The skewed swashbuckling adventure Shipwreckers! is one of those pure computer games that makes no attempt to simulate reality or offer a virtual version of anything. In the tradition of desktop time-killers like Power Pete and the original Castle Wolfenstein, it simply inserts you in a series of wit-racking mazes filled with enemies, obstacles, and power-ups and asks you to find the exits.
The rules are old, but the props and scenery are new. As a rogue pirate challenging the salty Captain Blowfleet, you circumvent sea monsters and dodge the droppings of brightly colored parrots. Instead of saving the universe, you are encouraged to pillage mercilessly. The goal is to find map fragments contained in floating bottles.
The game's appeal is in its detailed cuteness. A low tech arsenal of cannonballs, roman candles, powder kegs, and roaring flame-throwers and lightning bolts - my favorites - wages mayhem in each of the five environments. Some worlds are cluttered with icebergs, others are plagued with tropical storms that cloud visibility.
If your ship is set on fire, tiny howling sailors in red and white striped shirts will hop overboard until the flames are extinguished. You can recoup some of these losses by scooping them up before they drown or become shark bait. Evidently, sailors aren't too picky about where they do their swearing - you can also gain health by torching Blowfleet's boats and scooping up its crews. It's all peg legs, planks, and parrots here, a seafaring escape from the usual videogame busywork of exterminating radioactive mutants, deadly viruses, and corporate conspiracies.
Shipwreckers! for PC or PlayStation: US$54.99. Psygnosis: +1 (650) 287 6500, on the Web at www.psygnosis.com/.
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Age of Interpretation Online Synergy
Software Pirates
