Review
Picaroon
By Ricky Lima - June 8th, 2011
With the release of a new Pirates of the Caribbean movie, everyone has got pirates on the brains (no need to be ashamed of it, I’ve swabbed a couple of decks myself, recently). If you’re looking to satisfy a need to be a pirate without the legal ramifications that raping and pillaging bring; Picaroon has got you covered. Picaroon is a free-to-play MMO RTS from UK developer, Nice Technology. Hmm, the UK you say? They must know everything about pirates and ship based combat, seeing as they had one of the worlds largest navies at one point; so, this must be a great game. In that sentiment, my friend, you are only half right.
Don’t get me wrong: Picaroon is an impressive game for what it is. The visuals in the game are pretty stellar, especially the lush vegetation on the islands you inhabit and the ships your command. Generally, when you think of free games, great graphics are not the first thing that come to mind. However, Picaroon really does deliver (even on weaker systems such as my sad excuse for a computer). The frame rate is pretty solid as well, only really breaking up during super chaotic battles, but you can’t fault the developers for that because the battles can get pretty huge. Picaroon enables you to command hundreds of ships at once, which produces some amazing scenes of destruction. I was in shock when I saw hundreds of enemy ships coming to take over my island. It really is impressive how Nice Technology was able to fit that many ships on screen at once. Again, for a free to play game this is no small task.
Very post-apocalyptic! Er…
Despite the beautiful visuals the art direction is pretty drab* in terms of establishing the mood. It’s a world where warlords have hired you to go out and conquer islands for them. If I hadn’t read the official Picaroon website I would have never had guessed all this was going on, because the world on your screen is bright and happy with no real signs of turmoil. The pirates have headsets on and you can get nuclear subs, that’s about the only indication of a future world. The official site describes the game as an “odd mix of the old and new”: odd is right.
In terms of game play, Picaroon is pretty standard RTS fare. You collect resources, build buildings and all sorts of different types of ships and send them off into the vastness that is the ocean. You search for islands using your scouts and take over what you find with your battleships. There are also defensive buildings that are at your disposal. One in particular that I liked was the lens defense tower that you can purchase; once assembled, it uses sunlight to burn enemy ships. Awesome? I think so. Nothing says your enemy is a bothersome ant like burning them with magnified sunlight.
The developers also included a power up system; creatively dubbed “Specials” are things that you get by accomplishing goals, or by purchasing them with in-game gold. Each Special does something unique, like cut down build time for certain buildings or increase the strength of certain ships. It’s an interesting system that makes the game more engaging; sadly, this neat facet drowns beneath the terrible user interface.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t think there are enough things to click.
For an RTS to work, the designers need to provide easy navigation, especially for the menus. Speed is of the essence, so menus need to be streamlined and easy to understand. Picaroon is plagued with a whole mess of tabs, windows, and a jumble of squares everywhere. It feels like a maze to navigate the menus and I would get so intimidated by the layout that I just ended up picking the things I felt were most important and disregarding everything else. For a game as complex as Picaroon, it’s a shame that the menu system doesn’t make the cut because a lot of the subtle choices get lost in the mess.
If you’re a huge RTS nut and have weeks to kill, or a pirate fanatic**, this game may be for you. The great graphics and mostly solid game play makes this game worthy of at least a look; the price ain’t half bad either (did someone say free?) It’s just hard for me to recommend this game whole-heartedly when the menus are so very difficult to navigate and the art direction leaves something to be desired. If Nice Technology can streamline the menus and jazz up the visuals (in the context of the game’s premise) then this title would be solid. It’s still in beta so there are many changes ahead for Picaroon – RTS fans keep an eye on this one.
