Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships - PC

If you are looking at this game, you have probably heard of it. If you have, you already know that when you install the game off this DVD, it will not work.On Win7 the TAGES drivers will not work. You can download them from TAGES official website.Still, when you launch the game, it will probably crash before launch. Or, if you are lucky - while you are boarding your first ship. And this is when you find out about patches. So you search for drivers, and you find that the patches are only available in Russian. They will break your install. And no, this DVD doesn't have a Russian version of the game on it.So what do you do? Search for mods.Gentelment of Fortune 1.2 seems to be the one which gets everything fixed. It adds "some" new content though, so the download is over 5GB. And when you do download it, make sure to keep it in a safe place. The official page for the mod already doesn't have the working links for download, you'll have to search the web.Oh, and if you are new - there's no map in the game, in the regular video game meaning of it. You have to buy it piece by piece for each island.Anyways, this is a waste of money unless you're ready to mess around with this piece of shiP like I did. If you are - the game itself is very fun.

awesome game, truly a "do whatever you want game", sail up and down the costs trading, while pirates try to pick you off. worth the money for the amount of time you can pass while playing it. i did have some issues at first playing it but follow online help and ya'll be sinking and plundering in no time!if it had better graphics it would be a $60 game not a $10 but the ships are still beautiful and the ship combat is intense and very long.i like, my dad likes and my friends like it. time to get back to the seas!

If there was a 0 for a star that is what this would get. I down loaded the game. Everything seam fine. Went to play the game. But get a pop up saying to please out in the original disc? So the game doesn't play. It only came with one.

Comments on the basic features:Character - There is no character customization. I believe the original game gives you only 3 characters to choose from. Download and install the Combined Mod. You will have over 2 dozen characters to select from including about 8 females.You have 7 attributes, personal and ship skills (which increase with use as in Elder Scrolls games), and special abilities (personal and ship) which you can select as points are earned. Officers that you hire have the same detail as your own character (attributes, skills and abilities). They also have a loyalty rating toward you which changes depending on their personality and your actions. Up to 3 of them can be assigned to accompany you on land. Other generic crewman are grouped together and have changing skill levels in 3 areas plus a morale rating.World - When in your ship you sail on a global map showing the Caribbean, Central America and the northern shore of South America. Encounters switch to 3D ship to ship battles. You can have up to 5 ships in your fleet. When moving on land you are in 3D from a 3rd Person Perspective. The cities can be fully explored but a "fast travel" option is available to get to the main areas. The jungle outside the cities is not fully explorable (as in Elder Scrolls) but consists mainly of paths. (there is enough room to move around in combat though) There are beaches, caves, lighthouses and forts to visit.Inventory system - Items are weighted but it is very generous (not realistic). There is also a chest on your ship where you can store extra items. There are "magic" items which give bonuses to certain skills. (too many for my taste - they don't seem special since you end up with so many)Economics - Good at first (hard) but after playing awhile money usually isn't much of a concern. It really needs to be balanced better. There is a large variety of trade goods. Each port has its own prices which change over time. Also each port has certains goods which are illegal to trade. (you can deal with smugglers for those)Combat on Land - Generally works good. There is a nice degree of complexity. You have the 3 mouse keys for 3 different attacks. Holding Shift while clicking gives you 3 more moves. You have the Spacebar to block, a key to shoot your pistol and another hot key to drink a healing potion. Besides the usual health bar you have an energy bar which depletes rapidly if swinging a heavy sword. The system is much better than simpler games which just require you to click as fast as you can.Combat at Sea - Fun. 4 types of ammo for your cannons. Can speed up time if desired. If you get close enough you can board the enemy ship. Combat then is similar to that on land.Quests - Most are generic - transport goods, escort someone, hunt down smugglers, etc. Some involve sneaking into enemy ports. There are some bigger, multiple step quests but I can't say that I ever completed one. It doesn't "hold your hand" like some games. You have to sail around and talk to people.Stealth - You can run up a different flag on your ship and try to fool other ships and ports.Diversions - Two gambling games, one with cards (similar to blackjack) and one with dice (like poker) - well done. Prostitutes: close encounters are blacked out but they do have some funny dialog and exaggerated sound effects.Stability - Generally good but occasionally crashes to desktop.Bookkeeping - Can get to be a bit tedious, especially when you have multiple ships.You need to keep a supply of food, rum, medicine, and weapons for your crew. The cannons need ammo (4 kinds) plus powder. Also, if you want to make minor repairs at sea you need to have a supply of sailcloth and planks. Your companion fighters need to be kept supplied with healing potions and bullets.Overall - Highly recommended for rpg fans. Get the mod though so you have a better choice of characters. The game is truly a sandbox type game. If you want, just ignore the quests and concentrate on building up your stats and making money.Play as a pirate, make war against a selected country, become a merchant or a smuggler. You can even fail quests and keep playing, although with consequences. I once accepted a delivery mission, then quit. When starting the next day I forgot about the open quest. When I finally remembered I went to the port but was too late and they had labeled me a "swindler" and started shooting at me! A bounty was put on my head and I had to find a diplomat to pay off to get it lifted. The wealth of detail and options make it a fun rpg experience.Wish list - What I'd like to see if they ever make a sequel:* A fully customizable character* Bigger, fully explorable land areas. How about some plantations, mines, distilleries, fishing villages, native villages?* It would fun if you could buy or build your own estate/house.

A great game just as I remember. Except that the company never fixed the many bugs and crash-to-desktop problems. If they had fixed them, this game would have been a lot of fun.