REVIEW: Tradewinds 2
Life is a game. One of my fondest moments with computer games is playing addictive trading games like Dope Wars (pun intended). ThIs type of games improve your business and logic skills. Not so long ago, Astraware introduced a similar game with a twist called Tradewinds.
Tradewinds is based on the popular PC game by Sandlot Games. It has been developed and optimized for Palm OS® and Windows Mobile® touchscreen PDAs and Smartphones by Astraware under license from Sandlot. In Tradewinds, you are tasked to do trading, battle your foes and emerge victorious as you build your way to power.
Tradewinds 2 is the sequel to Tradewinds - a best-selling game of swashbuckling adventure and trading in the Far East. This time its an entirely new adventure featuring 5 new characters, and 20 all new ports. As with Tradewinds, players can battle pirates and trade in goods, but Tradewinds 2 has all new booty to trade in and in Story Mode there are over 100 different tasks to be completed.
In Story Mode start by selecting one of the 4 unlocked characters and you'll begin the story in your home port. The game will offer you an onscreen introduction. Complete the game as one of these characters to enable LaRoche to play with and the character generator.
When you see the map screen you'll have a handful of ports available to you. As you play more additional ports can be revealed - for instance you might be rewarded with a map. You'll also unlock new goods to trade in and new Governors who'll give you tasks.
Explore all the buildings in each port. Talk to the characters you find there and they'll offer you useful information to aid you in your quest.
In Free Trade Mode you can buy and sell goods to build your fortune as well as battle pirates.
Make sure to visit the shipyards to repair your ship after battle or to upgrade your ship and weapons. Tradewinds 2 differs from Tradewinds as you only have 1 ship which is upgradeable, rather than a fleet of smaller ships. Start with a simple Sloop and work your way towards a Man-O-War!
The game can be controlled with the stylus or with 5-way controls. If you're using the 5-way access the buildings using the menu button onscreen. Set Sail using the main game menu.
Overall, the game has evolved from a simple trading-battle turn based game into a great game with epic proportion. It feels like playing on your PC for hours and days. I dare say the gameplay evolved by folds (that you need more than just dead hours at the airport to finish this game). The entertainment factor of mobile gaming have never been this fun!
Trial limitation: 36 weeks of sailing across both game modes (1 trip from port to port equals 1 week).
Price: Tradewinds 2 is priced at $19.95. Trial copy of the game can be downloaded here.
26.8.07 05:44
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