Sea Dogs

Seadogs is one of my favorite games of all time. I feel like I owe it to the Developers to write my first review ever. Seadogs in a nutshell: You start out as a freelance ship captain and work your way up through careers with either the English, Spanish, Dutch (I think) or Pirates, following different story objectives on each path. In between you do various typical piraty things like trade cargo, hire crew, upgrade ships, fire upon and board enemy ships and generally run your typical enterprise in between that are simulated with varying degrees of complexity and realism as one would expect. The reason Seadogs became very special to me is that it, despite its non-AAA nature, creates an atmosphere in which it is very easy to develop your own personal stories within the game without half trying. Getting your first larger ship, finally being able to afford the only expert cannoneer in the whole archipelago, fighting your way out of impossible odds and finally taking over your first ship of the line from the enemy as the sun ist just setting, setting the half-destroyed sails to return to the harbor and fix her up. Together with its beautiful, mesmerizing neoclassical music (which if I remember correctly was recorded with a major orchestra and choir) you will find your character standing on deck or at the shore and just get lost in this little world that the developers created and supplementing it with your own imaginative ornaments of what is going on. If you are looking for fancy graphics, I cannot vouch for whether you think they aged well. But if you are the type who does not rush through character progressions but instead vividly remembers little anecdotes from having played games that were not part of some quest or achievement but only about what you considered rewarding at the moment you played it, then Seadogs will pick you right up like very few games do.

For everyone interested here is a list of games under this franchise: Sea Dogs (original russian title - Корсары (Corsairs) - 2000 Pirates of the Caribbean (Пираты Карибского моря) - as some noted, Sea Dogs 2 was bought by Disney just about release. - 2003 Note: Game was first released with open scripts. Naturally many mods was made. One mod in particular increased the game almost tenfold (new PCs, SPECIAL rpg system, generated quests, national quests, new ships, weapons, armor, companions and many other things). This mod was named "Возвращение морской легенды (ВМЛ)" - "Return of a Sea Legend" (literal translation), and, as far as i know, was not translated. Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales (Корсары 3 (Corsairs 3) - due to the high demand and popularity of aforementioned mod, Akella developed this piece of shit, virtually eliminating itself as a game developer. DO NOT PLAY THIS. - 2006 Корсары: Возвращение Легенды (Corsairs:Return of a Legend) - remember the mod, I mentioned earlier? Developers of that mod (Seaward.ru) offered Akella to adapt it to Corsairs 3. Akella aGREED, if they can cover expenses if game fail. One of the developers had to put in pledge his flat in Moscow to back up first copies. The game was a hit - beta-tested that one. New PIRATES rpg system (renamed SPECIAL), new, unique fencing system, open world, generated quests, you name it! As far as I know, wasn't translated. - 2007 Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships (Корсары: Город потерянных кораблей) - after previous game huge success, both Akella and Seaward wanted to continue. Akella wanted more money and Seaward wanted to expand the game, add features, make some money and get into professional game development. This game adds a LOT of content. Technically it is a standalone add-on to the previous game. Highly recommend this one. - 2007 Caribbean Legends (Корсары 4) - was in development by Seaward under Akella, but was shut down due to the crisis. - 2009 Pirates Odyssey: To Each His Own - 2012

I LOVED this game. It had great music and great graphics for the time. The ship combat was great and I loved building up my resources, getting a bigger ship and just sailing around. I wish there was more "life" on board you ship, but that was not a big deal. The hand to hand combat is a little clunky, but I liked it well enough. This was a GREAT pirate RPG. I would really like to see some new version of this that was like Black Flag but more RPG like Sea Dogs.

I've owned this game for years on disc and would easily buy again on GoG, its a pirate game that doesn't hold your hand and has a great atmosphere. Beginning without a nation and only a small crew of escaped prisoner on a small sloop you have to work your way up, you can become a humble merchant, selling from port to port to make your riches, or become a privateer in the navy of one of the 3 nations, English, French and Spanish. And if that doesn't appeal to you why not become one of those swashbuckling pirates you always hear about, plundering anyone who gives you so much as a funny look?