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Tortuga: Two Treasures
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A classic pirate adventure complete with idyllic Caribbean locales, filthy pirates, golden treasure and more clichés than you can shake a peg leg at!

Tortuga: Two treasures is a classic tale of action and adventure from seasoned developers Ascaron Entertainment. Set in the pirate-infested waters of the Caribbean during the 18^th Century, players take the mantle of Thomas “Hawk” Blythe, captain of the “Hawkwind” (who bears a striking resemblance to Jack Sparrow, even down to the bandanna). He and his girlfriend Sangua (a voodoo priestess no less) sail under the command of none other than Blackbeard himself! As the game starts each of the aforementioned characters are looking for the legendary treasure of Henry Morgan, but when are things ever that simple when pirates are involved?

"No really, wish you were here!"

Blackbeard betrays Hawk to seek the treasure for himself, Sangua goes missing and Hawk is left to rot in a jail sell, or so it seems. Hawk eventually escapes and seeks out a ship and crew to help him find his beloved Sangua as well as beat Blackbeard to the treasure. As the plot starts to get going we are treated to the introduction of a cursed ghost ship, the daughter of an English governor, a fair amount of rum and a mysterious talisman. After which you could be forgiven for thinking you’ve walked into the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie. Indeed, Ascaron have no qualms with ripping off every last cliché in the book, the dialogue and voice acting (which are both pretty decent) also help to reinforce this. And so, the (hugely unoriginal) scene is set leaving the game itself, which unfortunately is when the things starts to tumble downhill, rather rapidly.

A tavern made out of an old ship, classic!

But before we dig into the game’s flaws it is worth noting that Two Treasures looks fantastic (for the most part). The ocean looks great with some excellent reflection effects that really help emphasize the beauty of the Caribbean. The contrast between deep blue water, golden sandy beaches and bright yellow rays of sun are a perfect setting for the finely detailed pirate ships. Each of which has smoothly animated sails and if you zoom in with the camera you can even see lots of little crew members running around loading and firing cannons, etc. The system requirements aren’t ridiculous by any means and even our modest rig managed to play the game on max-settings without any hints of slow-down, even during the more hectic battles. Regrettably looks can be deceiving and once you burrow beneath the surface, Tortuga starts to show its true colours.

Gameplay takes place both at sea and on land in Two Treasures, with ship-to-ship naval combat and hand-to-hand sword fighting. At first both are pretty entertaining, particularly the naval combat which consists of circling enemy vessels so that they come within range of your cannons at which point you launch volleys of cannon balls at them. Alas, after a few missions things start to get rather repetitive and you’ll find yourself holding down the ‘speed up time’ button to dispatch enemies as quickly as possible rather than trying to improve your combat skills. The situation isn’t helped by the lackluster AI of your foes who more often than not can be lured into shallow water so that they essentially destroy themselves on the rocks, completely removing any need for skill or indeed participation of any kind.