Port Royale 4

A good management game with superb visuals, offering enough freedom to let you build your own merchant empire in the Caribbean to your heart’s content.

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Port Royale 4 is a strategy game set in the 17th-century Caribbean. Players can choose to be a part of four colonial powers, engaging in trade, exploration, and naval warfare. The game features a realistic economic system, detailed city-building, and tactical combat in both single-player and multiplayer modes.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player Play through the game's story or campaign solo

Reviews

63%

Audience ScoreBased on 1,080 reviews

gameplay43 positive mentions

story13 negative mentions

The game features beautiful graphics and a well-designed map, enhancing the overall experience.
The trading and economic simulation is engaging, allowing players to set up complex trade routes and manage resources effectively.
The turn-based naval combat system adds a strategic element to battles, making them more tactical compared to previous real-time systems.

The game lacks depth in character customization and story elements, making it feel less immersive than previous titles.
Many players find the combat system to be simplistic and repetitive, detracting from the overall enjoyment of the game.
The fame system and trade route mechanics can be frustrating, with players reporting issues related to managing resources and maintaining profitability.

gameplay
195 mentions
22 % positive mentions
67 % neutral mentions
11 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Port Royale 4 has received mixed reviews, with many players praising its improved graphics and trading mechanics but criticizing the combat system as simplistic and uninspired. While some enjoy the automated trade routes and economic management aspects, others find the overall gameplay repetitive and lacking depth compared to previous titles in the series. The game introduces new mechanics, but many feel these do not significantly enhance the experience, leading to a perception of boredom and frustration with the game's structure and balance.
- “Overall, I'm having a blast playing this, and with the auto-management of buying and selling on my trade routes, I can focus on other parts of the gameplay.”
- “More gameplay options are new, such as the wind factor in sailing, sieging a town, turn-based ship combat, tavern dice game, sea loots, treasure maps, etc., which enhance the game experience.”
- “A truly worthy sequel to Port Royale games, everything is masterfully done from graphics, sounds, gameplay, simply one great experience.”
- “The gameplay itself is a flop and to those who never grew up with PR2, you should play that before saying this is a good game.”
- “Unfortunately, while the game is gorgeous, as many other reviews have stated, Port Royale 4 drastically dumbs down gameplay mechanics to the point of borderline boredom.”
- “The complex systems at Port Royale 4’s core never flourish under the weight of its uninspired moment-to-moment gameplay and lack of structural balance.”
graphics
191 mentions
48 % positive mentions
50 % neutral mentions
2 % negative mentions
The graphics in the game have received mixed reviews, with many praising the improved visuals and beautiful aesthetics compared to previous titles, while others criticize them for feeling outdated or simplistic. Some players appreciate the seamless transitions and detailed environments, but there are complaints about performance issues and a lack of depth in graphical options. Overall, while the graphics are often highlighted as a strong point, they are also seen as a double-edged sword, overshadowing other gameplay elements that some feel are lacking.
- “Amazing and improved graphics.”
- “Beautiful graphics!”
- “The graphics are great, the trading simulation engine seems pretty good, and it seems to have a lot of depth.”
- “Graphics are terrible.”
- “I know that not every game has such beautiful, almost lifelike images as medieval dynasty and kingdom come deliverance, but graphically this game doesn't even make it to the middle ages, at most the stone age.”
- “And normally graphics don't matter, but seriously, the graphics look like they came straight from the early 2000s, right down to the low-res prerendered intro cutscene, the pixelated portraits for characters, and the incomprehensible mess that is the town hexes, where you can't even tell what they are without selecting each one (not even a hover-over!).”
story
64 mentions
5 % positive mentions
75 % neutral mentions
20 % negative mentions
The story aspect of the game is criticized for its lack of depth and variety, with missions often reduced to repetitive fetch quests that lack engaging narratives. Players express disappointment in the simplistic and monotonous nature of tasks, which feel more like chores than meaningful adventures, and note that the absence of diverse mission types for different character classes contributes to a tedious gameplay experience. While some enjoy the town management and side quests, many feel that the overall mission structure is shallow and uninspired, leading to a lack of immersion in the game's world.
- “I am really enjoying this game; it reminds me of East India Company in a way, but adds town management and side quests that will pop up during your voyages.”
- “There are, admittedly imperfect, quests that can be done for either the viceroy of your nation or individual towns.”
- “Gotta finish that quest - though I'm afraid I won't be able to make it on time - gotta expand my home city and increase happiness, gotta gain more ground in the adjacent cities.”
- “The tasks are monotonous and lack any story or progression.”
- “There are missions and treasure maps, and again, they're shallow without much depth in either system.”
- “They don't have a game story writer - this feels like it was written by devs.”
music
32 mentions
56 % positive mentions
34 % neutral mentions
9 % negative mentions
The music in the game has received high praise for its quality and ability to enhance the gameplay experience, with many players noting its relaxing and immersive qualities. Reviewers particularly enjoyed the pirate-themed tracks, likening them to the iconic music from "Pirates of the Caribbean," and appreciated the overall ambiance created by the soundtrack. Some players expressed a desire for additional music options through modding, indicating a strong appreciation for the existing score.
- “The game has a very beautiful, artistic interface, as well as a relaxing soundtrack.”
- “Best pirate music since Pirates of the Caribbean.”
- “The ambiance of tropical birds, calming music, and the blue Caribbean sea is captivating.”
- “The music is okay, but it would be nice if we could have a Steam Workshop so players could add more pirate music to the game.”
- “The ambiance of tropical birds and calming music is captivating, but it feels repetitive after a while.”
- “While the starting music '15 Men on a Dead Man's Chest' is enjoyable, the overall soundtrack lacks variety.”
grinding
30 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
Players consistently find the grinding aspect of the game to be tedious and repetitive, particularly in relation to naval battles and resource management. Many reviews highlight the frustration of micromanagement and the slow progression required to train captains and build fleets, which detracts from the overall enjoyment. While some appreciate the rewarding elements of empire-building, the overwhelming grind often overshadows these positives, leading to a sense of monotony.
- “So you have to embark on this absolutely tedious exercise of trying to fight against a superior enemy, which takes you right out of the flow of the main game and into this boring and frustrating mini-game where you are outmanned and outgunned from the start.”
- “Even turning them to low, you'll be losing most of your inventory to 5+ pirates within an hour or two, and it takes at least 5 hours of running the game at max speed to train a strong enough captain to have any chance of winning the battles due to a completely arbitrary limit on the number of ships you can command based on a captain's level that's tedious and unbearably slow to train.”
- “It is a bit of fun; the wind map is great in trade routes, battles can be a bit of fun at the start in 1v1 battles, but quickly become the biggest blight on this game when trying to take a settlement, which can take up to 30 battles that require at least 3 fleets and a constant rotation of repairing then rushing back to fight again. Until you get to the battles, this game is fun for what it is, but once the battles start, it's a tedious, boring shell of what the previous games were.”
optimization
12 mentions
33 % positive mentions
42 % neutral mentions
25 % negative mentions
The optimization of the game has received mixed reviews, with some players experiencing severe performance issues on lower-end hardware, particularly with a GTX 970, while others report smooth gameplay without any significant problems. Many users feel that the minimum system requirements are misleading, suggesting that a GTX 1060 or better is necessary for reasonable performance. Overall, the game's optimization appears inconsistent, leading to frustration for some and satisfaction for others.
- “I have also had very few computer performance issues, which isn't always the case for new titles.”
- “For the time I have played, I never had any issues with this game; everything runs smoothly and looks great!”
- “The campaign was poorly made and poorly optimized; I regret buying this game.”
- “Unplayable performance on GTX 970 4GB.”
- “In other words, the store page massively understates minimum playable requirements; I can't imagine you will have reasonable performance short of at least a 1060, if not a 1070.”
humor
10 mentions
100 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is characterized by absurd situations, such as a comically inept adviser and a viceroy who criticizes players for not managing pirates while simultaneously restricting their resources. Players find the character selection amusing, as one character stands out with significant advantages, while others suffer from extreme drawbacks. Additionally, the unrealistic and humorous nature of ship battles adds to the overall comedic tone, despite some players finding it frustrating.
- “The humorous adviser will then tell you about this, and you have to manually solve the problem.”
- “The funny part is when the viceroy berates you for not dealing with the pirates while at the same time refusing to allow you 'licenses' for ship captains to help you do that, dude, wtf?”
- “Okay, maybe I can understand that; it's easier to command 4-5 ships and the battles in PR3 were a bit funny and unrealistic.”
replayability
6 mentions
33 % positive mentions
33 % neutral mentions
33 % negative mentions
The game offers a mixed experience in terms of replayability; while some players find it has "endless replayability," others feel it lacks value for multiple playthroughs. Suggestions for improvement include enhancing character options and streamlining gameplay mechanics to reduce tedious elements, particularly during naval battles.
- “+ endless replayability”
- “However, improvements can be made to increase the replay value of the game (character, etc) and to streamline further the long process of finishing a campaign or a free mode gameplay through providing more hot-keys and minimizing game reloading due to the game being not sensitive enough for clicks, especially during naval battles.”
- “Ok for a single playthrough, but doesn't really have any replay value.”
- “However, improvements can be made to increase the replay value of the game (character, etc) and to streamline further the long process of finishing a campaign or a free mode gameplay through providing more hotkeys and minimizing game reloading due to the game being not sensitive enough for clicks, especially during naval battles.”
stability
6 mentions
0 % positive mentions
0 % neutral mentions
100 % negative mentions
The stability of the game has been heavily criticized, with users reporting numerous bugs and untested DLCs that contribute to a frustrating experience. Many feel that the game is a downgrade from its predecessors, suffering from shallow gameplay and a lack of content, compounded by slow development progress from the developers. Overall, the game's stability is seen as a significant issue that detracts from its enjoyment.
- “To say it's buggy is a gross understatement.”
- “Port Royale 4 is just a total downgrade with their 'turn-based' trashy, buggy, super boring gameplay.”
- “Pretty shallow gameplay, fewer options and content than the predecessors, developers working really slow on everything, absolutely untested and buggy DLCs.”
atmosphere
4 mentions
75 % positive mentions
25 % neutral mentions
0 % negative mentions
The game's atmosphere is widely praised as its strongest quality, featuring impressive graphical presentation that enhances the overall experience. However, the shift to a round-based battle system may not appeal to all players.
- “The atmosphere is definitely the strongest quality of this game.”
- “Graphical presentation is nice and atmospheric.”
- “The atmosphere is definitely the strongest quality of this game.”