The game sports colorful graphics and lively animations, along with plenty of upgrades to keep pace with the increasing dangers your pirate captain faces. Gameplay offers a nice difficulty level to keep the game from growing stale and overall, Pirate Defense is a fun time waster of a game for Windows 10 Mobile.
Pirate Defense's primary menu sports options to jump into gameplay, access the game's settings, view the intro video, rate the game in the Windows Store and a link to the game's Facebook page.
Gameplay centers around a pirate map that highlight the various gaming levels. Across the top of this map display your lives and gold counts are displayed and in the bottom right corner rests the access point for the game's store, where you can spend your gold. The store holds upgrade options for your weapons, tools of mass destruction, support soldiers, boat strength and in-app purchases for gold and hero styles. Weapons can be unlocked automatically as you advance through the game or quicker by spending gold. Options range from the trusty musket to a Gatling gun, each eligible for an upgrade to increase its destructive capabilities.
When Pirate Defense first launches, a brief tutorial plays out that highlights the basics of gameplay. Your health is displayed across the top of the screen, along with the strength of the pirate army you face. Just below your health meter is a gold meter showing the gold you have collected and your weapon's ammo count.
Along the bottom of the screen are any bonus weapons available such as tools of mass destruction, soldiers or weapon choices. The plundering pirate army attacks your ship in waves and includes a variety of characters. You have the typical peg-leg pirates to bomb carrying pirates. You even face flying creatures, giant pirates and pirate-filled rolling towers.
To dispatch the enemy, simply tap on your target to shoot. Some targets can be taken out with one shot, while others require multiple shots. If they reach your pirate captain, the enemy pirates slowly eat away at his health. Should your captain lose all his health, the game is over.
A swashbuckling adventure
Pirate Defense passes the eye appeal test with colorful, cartoony graphics and catchy animations. Gameplay starts off a tad on the slow side but quickly increases in difficulty around the sixth level. You need to manage your shots carefully because it takes the captain a little bit of time to reload. Time that allows your enemy to advance across the gang plank.
If the horde of pirates becomes too intense, remember to use your tools of mass destruction to keep them at bay while you reload. Also, loot crates surface in the background that can be collected to bolster your gold count or increase your bonus weapons.
The only hiccup I experienced in playing Pirate Defense is that occasionally a tap would not register. It's nothing to run screaming to the hills about but can get slightly annoying. Just don't count a pirate as dead until he gets blown off the plank.
All in all, Pirate Defense is a fun Windows 10 Mobile game to spend a little down time with. The slight addictive pull the game has helps make time go by a little faster too.
