Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants

Even with a few bugs and a rough multiplayer experience this is an entertaining remake of a true classic with pirate flair.

Quotation forthcoming.

With the goal of approaching the console market, Port Royale 3 has simplified too many of its mechanics, resulting in a step back in the strategy genre.

New installment of the popular series failed to bring anything new, compared to the older titles it became lot easier with some pretty annoying controls. [July 2012]

Port Royale 3 feels bound by the traditions of this time-proven series and gets all the basics right. However, it never really strays from the path you had imagined it would take, even before you ever played the game.

Port Royale 3 is not a bad game, not by any means, and I'd say on the whole it does a better job of things than Patrician IV did – it's still not fantastic though. Definitely one to pick up cheap if you can find it, but still worth picking up all the same.

Port Royale 3 has a major flaw to bring everything at once, leaving after 7-8 hours of gaming on a repetitive scale and marked with a pattern of gameplay that's no longer able to offer real surprises.

Well-thought-out, transparent gameplay rules make Port Royale 3 a title that can keep you entertained for hours. It's a shame that naval battles are so simplified and the story is presented so unattractively. [July 2012, p.76]

Port Royale 3: Pirates and Traders is a crucial game for those who remember the series with special affection, as it offers them the chance to relive that experience but modernized. It is also a nice choice for those who profess a true fanaticism for almost any business management game. Otherwise, the third installment of the saga begun by Ascaron Entertainment could defraud more than one. The recovery of Patrician IV resulted in a moderate success, but it seems that Port Royale targets to a different fate.

It's been a while since the first games of the series were released, but Port Royale 3 has not improved vastly or learned from previous mistakes. In fact, the game has some serious issues that prevent it from becoming a good episode. Behind its terrible UI and its lack of dynamism you still may find many possibilities.

There's plenty to do in Port Royale 3, but little of it is fun.

Unintuitive, uninvolving and overpriced. Not even its satisfying trading system can put the wind in Port Royale 3's sails. [Sept 2012, p.66]

A complex strategy game from the Wild West Indies that's looking absolutely stunning at first glance. However, the game fails completely in many regards. Its controls are overly complicated, the game's mechanics are rather dull and the battles are quite annoying. In the end you are supposed to stare at numbers and drink your real rum, which is a need.

The mechanics are competent but in no way fun. [July 2012, p.67]

The most recent installment in the Port Royale series has been flushed down the drain. A few cool ideas drowned in the Great Sea of Fail. The developers have managed to break almost everything there was to break. The magic of a sea merchant adventure is gone forever.