EGM has an exclusive on a pirate-themed game from ex-Bungie guys.The game is a RTS/DL only title for XBLA/PSN. "I'm pretty sure the impetus behind doing [a game about] pirates and sailing ships came from thinking about Pimps at Sea'" says Max Hoberman, president of developer Certain Affinity and former multiplayer lead on the last two Halos. "But not a lot more than that."
Plunder takes it's influence from Settlers of Catan board game and plays out as an RTS where each player steers a ship and compete to capture the most land. Use a tile based interface where you move spot to spot by pushing around a big red "X," you conquer towns, kill enemy ships, earn upgrades, and figure out the best ways to repeat these actions most effectively. Goal=first team to capture a set # of towns wins, but with a lot of back-and-forth (Towns are easier to steal from other players than to conquer in first place) you quickly realize the importance of collecting resources to boost town and ship abilities. You occasionally come across curses that you can use to attack and set traps, but that's as complicated the interface gets.
Takes a few minutes to pick up and learn even if you've never played an RTS. Idea is to let players spend time on strategies rather than learning mechanics. So you'll have to decide if you want to block enemy path so a teammate can capture a town uncontested, or if you want to move in a group to overwhelm enemies. With up to eight players in a game, team coordination is key.
Tall stack of online options:
Four player split screen support to a Halo-esque matchmaking system that allows players to stick together in parties to a map editor that'll let you upload and share custom maps. "You don't see these in most full-blown games'" says Hoberman.
Certain Affinity also porting L4D to 360. Plunder is the company's first original game. EGM really liked it.
