Patrician II

It's all about trading, but not in the Romford market sense...

German developer Ascaron’s latest, is apparently the sequel to a similar trade ‘em up style game, originally released on the long-dead Amiga many moons ago. Which probably explains why I don’t even know what the hell a ‘Patrician’ even is… ”person of noble birth; of nobility; aristocratic”. So there you go. But what’s this game about? Well, you’ve guessed it, your mission in this game is become the ‘Patrician’, the daddy, if you prefer. So, from east-end trader to merchant Presario, how are you going to do it? By trading, building, pirating, fighting, and generally putting yourself about a bit, that’s how.

So that’s what you do in Patrician II; the bulk of the gameplay surrounds the intricacies of trade micromanagement, but Ascalon being the perfectionists they are, have also included elements of town management and building, as well as naval combat – which reminds me a little of Sid Meier’s ‘Pirates!’. It’s certainly a very detailed, and intricate game, with no shortness of things to do, whether your improving your home town to boost the standard of living for it’s inhabitants, exploring the seas for the most profitable trade routes, funding Pirate’s for a share of their bootie, and generally competing with rival Patrician-wannabes, for overall dominance of the Hanseatic League, you’ll certainly be kept amused.

But is it any good? Well, fans of the genre – trade games, and other slow-paced intricacies of time-consumption will probably find Patrician II something of a joy – the game being full of the level upon level of detail, statistics and what-not, that would boggle even your average Accountant. It’s a set amid a rich and historically accurate world, too, which makes your exploration of trade routes, and bartering quite educational if nothing else. It’s just a shame the isometric visuals don’t capture the full potential that the 14th century European premise deserves. Not that it’s awful, by any stretch of the imagination.

So what are the plus points? Well, as I’ve said the trading management is very detailed, which will enthuse some though deter others, and the town management is okay, though a little uninspired given that this side of things has been done in games a million times before, and more entertainingly. Ascaron seemed scared to commit themselves fully, to the possibilities of this area of the game. The combat system for naval battles is also something of a half-effort, the interface sometimes being a little ‘clunky’ in the heat of violent exchanges, and generally speaking, once again, the full potential of this is not realised.

Now onto what is perhaps the game’s major detractor; the translation from German. It’s pretty dire at times, a somewhat inexcusable error – a little more care and double-checking definitely being required, especially given the importance of dialogue and text for the trading screens of the game. Which, by the way, are very well-designed, especially given the level of automation that is possible, and indeed essential, later in the game as your monopoly grows and you can’t concentrate as specifically on certain areas of the game (which you annoyingly can’t pause during trade-screen browsing).

All in all, though, despite a few niggling faults, a couple of missed opportunities, and some lacklustre presentation, Patrician II is a pretty good game; especially for those who relish the detail of the trading simulation. It is to these good-folk, with all their spare-time, that this game will appeal…

80%

By Luke Guttridge