What's the greatest pirate game of all time?

[Via]

I've only played a couple, and couldn't really get into them.

I bought the remake of Sid Meier's Pirates at full price; I was really excited for that one. But the arcade-ish sailing and dorky dancing made my attention wane too quickly.

I have the Tropico pirate game on steam, but I haven't even been able to figure out Tropico 1 yet. They should remake it int the Tropico 3 engine.

I liked the pirate part of Gothic 2, but that was more of a diversion than anything. You didn't really get to be a pirate. Risen 2 was sort of a letdown - not too bad, but not that great either.

Are there any cool, gritty pirate games out there that let you take control of a ship and crew, build your own hideout, engage in fun sea and hand-to-hand battles? Maybe something with a good story and interesting characters to boot (no pun intended)?

What's considered the greatest pirate game ever?

 

[PCunicorn]

Assassins Creed Black Flag looks like it will be fun. Will it be exactly what you are looking for? No, not even close, but I don't think there really is a hardcore pirate sim, sorry.

 

[Via]

There isn't? Time for me to dream about making a new game again.

But there must be some good ones released over the years.

 

[CottonRabbit]

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/07/02/c...pg-from-the-makers-of-mount-blades-expansion/

Dunno if this is still getting made, but it sounds like what you want. Maybe there's already a Mount and Blade pirate mod out there.

 

[Via]

That really does seem cool; seems to have everything. I'll definitely keep my eye on it.

So, back to the first part of my question - what's the greatest one that's already been released up to this point?

I vaguely remember reading about a pirate game in PC gamer years ago that had a screenshot of 3d hand-to-hand combat on a ship, but there's no way I'd ever remember what the name of it was or what year exactly it was released.

 

[Elcs]

The hands down greatest Pirate game was Sid Meier's Pirates! Gold from the 90's.

Other than that, I honestly cannot remember any half decent pirate game, never mind one that could challenge Pirates! Gold.

 

[callaway86]

Sid Meier's Pirates! Newer one. Best game.

 

[syd2oo2]

I've only played one, Risen 2. So that's the best for me .

 

[Sulaco]

How have you not heard of Sid Meier's Pirates?

 

[biostud]

Monkey Island.

 

[Possessed Freak]

Monkey Island.

9 out of 10 Guybrush Threepwoods agree.

 

[darkewaffle]

Skies of Arcadia

It isn't especially gritty and you have an airship instead of a... seaship, but it's got a big checkmark for everything else. Tons of exploration (particularly once you obtain your 'second' ship), the world is littered with hidden monuments and creatures and loot for you to discover, an island you 'colonize' and build up as your base, a crew you collect from the world over (each of whom has a different set of stats that affect how your ship performs in battle), bounties to hunt and more.

It is basically a jRPG though, so it's a little goofy at times and the number of random encounter battles can be tedious. But overall it's phenomenal, highly recommend the Gamecube version (SoA: Legends).

 

[Dirigible]

9 out of 10 Guybrush Threepwoods agree.

Yup. Best pirate game.


Don't think it's what OP wants though.

 

[Martimus]

Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2, The Tales of Monkey Island are by far the best pirate games I have ever played.

Beyond that being a pirate (Stealing other peoples ships and property forcefully) is fun in Eve and X3. But it isn't the core mechanic of either game.

 

[mmntech]

Monkey Island.

How appropriate, you fight like a cow.

The only Monkey Island game I haven't played is Escape. I kick myself every day for that. LeChuck's Revenge is still my all time favourite pirate game.

 

[Rhezuss]

I've only played one, Risen 2. So that's the best for me .

Yep, great game!

 

[mjd]

Puzzle Pirates is an impressive MMO puzzle game. I don't think it's the 'best' in this thread, but it's worth a look especially since it's f2p.

-M

 

[KeithTalent]

Is that pirate MMO still around? It was a painfully awful game in beta, but maybe they fixed everything by launch?

KT

 

[queequeg99]

What's considered the greatest pirate game ever?

RIAA vs. The World.


Sorry, I couldn't resist.

 

[PCunicorn]

How have you not heard of Sid Meier's Pirates?

The OP specifically states he tried Said Meier's Pirates and he didn't like it. I have been guilty of not reading the OP before so no big deal, but you didn't need to be rude about it.

 

[Fayd]

What's considered the greatest pirate game ever?

Monkey Island franchise

 

[Soundmanred]

Where's the guy that used to spam that pirate game? It was the sequel to a SNES games, Uncharted Waters.
Uncharted Waters Online.
Not a true pirate game though.

 

[Anarchist420]

Galleon islands of mystery, the pirate game from purgatory that eventually made it to the xbox. that jank used the wbuffert but then it had some terrible dithering artifacts.

i think it may have been designed for the dreamcast since it didnt run in 32 bit color and didnt have graphics that were linear in screen space.

 

[DigDog]

let's see.. which pirate game had teh player trying to figure out where hidden treasures where, by using unmarked map fragments, instead of an idiotic map cursor?

and took weeks to finish?

and had realistic fleet management? and crew management? and politics? and realistic navigation, world water currents, weather and diseases, and it took several game sessions of navigation to get from one end of the map to the other?

 

[Alex C]

There used to be one years ago called Sea Dogs that I always wanted to try, but never had a good enough PC. Then a while back they started working on a sequel but it got turned into a Pirates of the Caribbean game

I do love Sid Meier's Pirates though, so that gets my vote.