Another best-selling book by James Clavell makes its debut on the home computer. this time it is Tai Pan and Ocean that are tempting you with an oriental adventure. The team behind the conversion has taken a very different approach from the one used by Virgin about a year ago, when the book and TV series Shogun was turned into a flip-screen arcade adventure.
Traveling back to the mid-19th century, you become Dirk Struan, a pirate and smuggler whose patch is the stormy seas of China. Let him be a penniless pirate and smuggler.
The ultimate goal of the game is to become Tai Pan, the supreme leader and Merchant Prince. Canton Town is the starting point, and the first objective is to find a kind soul who will lend you a few thousand. Once a loan has been obtained, the prospectus allows a ship to be purchased, along with a crew, weapons, and cargo that can be shipped to another city and sold, in the hope of making a profit.
A hundred years ago there were no friendly government agencies to help the unemployed in China: the initial loan comes with strings attached. If you fail to earn enough money to pay your benefactor within the allotted time, it will be game over and you will lose your mind! A successful first trip should put you on the path to untold riches. Providing thieves, pirates and a hostile climate can be overcome.
LUCRATIVE
The rising mobile hero wannabe can take several approaches. One ploy is to abide by the law at all times and let the press gang up and hack into the hands of the scum. But then the occasional foray into the naughty side of life, with a quick smuggle here and there, pays off. Clearly boarding and looting passing ships or blowing them out of the water, recruiting men against their will, and trading contraband are the most attractive (and accurate) ways to rise to the top in the 19th century China Sea.
No matter what your moral stance is on piracy, the day-to-day problems of running a successful trading business still need to be addressed. Decisions abound: which ships to buy, how to man them, what cargo to carry, where to sell it, and how best to get there are all questions that need to be answered.
INDOORS
While Dirk is on dry land, the screen shows the streets and buildings that can be entered and once inside the loadout, passers by other merchants and the law can be bought and sold. The strange useful item can be found lying around inside.
At sea, in general voyage mode, a bird’s-eye view of the ship and the surrounding area is presented on the screen. The point of view changes when the battle begins, representing the enemy from a point of view located behind your cannon. When aiming the weapon, careful consideration must be given to where to place the shots if the loot contained in their target’s hold is to be retrieved. Successfully disabling another ship allows its crew to board it and intimidate the other sailors. If you spare their worthless hides, they tend to join you in handing over their current and future earnings to your tender care.
Activities, including buying and selling in the port or reading the map and direction at sea, are controlled through a panel of icons located at the bottom of the screen.
Tai Pan is a decent game for the commodore 64 and has plenty of gameplay to keep players active for hours. My rating for this game is 3.8 of 5. See more of my reviews.