Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

When I first heard about a pirate-themed city builder game, I imagined it would be similar to old-school games on social media sites or mobile platforms . I’ve played a few of these in the past as well… Stylized pirate games where building settlements took several days in real life, all designed to entice players to spend money. Republic of Pirates, on the other hand, offers a more grounded depiction of piracy, providing a fascinating backdrop and style for solid city-building and RTS mechanics .

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

I usually don’t start a review with the story of an RTS or city builder game, but the situation is a little different with Republic of Pirates. Set in the mid-1600s, during the Golden Age of Piracy, this game plunges you into a chaotic Caribbean where plunder is rampant. Amid the anarchy, a republic was formed among the pirates and attempted to impose some form of order, but this republic was short-lived; Greed led three pirate lords to overthrow him and take control of the archipelago. It’s not much of a surprise.

In Republic of Pirates, you play as the heir of the deposed leader and are tasked with recovering, rebuilding and reconquering the archipelago to avenge your father and restore the republic. I firmly believe that such stories can be as fascinating as fiction. The Golden Age of Piracy was certainly a time when real-life legends were created. Providing the perfect setting for a stylized yet grounded look at pirate life, the game utilizes it effectively to create an engaging narrative.

As great as it is, the best part of Republic of Pirates isn’t its narrative. Beneath its grand story lies a solid and well-developed set of gameplay features and mechanics that I have long sought in a city builder. The developers understood the basics of good city builder design and stuck to them, adding a pirate theme later to create something truly special. One of these key elements is ease of use, and the game excels in this area. For example, the road car is extremely responsive and adept at predicting where you want corners to go.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

Destruction is accessible via a handy city design wheel that also includes brushes for upgrading and selection. This vehicle pack makes city expansion something to look forward to. While it may lack the fine detail found in larger games like Cities: Skylines, the design space shared with this game’s RTS elements makes this achievement even more impressive. Another important aspect of good city builder design is the presentation of data. Without a way to quickly examine the finer details of your city, managing it can become a chore.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

While Republic of Pirates does not include line graphs or charts, it does provide a comprehensive overview of your city’s production, population, logistics, and assets. Warehouses and warehouses provide a clear overview of your inventory, and color-coded proximity lenses for amenities help you easily identify what’s needed where. Additionally, floating overhead displays in buildings are a great feature that simplifies the process of identifying and resolving bottlenecks in your production chain. Moving away from the city-building mechanics of the game, let’s now discuss the other half.

The RTS layer of Republic of Pirates is not bad at all, although it is definitely surpassed by the city-building mechanics of the game. The controls are pretty basic and the units aren’t as varied as you’d want from a regular RTS game, but it plays pretty solidly, especially in the context of fierce naval battles. The game’s ease of use extends to this layer as well, with drag-and-select features for commanding multiple units and a pop-up ability window for timing active abilities. This adds a nice ease of use to the game.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

Despite your huge fleet, everything is extremely well directed. It’s also nice that each ship is customizable, right down to the sail patterns. This allows you to identify your units at a glance and strategize accordingly. Moving on to the aesthetics of the game, nothing captures the essence of sea piracy better than a good oil painting. Every portrait, cutscene image, and title card in the game exudes an artisanal quality, as if they were crafted by real-life canvas artists of the period.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

The extraordinary quality of the game is also evident in its sounds. The voice acting is outstanding and has accents that reflect the period perfectly. This game truly immerses you in the pirate world and offers a deeper, more authentic pirate experience than similar games. There really is no other game that matches its rich, pirate-filled atmosphere. That’s all for Republic of Pirates. I don’t see any point in calling this game other than a really well-made city building game with RTS elements. Its aesthetics are beautiful and its gameplay is as well-designed as it is layered.

Improving quality of life is essential to many moving parts of a city builder. Despite its style, Republic of Pirates softens the tedium of running a city by providing concise summaries of your resources at a glance. This may seem like a standard feature in city-building games, but you’d be surprised how rarely developers get it right. Sometimes the graphics outshine the gameplay, and sometimes you have to rely on your old instincts to understand your city’s production. This game strikes the balance.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

It’s rare for me to say this about a game, but I think Republic of Pirates is practically begging for an expansion pack or major update. Don’t get me wrong, the existing content is excellent but there is room in the game for more without feeling bloated. I can easily imagine new ship types and maps being added in the future. As similar games have shown, there are countless pirate stories to tell, and this video game has the potential to explore them while maintaining its down-to-earth tone. This is exciting too.

However, although the optimization of this game was very successful, I encountered a few crashes, especially during cinematics or when tabbing out of the game window. There were also a few bugs where the cursor would disappear and reappear after a reboot. Additionally, some developer placeholder names did not pass quality control, especially on the map selection screen in the Free Play section. These issues don’t reflect the overall quality of the game and can easily be fixed with an update, but they’re still worth mentioning. Crash errors were especially annoying.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

It might seem strange to mention this topic, but considering the game’s focus on building coastal settlements, it would be a disservice not to mention water. I wasn’t expecting anything spectacular, especially since the game needs to remain accessible for lower-end hardware, but the opaque and static ocean falls short of the choppy seas I imagined. The visual side of the game really disappointed me in this aspect. While there are games today that reflect the ocean very well, Republic of Pirates is unfortunately not one of those games.

Republic of Pirates masterfully captures the essence of classic city-building mechanics. Its flawless performance and numerous quality-of-life features demonstrate the developers’ commitment to creating an enjoyable experience. The game places equal emphasis on vertical progression and horizontal expansion of buildings; logistics chains are impressive, especially considering the maritime environment. In short, we have an extraordinary city builder and an impressive RTS experience.

Of course, I do not expect a price tag for Republic of Pirates that we see in AAA level games, so I will put a price around 20 USD. I think this is a standard price for high concept city building and RTS games. If a special pricing is made for our country and we can see this game around 15 USD, everything will be even better. As I write these lines, the game has not been released yet and therefore I do not know the price tag.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review

Republic of Pirates is a shining pearl among high-concept city-building games, a treasure that keeps the pirate flag flying high without capsizing. This game deftly balances city-building and RTS excitement with a down-to-earth yet stylish captain vibe. Sure, the waters might get a little choppy with a few collisions, but we weren’t expecting a flawless experience anyway. Embrace the adventure, set sail and enjoy the pirate style that the game vividly brings to life.

Republic of Pirates Detailed Review