Customer Reviews
Cool concept, lousy execution 
2002-03-23
If fast action is your taste, look elsewhere. If historical gameplay is to your liking, this title works. However, the nut and bolts of the game are poorly implemented. The game plays like an early beta release, all of the patches help but it is still a buggy game, bottom line. Such a shame, as the graphic engine does an admirable job of rendering the ships and their surroundings. Hope the follow up game I've been reading about is tested and proven more thoroughly when it is released than this one was.
Not to be confused with the original 2002-03-10
This game (Privateers Bounty) should not be confused with the original Age of Sail or Age of Sail II. Talonsoft produced the originals which were widely lambasted by the gaming community, quite rightly so, as prone to crippling and damaging system crashes. Global Star has now taken over the game and have produced Privateers Bounty. Along the way they have made changes some good some bad. Crashes are no longer a problem (at least a serious one) and some new gaming elements have been introduced. The ability to use a scenario editor to create your own fun is a big bonus. The inclusion of primitive submarines is also interesting but the airships are a big bust. If you can hit anything from a balloon youve done extremely well. Unfortunately this game lacks the ablity to jury rig fallen mast so when your ship has been demasted its a sitting duck. Also when ships collide they no longer suffer hull damage. Depending upon your point of view this can be either good or bad. Likewise the ability to rotate and zoom the camera was as simple as using the mouse in the original but this version requires a series of key strokes. This is not a serious setback but isn't an improvement. All that was really needed to make this game work was to fix the crashes but Global Star has tampered. As it is now the game is at least playable and should entertain those who liked the original. However some of the lost original features may cause others to get a little sea sick.
Great graphics, OK AI, Decent Play, Atrocious documentation 2002-02-04
The game delivers good ambience - both graphics and sound are very pleasing, but this is basically a sailing game, and sailing vessels are SLOOWWW, so if you need constant adrenaline, 200
lasercannon shots a second action, this ain't your game. The historical information provides a great background to the game. Ambience Grade: A-
An interesting twist (bug?) to the AI is that at the same difficulty level, sometimes opponents simply hang around and wait to be blasted into oblivion (fun, but boring after a while) - other times, the enemy is as aggessive as a pit bull chasing a mailman with a t-bone steak. AI Grade: B-
The documentation stinks... I admit that I am among those who just install a game and start playing, and refer to the manual only on a "need to know" basis when I can't get the game to do what I want (it's a guy thing)... But when this manual is needed, it is sorely lacking. There is just barely enough information in the small, 32 page (including five pages of advertisements and credits) "manual" to explain the interface menus and do basic operations.
The manual lacks explanations for non-sailors (e.g.; "Anchor on Springs") and enough detail to tie related actions together (e.g.; grappling and boarding), and ignores how to recover from running aground (shame on me for running aground, but try to figure that out on your own as a 38 gun enemy ship is pounding your vessel to splinters). To address this shortcoming, an "official strategy guide" (e.g., a proper manual) is available for an additional $20. Maybe I'm being picky, but shouldn't a game manual completely explain at least all of the game's controls? Documentation Grade: D
I have commanded a group of vessels only a handful of times in the game, and it reminds me more of herding cats than combat on the high seas, but that perception may be change with more practice.
Sailing characteristics are belevable, and while it's clearly no Sid Meier brainchild, the interface is well designed and easy to use, and the game has a good balance of ease of play and complexity to keep interest up. A minor complaint is that at very high resolutions, the menu script becomes very difficult to read. Since the sailing combat genre has few games to choose from, AOS2 is better than nothing, but is not "3 AM addictive", where I start playing at 9PM and the next think I know it's 3AM... But it is an interesting game, and when closing for combat or sustaining damage, it does require very fast multi-tasked thinking, even though the ship is moving at only 6 knots.. Playability grade: B
Overall, AOS2 is an adequate game that's fun if you are interested in sailing or the history of 18th-19th century naval combat. Otherwise, I think the game will be disappointing.
Only for expert gamers 
2002-01-26
If U like to kill aliens everywhere and the sound of lasers... Don't buy it, go to Arcade games... But if you know the esence of the games and strategy... welcome to this one. The views, the sounds and even the taste of sea breeze, joined with the rush and the adrenaline of battles makes of this one a great game... Welcome aboard captain!....
As exciting as watching paint dry... 
2002-01-06
If you absolutely love naval warfare circa 1800, then this game should be tolerable. However, if you like a game with pacing, then skip this turkey by. Yes, it does have lovely graphics and the attention to detail is admirable. But it all boils down to maneuvering your ship(s), firing your cannons, then waaaaaaaiting for the reload so you can fire another volley. That's the whole game. One-on-one battles are decent to kill 15-25 minutes, but multi-ship battles are nearly impossible to manage.
Summary: buy this game if you LOVE naval warfare from 1775-1815, otherwise, skip this.
Great title with alot of Play 2007-02-18
Someone should run with this and make it a new version.. it needs a patch as it sometimes crashes... so save between missions..
The best!!!!!!!! 
2003-07-17
This is well worth the money. as a this is my first navel game. Thear are no bugs that I know of in this game and the makers did a wonderfull gob. as I have lots of land games,I thout I would give this a try and I was amzad of how real it looked. I would recmmond this game.
What AOS2 should have been 2002-11-09
The game looks great and it is fun to play. It is what Age of Sail 2 should have been. Most of the bugs seem to be worked out. It still has problems, but it is a lot of fun for anyone interested in the genre.
I like this game.... 2002-08-31
This is actuall a pretty decent game. It has bugs, but the idea and the execution are almost perefect for the type of warfare depicted.
Graphics a reasonable, the interface is a little hard to figure out at first. They definitly need a few more patches to be released quickly. I understand that it plays well as a multi player game, but have been unable to find locate anyone else that is playing. There are several groups on the web, but they have not been responding to my messages.
If you have not sailed before, this game may be a little difficult at first. I also read a lot of books on the subject so that I am familiar with most of the strategies that were actually used in this period.
The scenarios are long. Thank goodness there is a game speed adjustment. It looks like you can go all the way up to 16X speed. Naval warfare of this period was usually long and drawn out. A very long period in which someone is being chased, followed by a quick clash of arms, then another chase as the defeated ships flee the scen and the victorious ships captures the damaged enemy...
The AI is not too bright. But, if you give him the advantage in ships, wind and weather, you have a pretty decent player upon which to practice your ship handling skills as well as fleet meneuvers. By the way, different ships move at different speeds depending on size and weight. You have to constantly watch spacing between ships so that you don't ram while doing meneuvers.
If they ever get this game fixed (probably in AoS 4) it will be a great game. I wish that Microsoft would host it on the Zone. That would be a big push to get it played by more people.
Beta tested in Europe, but not available in Europe 2002-08-14
The AoS2 community is really waiting for this game. Quite a few of them were beta testers from Europe. What happens the game does not come to Europe! Very dissapointed.
The game seems to be better then AoS2, more realistic...
Arno
