Pirates of Black Cove

 PC
User Score
5.8

Mixed or average reviews- based on 33 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 33
  3. Negative: 9 out of 33

Review this game

  1. Your Score
    0 out of 10
    Rate this:
    • 10
    • 9
    • 8
    • 7
    • 6
    • 5
    • 4
    • 3
    • 2
    • 1
    • 0
    • 0
  1. Submit
  2. Check Spelling
view
per page
  1. cheapsheep
    Aug 4, 2011
    2
    SLOW!>>> It takes far too long to do a whole lot of nothing. I was hoping for a sid meier's pirates meets magicka. There is very little RPG elements involved and the combat is boring.
  2. LaKriz
    Aug 31, 2011
    3
    Everything in this game seems like a very poor attempt to copy Sid Meyer's Pirates, but it fails in every respect. Ship Battles are dull, due to the fact that the game ignores all the physics (like wind and tides) which would make them interesting. Land missions are stupidly easy and boring. Not worth the money. You should play the demo before you shell out your money on this title.
  3. CaptainSpanky
    Aug 7, 2011
    2
    The quick review would be to say that it is boring and buggy, poorly though out and executed. I am glad that I only paid £7.50 for it, but even that was a waste of cash. Ship combat is dull and laggy, land combat is so poorly executed it is laughable - there are games from the 1990's with better top down combat and AI than this thing.. The game is also very poorly balanced, and has aThe quick review would be to say that it is boring and buggy, poorly though out and executed. I am glad that I only paid £7.50 for it, but even that was a waste of cash. Ship combat is dull and laggy, land combat is so poorly executed it is laughable - there are games from the 1990's with better top down combat and AI than this thing.. The game is also very poorly balanced, and has a poor soundtrack.

    To give more detail, the game is very basic and very dull.. Alot of people were, like me, expecting a cross between Sid Miers Pirates! and a strategy RPG with more character dev and ship customisation, what we got was something that failed to do either concept at all.

    You have none of the ship/crew management that is found in Sid Miers Pirates, the game play itself is basically boring mission after boring mission, most of which are land based "A to B" missions that involve walking a linear path with incredibly poor combat, and absolutely shocking path finding for the land units, which often get stuck behind obstacles.

    All your units lump together into an almost indistinguishable mass on land, and there is no attack move button for your units, so they will basically run along getting hit. if you don't click on each enemy individually. If they are standing still they will attack a unit right next to them, but that is about the extent of it, no room for any tactics or strategy. As said above there are games from the early 1990's that have a more sophisticated setup than this piece of junk. On top of this you are always forced to run all the way back to the beach at the end of every mission, which is basically a waste of your life.. it can take several minutes on some of the larger islands and is utterly pointless.

    The Naval combat is very very dull, repetitive close range canon spam abut sums it up. Unlike almost any other "Age of Sail" or Pirate based game, you do not have options for canon shot type, so no grape shot to whittle down the crew or chain shot to smash the masts and sails, just repetitive spamming of the fire button. The games poor balance is most visible when it comes to the ships, your starting ship is a floating tube, as to be expected, but it is easily possible to gain very early access to the larger ships, which basically own every thing.. combined with the ability to repair your ships even during combat, you would have to be an idiot to lose you ship, making the combat both boring and too easy.

    Long and short of it is, do not buy this game. If you want a pirate game then go for Sid Miers Pirates if you have not played it, or Akella's Age of Pirates titles are pretty good if you install the mod's.    … Expand
  4. artem_r
    Aug 20, 2023
    4
    Bad game and time waster.
    Combat is boring (sea and land battles), too many time you need to wait until your character do something on the map.

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
56

Mixed or average reviews - based on 21 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 21
  2. Mixed: 13 out of 21
  3. Negative: 5 out of 21
  1. Pelit (Finland)
    Oct 10, 2011
    57
    Thumbs up for Pirates of Black Cove being a pirate themed strategy game, thumbs down for oversimplified gameplay, boring missions and way too slow tempo. [Oct 2011]
  2. PC Gamer UK
    Oct 8, 2011
    65
    It's certainly never short of ideas, but inept execution sends Pirates of Black Cove toppling off the gangplank. [Nov 2011, p.134]
  3. Game Over Online
    Oct 3, 2011
    62
    Overall, Pirates of Black Cove is a difficult game to recommend. It looks nice enough, and the voice acting is better -- and more prevalent -- than you might expect from a budget title, but everything else is second rate.
    Read full review
See all critic reviews »