Port Royale Demo

Back when the sea was the only sensible way to transport goods between continents, people paid a lot more on the actual shipment costs, given the fact that it took months for some of the ships to perform a single trip. Not only that, but while some commodities were plentiful in some parts of the world, they were scarce and valuable in other cities, which is why merchants got to be so rich.

Port Royale follows the same concept, only it allows you to be the one in charge and make the decisions. Hence, the main idea is to create a trading empire, by buying ships and carrying goods from one place to the other, in order to sell them at higher prices and turn a profit on the long run. Just like in real life, however, it might take a bit of time to get rich, so a lot of patience is needed as well.

The action takes place in the Caribbean during the late 1500s and early 1600s, which means that this specific area was beginning to be colonized by the great European empires. Hence, you also get to choose one of the four factions to play as, including the Spanish, the English, the French, and the Dutch. Not only that, but a few perks can be chosen in the beginning as well, which provide you with small bonuses from the get-go.

Because pirates were quite a frequent sight back in those days, they are a threat in Port Royale as well, which means that you must be careful while navigating the sea. Obviously, it is possible to equip your ships with a lot of firepower and resist almost any kind of attack, or even start attacking other convoys yourself. You also have to option to auto-resolve the combat, in case you do not want to sit through it yourself.

The graphics are pretty nice and very detailed, even if the engine is isometric and a lot of detail is lost once you zoom in. The same goes for the map itself, which is very detailed and you can even buy more of them from other traders, in order to find treasure and harder to spot cities. Hence, there’s plenty of content to keep you busy for a long time.

In the end, it’s the in-depth trading mechanics that make Port Royale an attractive prospect. The graphics are good and there is enough freedom to make each experience unique, as long as you do not mind the rather high difficulty level and the large number of things you have to keep an eye on.