![]() You get a "3-D" first person perspective and the splashing of the waves and sea gull sounds are pretty cool. Traveling on the high seas in HST is cooler than in Pirates!, though. Well, there must be SOMETHING else to the game, you say? Yep, but not much. No sword fights, no fort storming and not much action in general. Remember in Pirates! where you could head into a protected fort, blast your way through, scale the walls, and dual the fort captain to the death for his treasure? You'll find none of this excitement in HST. Trading is your only real option at making money and this severely limits the depth of the game. Sounds good so far, hunh? Great, let's continue. The bank is where you can hole up your money, so that if you're unfortunate enough to be pummeled by a pirate, you have some cash to fall back on. Load up your cargo bay, determined by the size of your ship, with as much Fur products as you can hold and afford, then beat feet to Liverpool to make a killing. For example: in referring to your log, you see Fur prices in Liverpool are at an all time high, while the port you're currently in is practically giving it away. You can deal in weapons, tobacco, jewels, furs, and many more items. You can also refer to this log to get the latest estimations of how much profit you can expect to gain from selling it at a specific port. A log (basically, a big spreadsheet that's not too well disguised) is kept for you, keeping track of how much of a particular item you bought, how much you paid for it, and where you bought it from. The market/merchant area is, naturally, where you buy and sell your cargo. Pirates II anyone? You'll also need to head to the dock to buy food and water for the crew, and equipment for your ship, such as sailcloth, cannons and ammo. These milk-runs range from escorting passengers to a specific port or delivering a "special" cargo (read: illegal items) to another port. You can enter the tavern to hear the latest scuttlebutt amongst other sea-dogs like yourself, hire more crew or get a "milk-run" from prospective clients. This is where much, if not most, of the game takes place. On these backdrops for the ports are the bank, the merchant, the tavern, and the dock. These city backdrops are beautifully drawn and have a painted feel to them. Each port you enter is one of three or four "types" depending on whether it's a busy city port, a lavish port near the jungle or a port over in the "new world". The graphics and sound in HST are very good. ![]() HST is extremely similar to Pirates! in many ways, but unfortunately, it doesn't quite live up to it's predecessor's prowess. Hey, Pirates! players, does this sound familiar? It should. ![]() You repeat this process until you build up your Prestige, Daring and Wealth enough to retire to your magnificent Estate. You buy products in one port and sell them for a profit in the next port, to gain bigger ships and more crew, to haul more cargo, and make more money. In HST you take the role as captain of a ship, determined to make your fortune by trading on the high seas, as any of us did some years ago in the classic game, Pirates! by Microprose. ![]() High Seas Trader (HST) is an "old world" exploration and trading game by Impressions. Trading in High Seas Trader is based on a reasonable economic model, and the 3D perspective when sailing is enjoyable. A solid "high seas" strategy game that falls far short of Sid Meier's classic Pirates! in terms of overall content and scope, but is actually better if one considers it strictly as a trading game and not a sprawling, swashbuckling adventure that Pirates! is. ![]()
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