Pirateville

The Good
The game was reviewed a long time ago but being taken into the infernal spiral of Facebook Games Addiction, I've never published it here. But contrary to some people, I've won my battle against that drug and I'm finally coming back. I'm writing again, I'm contributing again but it wasn't MobyGames that saw me returning to my usual stuff though. Not that I didn't love you but because it's easier for me to contribute on another website and the ideal field for a come-back and for finding my marks. But today, I gathered my courage and finally decided to publish a review about a game I've added in the database in the sole purpose of publishing this text... back then in April 2009. So, I have probably promised it and with five months of retard, it's coming. So remember, I discovered the casual games by contributing profiles, whether it's here or elsewhere and thanks to iWin and its free games (with ads), I've played several hidden objects games, including Pirateville, the focus of my review.

I'm not really caring about who did what in the casual game world. But here, in the first minutes of playing Pirateville, I remembered suddenly another game, Christmasville, just because of the main look of it. After checking the reason of why so much similarites (even if I was suspecting the why of it), it appears that Christmasville and Pirateville were developed by the same team, with a timeline difference: Pirateville was older than Christmasville.

So, despite knowing this fact, I couldn't help myself to find that game boring. We'll look into it.

Jack the Sharpshooter is a pirate living quietly when his mentor, Flash Henry, contacts him in secret for giving him a mysterious box. But after trying learning why the old man is asking for keeping it by visiting Melinda the Fortuneteller, the pirate is finding himself haunted by a spirit, talking to others and soon to be jailed, according to Melinda. All because of that box. What will be Jack's Fate? Will he find a way to get rid of the spirit? Or will he be haunted for the rest of his life?

Anyone loving pirates stories (whether it's from Monkey Island or not) will probably be interested by this fantastic story. Indeed, the game became interesting when Jack began to see the haunting ghost and to be contacted by spirits. But unfortunately, a couple of minutes later, the story doesn't hold his promise. I'll explain it later.

At least, the gameplay is classic, so, if you're used to it, you'll not get lost. Each minigame is in reality related to the story, like in Christmasville. But here, it's mainly for repairing/talking to spirit.

The hidden object genre is the main one in this game, whether it's finding an object by being given its name or its silhouette. The gameplay is the same: in a certain amount of time, you have to find items whose names or silhouettes are given in a list. When it's done, you have to click on them in order to making progress. If you're stuck, you can ask for an hint/tip. That system for helping you is available for all minigames. So, as you can see, the gameplay is the usual one when it comes to hidden objects.

When I'm playing hidden object games, I'm always excepting a level of difficulty. I mean, I'm always expecting that some items are hidden so well that I can't make a difference between them and the background. Pirateville is well-balanced in that field: some items are really well hidden but some are so small that you're missing them. Sometimes, you're clicking on them but nothing happens. Because you've clicked just next to them. But try to click on a really small object... What I didn't like was the silhouette part.

What is great is that the background is evolving through your progress: for example, once you've gathered a list of items, they'll be shown together somewhere. If you move something, you'll see it, meaning that you're not sure if that object will be at the same place when you'll be asked to find it. A lot of hidden object games aren't using the "change things place" for their levels. Just mesmerize the scene and when you're coming back later, you can easily find what you're searching. In Pirateville, it's not so sure. Yeah, some are still in the same place but others are placed elsewhere, renewing the challenge in finding them. I don't mind that way of messing around with the player's memory. It has the advantage to make the game less boring... even if it's not sufficient for saving Pirateville.

Next the main genre, you can find the minigames, well, the usual stuff you can have in that kind of game. Take the "spot the differences" for example. It's a similar gameplay as the hidden object one. You're given two pictures and you have to find the differences. You still click on them when spotting one, which is a logic move.

I've also told you that you can find other minigames. Apart from the usual "find all objects of the same type" (for example, find all bottles), you have some interesting ideas like deciphering the messages given by a magic scroll by switching letters, make a picture with different pieces, in a fashion way similar to a puzzle, etc.. You find also the cards game that Death was making you play in Christmasville, but contrary to it, it's not three in a same level and it has a meaning as it's Melinda the Fortuneteller who is asking you to deck the cards. It's still a difficult minigame, you'll have to give several tries for finally beating it.

And how can I not mention the "find the pair" game? It's not difficult when the objects aren't small, which is not what Pirateville is following. Generally, you have small objects to find as a pair. So good luck if you don't have a good sighting.

Pirateville isn't innovating but at least, it has an efficient gameplay, which is somewhere disturbed by small objects.

If Christmasville was cartoonish, Pirateville is semi-realistic. The characters seemed to be pictures of real actors but the background is showing that it's not a realistic background, I mean, it's really showing that we're in a game. You know, some casual games are based on real pictures, well, Pirateville isn't.

What is saving Pirateville of a negative note is the soundtrack. It's really fitting to the game. The tunes are adventurous one and when you're trying to get to the spirits, you hear them in the background. In other words, you're really playing a pirate supernatural game. Only for that marvelous soundtrack, I'm not deleting the game and only for hearing it, I'm willing to play again the game.

Pirateville took me between 4 and 6 hours for finishing it, meaning that it's correct for a casual game. It's not short or not too long. Despite that, I still found the game boring with the storyline.

The Bad
Remember that I was complaining about the storyline. So why that? In the end, you're just visiting a couple of friends and true to the hidden object philosophy of finding... hidden objects, you're a professional cleaner. Everyone is asking you to clean his or her shop. It's not like you had to wait and to clean the background for advancing, no, the characters are just taking you as granted for putting things in order. The end could have interesting but you get straight to the point, as if it was rushed. I would have like a little more action... So, it's a pirate story, with some pirate elements and with pirates BUT you don't get pirate actions. And the fact that I'm repeating pirates is deliberate.

If the repetitive gameplay is normal and not really a negative point, the fact that you have a lot of small objects can kill your joy to play. It was already the case for "find the pairs" but it's worse with the "find objects matching the shape" (or silhouette if you prefer). You can't rely on what the game is giving as list. Indeed, small objects can have a big silhouette for example. And you're trying to find something big instead of trying to find any object with the shape. It's sometimes frustrating. Sometimes, the object is placed differently than the silhouette: it can be lying when its silhouette is standing up.

There is a small fact that made me cringed in the graphics field. If I appreciate the backgrounds, the characters were somewhere seeming out of place. I mean, it wasn't fitting to the game. If you prefer, they seemed like puppets. I didn't like this aspect of the game. Only Melinda was really fitting in this game.

If the lifetime is correct, the replay value... is nonexistant. Once you've played the game, you're not getting back to it unless you really enjoyed it or unless you're me, only keeping it for the soundtrack.

The Bottom Line
I was disappointed by Pirateville, with that feeling of deja vu but again, I played Christmasville before Pirateville when the second was released before the first. That doesn't mean that Pirateville isn't interesting: the choice of minigames are great but the pace of the story is just so boring that you're not really satisfied. The characters seemed out of place because of their design, some cutscenes would have been welcomed and some objects are so small that it's just frustrating to find them.

Luckily, the evolving background and the marvelous soundtrack is saving Pirateville from a fall into the depths of mediocrity. I'm not recommending Pirateville for the story or for the gameplay (which is efficient), but only for the soundtrack. In other words, if you want to try it, go ahead but if you're having a bad feeling about it, don't.