TradeWinds 2 Review

TradeWinds 2 Review

TradeWinds 2 is officially listed as a puzzle game, but it shares many more elements with popular strategy games. Essentially, you go around from port to port, talking to the different seafaring residents, gaining a bit of knowledge, taking in a drink or two at the local pub, and earning plenty of coin as you buy low and sell high.

As far as the overall feel of this title, some of you may remember a popular series from many years back called Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? You aren't exactly hunting down a fugitive in this game, but you'll find the travelling around to different areas and questioning the locals to be quite similar. You won't need to find the country with "a flag that was red and white" or the nation whose currency is the rupee, but you will be charged with interesting tasks that may get that ol' noggin of yours going. An almanac will not help.

Getting Your Sea Legs

There are three main components to this strategy/simulation game. They are: buying and selling goods; performing various tasks for the Governor; and fighting other pirates in heated sea battles. Each of these is described below.

Watch Those Prices

There are a number of commodities for sale at each of the ports, and just like in real life, the prices for these items fluctuate quite a bit and vary significantly from area to area. For example, you may be able to buy a bundle of cotton from one area for 500 coins, only to sell the same bundle at another port for twice as much. In this way, you can net huge profits by finding the best prices on all the items, and there are many interesting goods to consider, such as timber and sugar. You should also keep in mind that your ship can only carry so much cargo at any given time (though, like other characteristics of your ship, the cargo area can be upgraded), so it is key to maximize this space and get as much profit as you can. There are seasonal variations as well, and then you have to factor in travel time between ports. With so many factors to consider, you can easily have your hands full just trying to score a profit.

A Freelance Career

You're a pirate, so you have no allegiance to anyone, right? Well, the only person who is willing to pay you to do his bidding is your home port's governor. He will ask you to perform certain tasks and missions on his behalf and if you successfully complete them, he will reward you with a bounty of gold. Extra funds never hurt, and it is through these tasks that you may uncover some rather interesting areas of this game. Unfortunately, it seems that you can only take on one mission at a time.

Overcoming Adversity

I personally like this part of the game of the best as it provides the craziest, most hectic action. Those seas can be pretty dangerous, and as such, it is not uncommon to cross paths with another pirate ship (or two or three) that is less than amicable. You can choose to try and retreat, but it's literally a blast to have a good old fashioned cannon battle with the other pirates. If you sink their ship, you collect whatever goods and gold they have stored. Not exactly complex, but still fun nonetheless.

TradeWinds 2: Graphics and Sound

The graphics are rather simple and basic in TradeWinds 2. They're an improvement over the first edition of the game, but you will still be presented with a colorful comic book-like appearance wherein the characters aren't exactly animated at all. Then again, the main appeal of this game is not so much in its physical appearance as it is in its innovative gameplay, and it is with the latter than this title truly shines. The same can be said about the sound effects and music. Nothing particularly special, but I can't exactly fault the developers for not spending too much time on this front either.

Conclusion - Pirates Have Fun Too

In the end, Trade Winds 2 promises "over 60 hours of gameplay", and while you have the opportunity to trade up to 10 different goods and you'll be motivated to upgrade to a number of different ships, I can't see this title keeping you interested for that long. That's not to say that this is a bad game. Quite the contrary, in fact, as it provides quite a bit of variety -- trading commodities, performing tasks for the governor, and battling it out with other pirates -- but I can't imagine playing this game through to its conclusion. If you like games like Lemonade Tycoon, you'll probably like this too.

In a nutshell, TradeWinds 2 is fun while it lasts.