Pirates: Duels on the High Seas (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

If you are old enough to have been around the gaming scene since the early 90's then you have witnessed the beginning of the modern gaming age. It started with the release of the Playstation One which brought gaming to the masses and although Sony were the new kids on the block they quickly became leaders. Since then, of course, we've seen this gaming console's game library repackaged and rehashed for a whole host of platforms. One my personal favorites was sadly overlooked but the Psygnosis coded Overboard had all but been forgotten until now, when Oxygen have not only released the pirate ship shooter for the Wii but also for the DS.

Gameplay

Duels of the High Seas is probably closer to a shooter than an action game and each level involves you getting from 'A to B' whilst also keep your ship intact. This is a reasonably simple exercise as shooting them with your side-mounted cannons can sink most ships. You can also pick up other weapons such as rockets and while these are more powerful they are limited in number so use them wisely. On the subject on pickups you will also find the odd chest of gold floating around and when you do sink enemy ships: crew members. They are generally more than willing to join your crew (and enhance your abilities) although you will have to fork out some gold, which does seem a little unfair, as their other option is to remain stranded in the middle of the sea. The levels are actually surprisingly 'safe' to navigate and while most guns and ships can simply be avoided or outrun, some areas will imprison you until you clear the area. Your only real challenge occurs when you encounter the Kraken, which saps your energy very quickly, although as with everything else, you'll quickly discover its movement patterns. Outside of this Adventure Mode, you can also indulge in a Skirmish that pits you against three other ships in a water based Deathmatch and there's even a Multiplayer, which is sadly not online.

Controls

Actually controlling your ship is simplicity itself with the d-pad allowing you to travel in any direction and the shoulder buttons giving you speed. While you are doing this it's also easy to reach the A and B buttons to fire your weapons.

Graphics

The actual in-game visuals are a little on the bland side, other than the odd ship and gun emplacement, there's little going on in the various areas. The cut screens on the other hand are beautiful and certainly some of the best static screens to appear on the DS this year.

Sound

Suitable Sea Shanty music and a collection of cannon sound effects but nothing outstanding.

Dual screen

Not the greatest use of the touch screen and whilst the bottom screen initially appears to be just another game map it does actually have a more involved function. If you look closer you'll see small icons, which allow you to enhance your experience in a number of different ways. The map, for example, increases your visibility whilst the saw icon will repair your ship, although this will also cost valuable funds. There are also icons that increase speed and fire power but given that there's little in the way of a real threat, you are unlikely to ever really need these.

Final comments

You'll fly though this game but unfortunately this is down to its biggest problem: there's simply not enough to do. The original involved puzzles and multiple hazards, whilst you were fending off other ships, but this incarnation has stripped out all these gameplay elements and produced more of a simple sailing game. The result is an incredibly shallow experience, which would be more at home on a mobile phone than a DS. It does have some redeeming features and the Multiplayer and Skirmish do provide some entertaining moments but this doesn't hide the flawed gameplay in the main game.

Pro: Very Easy to Play, Nice Cut Screens.
Con: Shallow, Uninteresting Gameplay.
Final score: 5.1

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