14 DAY TRIAL // Not since the launch of Sid Meier's Pirates! has the pirate impersonation genre hit success. Although the Pirates of the Caribbean movies created huge expectations for the games, they quickly turned out to be disappointments. So, it's about time for a new company to try and cash in on the whole pirate mania (and no, they're not better than ninjas).
Capcom has unveiled a game called Plunder, which sets you, the player, in the role of pirate captain. As such you'll be tasked with pretty much standard pirate stuff. You'll hire a crew, get a ship and set to the high seas looking for some juicy and unsuspecting prey. You can raid merchant ships, you need to escape the navy hunting you down and you can increase your booty by plundering coastal towns. All while upgrading your ship and your crew and gaining points towards being called the "Scourge of the Sea."
However, Capcom's initial announcement is shy on a couple of very interesting questions: will you be able to make your men walk the plank and get eaten by sharks, re-enacting a very worthwhile pirate tradition; and second question, will there be any daughters of governors to be kidnapped and forced into marriage? Capcom are billing their new game as an RTS, but features like those above really make a good pirate game better.
The developer for the title is Certain Affinity, a company best known for a map pack they did for Halo 2. Boss Max Hoberman says Plunder "goes beyond the next-generation, from 3D to 6D." We're not very clear on what that means, but he continued to say "cutting-edge hex-based environments make traditional games weak," while adding "If you only get to try one downloadable pirate action RTS this summer, check out Plunder."
A tentative release date for Plunder is somewhere this summer on the PC, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. No price tag has been attached to the game.