Pop Goes the Culture!

It's not that I've always wanted to be a pirate. Scurvy, hardtack, and weevils just really aren't me, you know? I do like the idea of sitting down with a keg of rum in the middle of the street and forcing every passerby to down a drink with me, but that's just being friendly, the pirate way. I don't think I'd put burning sticks of dynamite in my hair as a threatening fashion accessory. But I do look good in pirate costuming.

Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat not only have pirates, which I just adore, but they have an anatomically pleasing (OK, busty, but she's not badly proportioned and some of the movement is very nice) redheaded pirate wench as the main character.

She kicks butt.

Admittedly, I ran through a lot of it in "easy mode" again, because as a rental we want to experience the most we can in the little time we have, but just watching her fight with her sword is exciting. Her automatic change of movement to match her in-range enemies is dramatic and deadly.

They teach you great pirate terms, like "crossing the T" in ship-to-ship battles.

It refers to how, with side-cannons, you should aim your cannons at the part of the enemy boat that does not have cannons to plug (or, in this case, unplug) you.

You have ship combat as well as hand-to-hand, as well as plenty of exploration (she has to have some dwarf or dragon blood: she can smell gold and buried treasure.) Lots of puzzles. We did end up looking one up to find out it wasn't just our inept struggling with the game controls: we were attempting what a hintmaster called, "The hardest jump in the game."

They describe her as a "rowdy but righteous" scoundrel. The backstory is fairly obvious but still amusing. (I do wonder why she wants to open a chest in the middle of a burning house, but it was for the dramatic jumping through the window scene, I think.)

Again, very easy, very intuitive controls. I actually think better attention was paid to for this than Gauntlet. The sound was nice (we don't have surround-sound set up for this, obviously, but it was very controllable and didn't overwhelm.) They have a fun feature where you could earn, in-game, additional art (portraits, landscapes, scenes) in the game's style as part of their portfolio.

It does look like a once-through style game, although that is somewhat mitigated by the ability to do player-vs-player ship battles. We didn't get an opportunity to try that one, but maybe when we rent it next. Worth renting? Yes. Worth buying? I'm going to say yes to that, too. Less breasts than Lara, and easily just as kick-butt. I wouldn't mind my little sister playing this game. Even if she ends up running a character in Seven Seas called "Captain Yo!"