Port Royale Critic Reviews

With a strong AI, a tried and true game concept, and beautiful graphics and sound, Port Royale is a great game.

Port Royale has depth of gameplay and presents this enjoyable but challenging escapade against a rich background of a battle for power in the Caribbean.

Even though you may find moments of frustration with the game's missions and its challenging economic model, digging deep into Port Royale provides a varied and open-ended experience--along with the simple satisfaction of playing as a pirate.

A pretty comprehensive game that has a lot going for it. The main problem I have with it is that it takes so damn long to get started. It's just so slow.

Port Royale takes advantage of this amazing time and creates a wonderfully fun economic simulation. The graphics are great, and the sound fits the bill.

Game play is top notch and will not only keep your interest high with its versatility, but with it’s addictive game play.

To put it simply, Port Royale rekindles the flame of oldies like "Pirates," which comes as welcomed refreshment and a decent challenge to the mind (too many games resort to the old FPS-style shoot to kill cliché).

Fans of the "Patrician" series or the infamous "Pirates!," will enjoy this title loaded with sea-faring trade, fierce ship-to-ship warfare and an endless replay value set during the age of colonial expansion. However, the steep learning curve and relative monotony early on, may lead less patient gamers to abandon ship.

Despite the shortcomings of getting started, beware once you finally do. Port Royale is a wonderfully addictive game that is loaded with grand possibilities.

A good game buried under a lousy interface and a steep learning curve.

A detailed trading sim for merchants, but too much budgeting and not enough buccaneering to recommend to pirate fans.

"SimCity" elements tend to bog down the fun factor, but if you don't mind some biz sim with your strategy, you'll find this game pretty entertaining.

The adventure is too buried under the business sim, which is a bit too inelegant for its own good, and the strategy is hobbled by a really lame combat system. At least it's better than Bethesda's recent "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Offers a great blend of combat and economic strategy.

Port Royale’s concept itself is rather flawed. I really can’t see a relatively uneducated pirate creating an empire, since most historical pirates were brutish men who had short, violent careers that ended either hanging from the yardarm or lunch for the squid.

I wouldn’t recommend Port Royale unless you’re looking for a slow-paced game that challenges your brain more than your reflexes, and unless you’re only planning to play an hour or two each night. If you play any more than that, the game will get too repetitive and too boring too quickly.