Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat
Encyclopedia
Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat is an action-adventure
video game developed by Westwood Studios
and published by Electronic Arts
for the PlayStation 2
and Xbox
. It was released in North America
on February 17, 2002 and in Europe
on March 1, 2002.
Throughout the game Kat will find magical objects and artifacts, confront dangerous creatures and savages, complete quests for island inhabitants in turn for help, wage navel sea battles against the Crimson Guard, collect booty and unearth buried treasure which the player can use to upgrade the ship, discover the truth of Kat’s mother, Mara, and ultimately revenge her father Marcus’ death by defeating the evil Captain Hawke.
The introduction in the game's manual reads:
Years ago, the Pirates of Skull Cove were a band of misfits set on high adventure and gaining the riches of the Five Seas. Despite their blatant acts of piracy they acted as an unofficial government, protecting the many colonies from murderous scum and would-be dictators. They had their own harsh but fair code of honor; all who ran up the white flag were spared, no one was robbed who couldn’t afford to lose the money. The pirates of Skull Cove grew rich and powerful on the loot from fat merchant vessels that sailed with their mystic Chartstones between the ports of the Five Seas. After a long and profitable career their leader, Mara Rousseau, decided that it was time to settle down. She married the handsome governor Marcus de Leon of the Pirate Isles, and gave up the sea for a life with the man she loved and their new daughter.
Mara, however, had made enemies in her long career as a scourge of the seas. Her past came back to haunt her with a challenge she could not turn away from. Leaving her husband and daughter behind, she went out to sea – and did not return again, at least not alive. Marcus vowed that Mara’s past would never reach the ears of Katarina, his daughter – she would lead a normal, law-abiding life.
Katarina, however, had other plans.
When Captain Hawke and his Crimson Guard began taking over the islands of the Five Seas, Katarina, now grown into a strong and beautiful woman, could not sit idly by and watch innocent people subjected to theft and slaughter. She gathered together a crew of like-minded men and, christening her new ship the Wind Dancer, she raided Crimson Guard ships and used the loot to help those people hurt by Captain Hawke’s rise to power. Unbeknownst to Kat, she had begun to follow in her mother’s footsteps. It was only a matter of time before Captain Hawke’s gaze turned to the young Katarina de Leon…
Action-adventure game
An action-adventure game is a video game that combines elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. It is perhaps the broadest and most diverse genre in gaming, and can include many games which might better be categorized under narrow genres...
video game developed by Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios
Westwood Studios was a computer and video game developer, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It was founded by Brett Sperry and Louis Castle in as Westwood Associates, and renamed to Westwood Studios when it merged with Virgin Interactive in...
and published by Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. It was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on February 17, 2002 and in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
on March 1, 2002.
Plot
The game focuses on the adventures of Katarina de Leon, the daughter of Marcus de Leon, governor of the Pirate Isles, and Mara Rousseau, leader of the Pirates of Skull Cove, as she sails the Five Seas in search of her mother’s grave, and the whereabouts of Captain Hawke, the man who killed her father. In order to find Hawke, Kat must search for the mystical Chartstones, and brave the dangerous and savage islands of the Five Seas infested with Hawke’s men, the Crimson Guard.Throughout the game Kat will find magical objects and artifacts, confront dangerous creatures and savages, complete quests for island inhabitants in turn for help, wage navel sea battles against the Crimson Guard, collect booty and unearth buried treasure which the player can use to upgrade the ship, discover the truth of Kat’s mother, Mara, and ultimately revenge her father Marcus’ death by defeating the evil Captain Hawke.
The introduction in the game's manual reads:
Years ago, the Pirates of Skull Cove were a band of misfits set on high adventure and gaining the riches of the Five Seas. Despite their blatant acts of piracy they acted as an unofficial government, protecting the many colonies from murderous scum and would-be dictators. They had their own harsh but fair code of honor; all who ran up the white flag were spared, no one was robbed who couldn’t afford to lose the money. The pirates of Skull Cove grew rich and powerful on the loot from fat merchant vessels that sailed with their mystic Chartstones between the ports of the Five Seas. After a long and profitable career their leader, Mara Rousseau, decided that it was time to settle down. She married the handsome governor Marcus de Leon of the Pirate Isles, and gave up the sea for a life with the man she loved and their new daughter.
Mara, however, had made enemies in her long career as a scourge of the seas. Her past came back to haunt her with a challenge she could not turn away from. Leaving her husband and daughter behind, she went out to sea – and did not return again, at least not alive. Marcus vowed that Mara’s past would never reach the ears of Katarina, his daughter – she would lead a normal, law-abiding life.
Katarina, however, had other plans.
When Captain Hawke and his Crimson Guard began taking over the islands of the Five Seas, Katarina, now grown into a strong and beautiful woman, could not sit idly by and watch innocent people subjected to theft and slaughter. She gathered together a crew of like-minded men and, christening her new ship the Wind Dancer, she raided Crimson Guard ships and used the loot to help those people hurt by Captain Hawke’s rise to power. Unbeknownst to Kat, she had begun to follow in her mother’s footsteps. It was only a matter of time before Captain Hawke’s gaze turned to the young Katarina de Leon…