Sid Meier’s Pirates!

22. January 2022 /
  • Information
  • Gamerip

Year: 2004

Type: Original Soundtrack (OST) / Gamerip

Composer(s): Michael Curran; Mark Cromer

Number of tracks: 59 / 154

Rating

★★★★★

A Pirate’s Life for Me

Listen up buccaneers, because I'm recommending the best pirate game of all time: Sid’s Meiers Pirates! ! I'm not talking about the 1987 original by MicroProse for the C64, but the 2004 remake by Firaxis Games. "What, this old thing? It's got such a comic look and doesn't even have an age rating, what am I supposed to do with this children's game?" To this I would like to say: "Sea of Thieves also has a comic look, children's games are fun and now stop questioning my statements, otherwise you'll get a good keelhauling."

As I said, Pirates! has everything that makes a pirate's heart beat faster: Battles at sea and on land, swashbuckling and cutlass duels, a working trading system, four factions to work our way up in, treasure hunts, prison breaks, numerous upgrades and special crew members to collect, famous pirate captains to hunt down, different time periods to choose from and on top of that a revenge story in which we search for our lost family members. Pirates! is so jam-packed that any crier at the fish market would go hoarse listing the features and, despite the repetitive building block principle, it never gets boring.

It is virtually impossible to complete everything in one run, because not only are many events dependent on chance, but we also have to keep an eye on the morale of our crew on our adventures and share the loot we have collected after too long a privateer voyage so that we are not abandoned on a desert island. While all this is happening, the ravages of time are relentlessly gnawing away at our character, so that although we have achieved a lot after a long period of play, we can only enjoy the fruits of our labor as a frail old man. So the game is awesome, but what could make it even more awesome? 'An awesome soundtrack perhaps?' 'An awesome soundtrack perhaps, good job my lad! You just jumped off the hobgoblin's blade.

The soundtrack was created by composer Michael Curran and sound designer Mark Cromer and sends players and listeners alike into the ultimate pirate fantasy. As the game dates back to the pre-OST phase of the gaming industry, we are not dealing with an 'official' soundtrack here, but I would still dare to differentiate it from the additional gamerip, which with its almost 100 tracks really does cover everything that comes out of the speakers in Sid Meier’s Pirates!

The songs rely on a healthy mixture of seriousness and yo ho ho swaying atmosphere, as does the split between original compositions and adaptations. In total, the score consists of 59 tracks, which, if you take a closer look, can be boiled down to just under 40. This is because some of the tracks are variations of five pieces that we hear when we go ashore in the cities of the factions - British, Spanish, Dutch, French and pirates.

For example, the motif of the British originates from the 17th century marching song The British Grenadiers which was adapted accordingly for the buccaneer flair. In other words, we hear the classic melody as a mixture of European and typical Caribbean instruments such as guiros and maracas. In addition, there are also variations for the different locations in the city: the grenadiers sound aristocratic on the harpsichord at the governor's, are being played on the guitar at the merchant's and as a cheerful flute piece at the dock. With five locations, we get four additional tracks per faction, which adds up to 20 additional tracks - easy. The Gamerip adds even more variations, e.g. minor variants when the city is demolished. Add a few in-game sound effects and you have over 150 tracks.

However, despite its high number of tracks, the OST actually only lasts a good hour in total. This is because many of the tracks are very short, many even less than a minute long, and are designed to be played as a loop .This could explain why so many of them have burned themselves into my cerebellum and are still buzzing around in there today. The soundtrack is cheerful in keeping with the age rating of the game, the catchy melodies invite you to whistle along and convey a mood of both departure and adventure.

There is also an education in classical music in the dance songs, because as befits an aspiring young man in the Renaissance, you have to shake a leg at the ball and listen to the sounds of Bach, Händel and other baroque composers. So if you fancy some acoustic corsair fare, you should definitely give it a listen. For the full experience, however, I would recommend simply playing the game. It's available cheaply from GOG and is still fun today.

Nostalgia warning

The rating of the individual tracks is purely subjective and clearly colored by my own experience with the game. You can find out more in the article About Nostalgia.

  • Original Soundtrack
  • Gamerip

*Track contained in the Original Soundtrack

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