On this review I am going to throw out the usual format and give you all the flat out skinny on this game before you read on, then I will go into all the gameplay details and what not. This way you don't have to skip to the end just to read my conclusion (yes, even I am guilty of skipping to the reviewer's conclusions), because either you are a fan of pirate sailing games or you are not, and this game is no exception.

Age of Sail II: Privateer's Bounty is quite the niche title. Either you are into slow paced ship battles (unless you crank up the speed of the gameplay to 32X) or you are borderline A.D.D and you can't stand slow battle games. If you actually played the first game and enjoyed it, then by all means jump in with two feet. But with the games that are currently on the gaming public’s plate, this cheaply made piece of software will and should pass under the radar of all gamers out there.

Rating: 60%

And now the gameplay:

First of all, it took me a good hour just to figure out what the hell was happening on my screen. The shoddy manual that came with the game didn't help much either. What did finally help was the help screen in the game. However, it didn't explain how to play the game at all. All it did was point out what the buttons and functions did on the interface (which is better than the manual’s explanation of operation, believe it or not), which lead me to believe that if the people who wrote the game’s manual can't tell you what the hell is going on, than you’re SOL.

I had it all under control now. The ships were moving where I wanted them to and all my enemies trembled with fear, mostly because there really isn't much strategy to this game and I could beat them blindfolded. Many of the missions the ships already have a predefined path and they are racing towards their enemy. Fine by me, since I never really liked the game anyway, it lets me sit back and have a sandwich. But from a critic standpoint, this is just retarded. Many have claimed that I am not the brightest crayon in the box but most of the missions I encountered were completed with ease and no thought whatsoever. The old blow-the-hell-out-of-everyone-and-screw-the-mission-objective worked great for me despite what I was instructed to do (since some of the missions told you to board and capture the ship, but blowing the ship to hell works too apparently).

Like I was complaining about earlier, the interface is pretty clunky in response and layout, although everything is at easy reach and not much digging is involved, it’s just that the execution wasn’t given any thought. The different firing functions are handy in certain situations (chain shot, double ball, etc.) but what I found to work great (since it was the default) is to just leave the weaponry on auto-fire. Now I can really be a lazy ass and do nothing. Just point the ships in a general direction while I shag the ship's go-around girl. Sounds like a plan to me. But again, from a critic standpoint, this is just not acceptable. I didn't come here to play a game that doesn't have any entertainment value. I came here to get some booty! No, really I did.

The graphics (not counting another smash-hit CG segment by Global Star; see my other review on Worlds of Billy 2) were cool at first. That was until I found that the water doesn't move and the ships have no animation or anything special whatsoever. Might as well break out the G.I. Joes on your blue basement floor and have a battle, it's the same thing.

The sound has a good mood to it. The swash-buckling classical music gives the game a little spice. And the voices weren't that bad either, albeit a little redundant. Too bad the game isn't very good.