Tortuga: Two treasures is definitely a playable little game, presenting the opportunity to take on ruthless enemies on land and at sea. The game pits you as Thomas "Hawk" Blythe, mercenary, captain and womaniser, on his adventures across the dangerous Caribbean seas. There is only one game mode, a single player adventure (albeit with 5 levels of difficulty), which sees the action switch from ship-to-ship battles on the high seas to land-based cutlass-swinging in ports and islands. Definitely "Arrrrrr-Rated" for moderate pirate violence.

The game’s storyline unfolds through a series of cut-scenes between missions, and relevant objectives are available in the course of each mission by hitting the tab key. The game has no tutorial mode to speak of, instead the early missions are reasonably basic and provide the player with a simple objective, for example intercept a ship, fire broadside cannons at them, then board them. This induction is handled fairly well, though little explanation is given as to how to interpret the status of the ship (shown as a little icon in the bottom right of the screen), nor how to repair the ship having collected the little floating treasure chests that act as power-ups. A first taste of the third-person mode close combat is glimpsed in a boarding action where you and your crew take on the beleaguered enemy on their vessel, culminating in a duel against their Captain. Once all foes have been put down, the ship is yours.

The naval fighting is where the game shines, a tactical sea-dog-fight where you twist and turn through the chopping seas to pull alongside the enemy and rake him with broadside fire. A red targeting circle appears under the opposing vessel once you are in range, you are then free to blast them with liberal mouse-clicking. By skilfully circling around a stricken opponent you can ensure that they stay within your arc of fire, making combat short and deadly. The damage system is interactive, so for example damage taken to the sails will slow a vessel, damage taken to the hull will threaten its integrity and so on. Several collectible and purchasable special attacks are available, such as dumping exploding barrels in your wake, a devastating cannon barrage, and even summoning a mighty Kraken to ravage an opponent’s ship. Once your mission is completed you are required to sail to a way point, shown as a floating arrow head somewhere on the level, where the mission will be closed and a summary of your performance given.

The land based missions are set in relatively small levels, with a simple object to reach a certain destination. Whether you wish to move straight to that location or wander the area searching for enemies and hidden treasure in the form of potions, pistol shot and other upgrades is at the players discretion, and again the mission summary will provide you with a record of your performance against criteria such as enemies killed and treasure collected. However, it is in the land-based mode in which the game suffers slightly. The camera (controlled by mouse movement) is overly sensitive, even on the least sensitive setting, which makes movement a little awkward in places. The biggest drawback is with the combat, the simple button clicking offering a limited combination of hack and slash moves which are supplemented throughout the games as new moves are learned. Against only a single opponent this works relatively well, the simple moves can be used to bring the opponent down quite easily, and there is a guard position mapped by default to the right mouse button which allows you to adopt a defensive stance blocking an attack. It is unfortunately very easy to get bogged down in combat against multiple foes, and it becomes very difficult to fend them off. A single guard can summon many unseen allies to their aid, so even when you think you are picking off a lone straggler you may find hordes of enemies rushing towards you. This problem can be made even worse if one of the officer enemies is made aware of your location, their ranged pistol attack can add extra punishment if you are already beset on all sides by opponents. As the game progresses the additional combat moves learned do make this less of a problem, allowing you to cut down multiple foes with a single swipe.

There are collectable treasure chests that provide alternative attacks such as pistol shots and area effect Molotov cocktail style explosives, which are useful for removing specific guards not alerted to your presence, and voodoo sleeping dust, to send nearby opponents to sleep.

Movement in both modes is accomplished through the standard WASD keys, and the camera direction is altered through the use of the mouse. At sea the direction of turn is shown as a small arrow, helping to guide your vessel between sand banks, reefs, or other ships.

The land missions could have been expanded to include more elements of interaction and exploration, there is little to do other than planning a strategy to wade through to the mission end point without incurring the wrath of too many locals. As mentioned in the preview, the lack of a free roaming option is a disappointment. Though there are enough GTA games and clones around to satisfy anyone’s appetite for destruction, who couldn’t say that a pirate-themed free-roaming game of roughing up the locals and sailing out to the blue wouldn’t be of some interest?

Graphically the game looks stunning at sea, beautifully rendered water glistens invitingly in the low and hazy sunset. The ship animations are detailed and amusing, little miniature fires spread throughout damaged vessels and those souls lucky enough to survive the sinking of a ship will find that their paddling for safety only serves to attract the attention of sharks, who will circle them for a while and then pounce. Ashore the game looks very appealing too, the locales are well rendered and the animations neat. The voice acting is well realised and the in game sounds are suitably ‘piratey’, the cutlass-on-cutlass clink punctuated with the cries of the enemy.

Fans of the genre will like this game as it delivers healthy scoops of action, and the adjustable difficulty settings mean that it should be accessible to all. Some like me may feel a slight tinge of disappointment that while still an enjoyable romp it doesn’t quite shiver all the timbers.