A new pirate game called Corsair Cove is coming to Steam, which is likely to appeal especially to fans of building games like Anno. MyMMO editor and leisure freebooter Benedict Grothaus has already invested considerable time in the new game before its release and sees no end in sight.
Now for the third time, I get to tell you how much I love Corsair Cove! The demo back then really got me hooked and made me realize that the German developer studio Limbic Entertainment from Langen is filling a gap I never knew existed.
I love pirate games. Along with Vikings, the freebooters are my favorite theme, the Golden Age of Piracy being one of my greatest passions. Their (somewhat twisted) idea of justice and equality, as well as their pursuit of freedom, just resonates with my soul.
Corsair Cove has managed to capture exactly that feeling, and it does so in a building game where you don’t actually have much else to do than manage production chains and build buildings. Things that you wouldn’t necessarily associate with pirates.
I was able to play it in advance and even in the first test, I was absolutely thrilled. Even after that, I couldn’t put Corsair Cove aside – not even in the current heat. During this record summer, all that’s missing are palm trees, and since they don’t grow in the garden, I’ve been eyeing those on Steam for many hours.
30 hours for the story and I’m not satisfied yet
Corsair Cove has two modes: the story mode and the free mode. I needed almost 30 hours just for the campaign. Everything starts with the attack of the Spanish crown and a subsequent long story about revenge, intrigue, and the ideals that make a true pirate.
I don’t want to exaggerate: You won’t get a huge story campaign like in Warcraft or anything. But there are story quests that require you to fulfill various requirements or engage in battles. The latter come with a very simple card system, not with real-time battles.
What makes the story special are the cutscenes that underscore many of the events and the complete voice acting – by the way, also in German. No elaborate cinematics here, but certainly more than I would expect from an indie studio somewhere in Germany. You can feel the love for the project and the details.
A lot of time simply goes into the development of the town. A new product that is needed requires new production chains, and building those takes time. After the story, I just wanted to take a quick look at the free mode for the test. Then I ended up putting in another 16 hours …
Each island tells its own story
While the story presents one island, Skull Rock, in free mode, there is also a ship graveyard and a little paradise island available. I actually thought these were just optical alternatives, but I couldn’t have been more wrong:
- The ship graveyard has no fertile land whatsoever. Many production chains are simply not possible natively – I must raid traders and ports to get things like wood or pigs.
- In the deceptive paradise, on the other hand, there are some secrets that make the stay considerably more difficult, but I won’t say more about that. Just that you should check it out if you’re interested in the story of piracy beyond the Caribbean.
Both islands require a different planning approach than Skull Rock and, ideally, a bit of understanding of the game. This makes it easier to mentally walk through where which buildings would make sense later and which ships can be locally supplied.
Unlike in the story, there are also events here, such as diseases or even mystical curses, which are usually woven into the “mini-story” of the respective island. There are no “full-fledged stories” here, but definitely more story (also voiced!) than I would have expected.
By the way, I’m not the only one who is enthusiastic; my colleague Fabiano Uslenghi from GameStar gave Corsair Cove an impressive 87 and colleague Maurice Weber refers to it as one of the best building games of the year.
I can only truly be satisfied when my crew is singing songs
Overall, Corsair Cove really appeals to me. I like to see how cities flourish under my administration, usually with a medieval or fantasy flair. “More modern” settings like Anno 1800 with the beginning of industry are just too gray for me.
Corsair Cove manages to give me exactly what I want to see – and hear. Because what would a pirate crew be without shanties? Right, sober.
Both are completely unthinkable, and it makes me happy every time I can zoom in and not only see the bustle of my crew but also hear them singing songs in taverns or on ships. Even just hanging out in the main menu gives me goosebumps thanks to the ballad in the background. By now, I’ve even developed some very welcome earworms from it.
Corsair Cove is released today, July 31st, for PC on Steam. I can see myself sinking a few dozen more hours into this than just the 46 I’ve accumulated so far. I’m not even halfway through the two islands in free mode.
What do you prefer to serve in the tavern, straight rum or cold beer? Which setting would you like to see more often in games? Leave a comment!
In Corsair Cove, I manage a whole pirate town, but I’m still not much more than a kind of mayor. I have more power in games like Black & White … or the spiritual successor Fata Deum: A new building game on Steam makes me a god and gives me what no game has managed to do in the last 20 years
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