Port Royale 4 Beta – Could be Glorious Return to Past
After spending about 10 hours with the beta of Port Royale 4, I finally have a sense of where the new installment of the classic series is headed – which is into the past.
The last time I played Port Royale was in 2004. It was after the release of part two – in the heyday of RTS, economic strategies and city-builders – a time long gone. Part two – although warmly received – featured outdated graphics (certainly unable to challenge Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War and Rome: Total War, which were both released the same year). But it didn't bother me at all back then, and I was definitely not alone in this.
Rum can get you as rich, as it can make you poor!
Port Royale represented not only a genre that soon moved from the front pages of gaming magazines to a small niche – it was also a game that, in its own way, continued the pirate legacy of games such as Pirates (MicroProse, 1987) or the brilliant Corsairs: Conquest at Sea (Microids, 1999). And it did it with such class.
It's been 16 years, and we've been through several generations, changes in tastes, the collapse of big brands and the unexpected births of new genres. It's 2020 and Gaming Minds Studios – the authors of Port Royale 3, but also of the interesting Railway Empire, in which I spent several hours – are trying to convince us that the pirate era is not over yet and there is still room for a game where we trade goods in the Caribbean.
Back to the past
That's the view, most of the time.
Let's make it clear: Port Royale 4 is a game that will take us back to the past, reminding us why we used to love this genre. If you've never played it, let me remind you briefly: the game focuses on establishing and maintaining maritime trade routes between the cities of the great archipelago. We create routes, keep them safe, fight pirates (or become them), and expand cities to create production chains and transport even more goods. Our main job is to buy low, sell high.
Port Royale 4 – eighteen years after the premiere of the first part – stands in front of an ambitious challenge that I’m not sure is even possible to overcome. If you look back into the distant past, you will remember that these games were not among the easiest titles to play. The fourth installment – if you believe the beta version I've played – will be no exception. Before playing the campaign, the game recommends going through as many as 10 tutorials, amounting to almost an hour of learning. Side note: being aware that this can be an arduous activity, the creators made sure to include a rough estimate of how long each tutorial takes. Brilliant!
But if you decide to skip the tutorials and jump right into the campaign (the beta featured only the Spanish campaign; the full version will also feature British, Dutch and French), you'll discover that Port Royale 4 is a big homage to the past. The graphics are nice and clean, and although there's nothing really outdated about them, they certainly don’t fry the GPU either (especially after the astonishing Anno 1800). One thing I really appreciated is that unlike in the previous entries, where the world and city maps were separate (we had to switch to city map from the world map), the devs have prepared a single, three-dimensional and quite slick map this time (spanning a whopping 4.6 million square miles).
However, the biggest problem of the graphics is that the game is generally very static – things are generally inanimate, there's no birds and animals. Maximal zoom allows us to see crowds of ant-like creatures moving around, but it almost requires a magnifying glass.
Buildings don’t have animations either, and trees move so slowly that it's impossible to notice (by the way, the game could use more plant types, because the forest now looks like a tailored piece of uniform space). What I really can't bear, though, is the fact that in a game largely about maritime trade, the ships models are at best correct. It is worth noting, however, that the sea itself is nice, and the game generates some beautiful sunsets. However, I suspect that all this is still subject to change and by the time of the launch, the creators may add a little more flair to the graphics and animations.
But it's not the graphics that take you back to the good old days – it's the interface. The relevant information is spread thin across dozens of screens, which doesn't lower the entry threshold. Don't get me wrong, the gameplay itself is not particularly complicated (at least in the released version) – it's just about the presentation of information itself. It is difficult to discern the most vital numbers and info – they're not highlighted in any way, and transparency is not really here. If someone has a knack for various statistics and parameters – here, they will feel at home.
It's the same with some UI elements – the trade route button in the ship interface looks more like an embellishment than functional button, and if we don't go through the tutorial, it may take us a while to realize it actually does something. And while it's neither particularly galling nor frightening for me, because I'm used to the fact that city-builders, strategy and economic games are always a bit of a quote from an idealized past, I'm afraid not everyone can share my view.
What if those days just won't come back?
But I may exaggerate a little. The niche that games like Port Royale have gone into is doing pretty well – we regularly get either indie games or another part of a well-known series. With the recent and glorious return of Anno, we're looking forward to the equally great return of The Settlers – if the rightful beauty of Port Royale was also reconstituted, perhaps we will be talking about a little – tiny – revival.
I wonder – a little against myself – is the gameplay formula from part four not exhausted already? What do we need games that make us relive the past? Is bringing the old mechanics up to date in terms of technology enough, or do we need innovation? I mentioned Anno a few times, because that game did a great job of showing us that it's possible to combine the astonishing scope and complexity of hardcore games with the technological bells and whistles of the mainstream. Will Port Royale 4 attempt just that?
The few hours I spent with beta convinced me that, for now, the production is mainly addressed to fans of the genre and of the series. All the mechanics from the predecessors have been recreated and adapted to modern standards. This game brings a clearly old-school vibe with all the trading, exploring and fighting in the Caribbeans. Shortly after entering the world, I started going through the city's product lists to find a way to strike a golden deal. That was always the crux of the game for me. Here, in addition, we can search for treasures, do simple tasks or suck up to the authorities. And, of course, fight for domination in the Caribbean (though, let me remind you, we're not playing as pirates per se).
Set a trade route like this through rough waters, and you can forget making safe and good profit.
There are some things that surely need improvements (remember I was only playing the beta, so a lot is bound to still change). I mentioned the interface, which can constitute a major hindrance for a newcomer – I think another element like that is lack of map filters that would allow you to quickly find out which goods are needed in which cities – all the more puzzling since most economic games have them. Unfortunately, we now have to check local markets "manually," looking at each city individually. It has its charm, but I wouldn't try to stop progress.
The sight of sea currents is sensational, on the other hand – the game employs a system that visually resembles satellite images. The map shows animated currents that have a real impact on the gameplay. We can set up a trade route without considering these – risking a significant slowdown in transport and additional expenses, or take a moment to create one that's perfect – driven by the wind, it will multiply our profits.
Something's definitely wrong here!
Revolutionary changes were also made to combat – this time, it will be turn-based and take place in an "arena" composed of hexes. There is not much I can tell you about it yet, because the new combat was still rather sketchy in the beta. The top-down view was far too dark and didn't look really good in general. But should everything as promised, it looks like we'll get an elaborate, tactical mini-game, with skills and statistics. I miss the real-time combat on the high seas a bit, but perhaps it's just my innate fear of what's new. This is not the most important element of the game, too. For now, the fight in Port Royale 4 promises to be interesting, though it doesn't really show teeth. By the way – the option to automatically decide a battle has been added (you can even cancel it if you lose and fight it yourself).
Give this game a chance, landlubber
Not everything was in working order in the beta. I mentioned the static map, but the impression of a certain deadness was also underlined by the lack of some key sounds, e.g. ships, which sail in complete silence. Most of the time, we basically hear only music, which, like every music in every game, was composed to not disturb, rather than to be particularly memorable.
I worry about combat, although I think the creators will try to refine it before the release (and add sound – here, I didn't hear literally any sound either). However, the general direction in which Port Royale 4 is headed is great, and although it probably won't redefine economic strategy, it looks like a nice trip back in time to the heyday of city-builders and RTS. If the game will be released in good state, polished and all, then our only concern will be getting the best price on tobacco, sinking ships, and making the money run. Keep your eye on this ship.
