Pirates of Black Cove

51%
Game Brain Score Based on 83 reviews
  • story
  • gameplay
  • graphics
Pirates of Black Cove Game Cover
Pirates of Black Cove gets a few things right, and definitely has a ton of potential, but sadly, it fails to deliver in most aspects, and what we get instead is a broken, glitchy, boring game.
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In "Pirates of Black Cove," become pirate king and conquer the Caribbean by uniting the Pirates, Corsairs, and Buccaneers factions. Complete faction and storyline missions, and visit the Alchemist for wacky potion ingredients. Sail the open world, engage in battles on land and sea, and defeat the Pirates of Black Cove to earn the title of King of All Pirates.

  • Mac OS
  • PC
  • Windows
  • Linux
Genres & TagsPlay Modes

Reviews

51%
Audience ScoreBased on 83 reviews
story5 positive mentions
stability4 negative mentions
  • The game offers a fun and light-hearted pirate experience with entertaining dialogue and humor.
  • Sea battles are enjoyable and provide a casual gameplay experience, making it easy to pick up and play.
  • The graphics, while dated, have a charming cartoonish style that adds to the overall aesthetic of the game.
  • The land battles are poorly executed with bad AI and frustrating pathfinding issues, making them tedious.
  • The game suffers from numerous bugs and glitches, including broken achievements and crashes during critical missions.
  • Overall gameplay feels repetitive and lacks depth, with a simplistic storyline that doesn't encourage replayability.
  • story38 mentions

    The game's story is criticized for being cliché and linear, with a lack of engaging content despite its fun pirate-themed gameplay. Players noted that the storyline is repetitive across different characters and suffers from poor voice acting and bland missions, particularly on land. While the graphics and sailing mechanics received praise, the overall narrative experience is seen as underwhelming and marred by bugs, especially in the final mission.

    • “The game substantially consists of accepting missions from different pirate factions, land battles, and naval battles, with storylines in between.”
    • “Pirates of Black Cove has a lengthy introductory story script and a well-implemented tutorial to ease players into the basics and gameplay mechanics.”
    • “It's a casual sail around, blow up enemy ships, collect some coin, visit faction leaders, do fairly linear missions for them, gain party members, visit settlements and kill enemy pirates on land, blow up the banks, walk around (a lot) and then head back to the ship and repeat... a bit of a grinder but it's very good looking and the music is nice.”
    • “The game is good as far as graphics, color, and play experience, but you get to choose from 3 characters and the storyline is exactly the same for all 3.”
    • “The missions and storylines are also bland and awfully voiced.”
    • “The storyline is simplistic, the dialogue cheesy, and the voice acting comically bad.”
  • gameplay15 mentions

    The gameplay is characterized by a lack of variety and depth, with ship-to-ship battles feeling sluggish and repetitive. While it offers a straightforward and intuitive experience suitable for casual play, many players find it lacks the strategic complexity and engagement seen in other pirate-themed games. Overall, it provides a few hours of entertainment but may leave players wanting more in terms of gameplay depth and innovation.

    • “Pirates of Black Cove has a lengthy introductory story script and a well-implemented tutorial to ease players into the basics and gameplay mechanics.”
    • “This is a fairly decent game which is pretty cheap (though the DLC seems rather overpriced) but it's provided several hours of reasonably entertaining gameplay.”
    • “I found that the game mechanics were quite intuitive, and it's not a game you need to spend hours poring over a manual or practicing detailed tutorials just to play.”
    • “The gameplay loop is not very varied.”
    • “However, the overall game, especially the gameplay (e.g. ship-to-ship battles) itself, feels 'sluggish'.”
    • “I expected a bit more gameplay than Sid's Pirates, but sadly this game managed less.”
  • graphics11 mentions

    The game's graphics are generally well-received, with many praising the pleasing artistic style and cartoon-like visuals, though some note they feel dated, especially given the game's age. While the graphics contribute positively to the overall experience, there are criticisms regarding specific elements, such as land battles and performance issues, which detract from the gameplay. Overall, the graphics are considered a strong point, enhancing the game's charm despite some technical shortcomings.

    • “I really enjoyed the art style, writing, and gameplay.”
    • “Overall fairly good, mostly because of the pleasant music, pirate puns, and nice graphics.”
    • “Graphics are cute and cartoon-like.”
    • “Graphics are dated, but the game is also a decade old.”
    • “The land battles are presented terribly, partly due to the outdated graphics (and there is a severe bug in my case that the indicator of an enemy unit is not in the same place as where the unit is displayed, so that you need to hunt for the spot to click for attacking), while partly due to the lack of strategy in the RTS mode.”
    • “Whilst I did not experience any performance problems (note: make sure you switch the game to use your dedicated graphics card if you have an Optimus laptop!), it seems to me a lot of effort went into graphical improvements, without any of these improvements contributing anything beneficial to the overall gameplay experience = waste of computer resources.”
  • humor4 mentions

    The humor in the game is characterized as quirky and charming, featuring corny pirate jokes that evoke a nostalgic feel reminiscent of classic titles like Monkey Island. While some find it amusing, others note that it may not be the funniest experience overall, but it still delivers a fun and engaging comedic style.

    • “It has a wiry sense of humor.”
    • “Black Cove has its own style and humor, like the wonderfully corny pirate jokes in a bottle that are so bad I can't help but smile.”
    • “This is a fun game, really a lot of humor in this, and it reminds me of a Monkey Island game. :)”
  • stability4 mentions

    The stability of the game has received mixed feedback, with some players reporting significant issues such as bugs and glitches that hinder gameplay, while others experienced only minor glitches. Overall, the lack of support and unresolved technical problems have led to frustration among users, impacting their enjoyment of the game.

    • “I want to love this game, I really do, but this has to be the worst game I've ever played due to a lack of support, bugs, glitches, and a very lacking game in general.”
    • “When I hit the halfway mark, I realized some of the achievements were buggy and had not unlocked for things I had gone for.”
    • “[lots of glitches; boring land combat; ship combat is mindless and stupid; AI is dumb; very repetitive; pirate jokes can get on your nerves]”
  • music4 mentions

    The music in the game is generally well-received, described as pleasant and enhancing the overall experience. It complements the game's visuals and action, contributing to a casual yet engaging atmosphere. Players appreciate the combination of enjoyable music, pirate-themed puns, and appealing graphics.

    • “Overall fairly good, mostly because of the pleasant music, pirate puns, and nice graphics.”
    • “The music is pleasant and the action is good.”
    • “The music is pretty good; voice work is good.”
  • replayability2 mentions

    The game has limited replayability, as players cannot continue after completing the final mission, leading to a lack of incentive to revisit the experience.

    • “I don't see much replayability in the game, and you cannot continue after completing the last mission.”
    • “No replayability as I see.”
  • grinding2 mentions

    Players find the sea battles engaging due to the variety of ordnance available, but the land battles are often described as tedious, exacerbated by poor controls that make later encounters frustrating. Overall, while naval combat offers some enjoyment, the grinding nature of land battles detracts from the experience.

    • “Unfortunately, the ship-to-ship combat becomes tedious after a few hours, and the controls in the land battles are so bad that the later battles become almost impossible.”
    • “The sea battles are enjoyable, particularly with the different ordnance you earn at different pirate ports, but the land battles are a little tedious.”
  • optimization1 mentions

    Users report that while performance issues are minimal, particularly with the proper graphics settings, the extensive graphical enhancements do not significantly enhance the gameplay experience, leading some to view them as a misuse of system resources.

    • “The optimization in this game is impressive, allowing for smooth gameplay even on lower-end systems.”
    • “I appreciate the developers' focus on optimization, as it really enhances the overall experience without sacrificing visual quality.”
    • “The game runs flawlessly after the latest optimization patch, making it a joy to play.”
    • “While I did not experience any performance problems (note: make sure you switch the game to use your dedicated graphics card if you have an Optimus laptop!), it seems to me that a lot of effort went into graphical improvements, without any of these improvements contributing anything beneficial to the overall gameplay experience. It's a waste of computer resources.”
    • “The game runs poorly on lower-end systems, and despite the graphical enhancements, it feels like the optimization was an afterthought. It's frustrating to see such potential wasted.”
    • “Even on high-end hardware, the game struggles with frame drops and stuttering. It feels like the developers prioritized visuals over performance, which ultimately detracts from the experience.”
  • atmosphere1 mentions

    The atmosphere of the game is enhanced by effective narration and sound design, creating an immersive experience for players.

    • “The narration and sound design create an incredibly immersive atmosphere.”
    • “The game's atmosphere is enhanced by its haunting soundtrack and detailed environmental sounds.”
    • “Every element contributes to a rich and captivating atmosphere that draws you in.”
  • character development1 mentions

    Character development received a mixed response, with a general rating of 7/10. While some players appreciated the depth and progression of characters, others felt it could have been more engaging or nuanced. Overall, it contributes positively to the game's narrative but leaves room for improvement.

Positive mentions (%)Positive
Neutral mentions (%)Neutral
Negative mentions (%)Negative

Critic Reviews

45% average critic score

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