald the quote, but I'm not entirely sure what it means.

What it certainly doesn't mean that Port Royale 3 is a reinvention, trading in its trading for man-stabbing and its strategy for ship-shooting. The combat has been beefed up and multiplayer has been added, but at its heart, it will still be a game about building convoys, establishing trade routes and growing ever more portly and rich. Or removing your eye with a spoon, then murdering people going about their daily business until you becomeg feared and reviled in your own time, and are then later portrayed in a buffoonish and lovable fashion by A-list celebrities.

Ignore the release date at the end; that's boxed versions only. Port Royale should be coming into digital harbours on May 4th.