Age of Pirates 2 - Either you like it or it's just mediocre.
Much of the movements and swashbuckling moves are very similar (with a couple of added moves). Opening crates/door/searching bodies are all still done by pressing [Enter] and scrolling through the menu to make your selection.
The missions can be VERY difficult at times... especially not knowing where to find the next clue (at times). I rather liked the treasure quests (if you can afford to buy a quest... usually ranging in the 12,000 and up range). Also, to this date, I've not seen a better skilled and attributes system than this game. Even some MMO's should take notes here! It really keys into the way that you prefer to play most. For example: If you use a particular sword weight/class, you will get better at using it over time without extra skills. You can still lvl up and get 1 point to spend on skills like 'Basic Commerce' and some ship defense skills...etc (I do a poor job at briefly describing such a complex system of skills and attributes). What I do NOT like though is that things get tougher as you do. What I think should have happened is that the tougher ships should only start showing up as you level up, but you should still get some easy fights once in a while (which is the major reason for leveling in the first place). Making certain places to explore more difficult than others is a good way to compensate as well, which does not necessarily happen here.
The ship battles are great, except when you're just starting out, in which case you can't hit another ship even if you're right next to it. In any case, at the beginning, it's best to board them if you can, and take the ship. (Be sure to hire another skipper, or you'll have to sink the captured ship instead of sell it for a lot of money)
I absolutely LOVE the costomization features involved with your ship. You can replace your cannons for culverines, and even upgrade your ships' strength, hull space, gun size, speed, maneuverability, and crew size at certain ports (Bermuda).
If this game were as graphic as it could have been (but isn't), I'd give this game a MUCH higher rating, as it's a really good game. However, it's 2009, and the textures shout out "2003"... which is a big thing to me, as I believe it would immerse more players in the era and in the game environment if the graphics were more realistic-looking. Also a big fact
I like the different shops all around the different locations, selling all the different items: jewels, jewelery, swords, artifacts, maps, spyglasses etc. I'm not totally sure if the market fluctuates at all, but things do become cheaper with skill increases in that area (commerce).
The towns themselves are pretty good, as well as the NPC and their clothing (seems historically accurate for the most part). Most ports have a Magistrates Office, Tavern, Shipyard, and Shop. The rest of the town is merely scenic and full of houses and objects that you can't pick up but act as a boundary of some sort (example.. stack of logs). The jungles are much the same as the old version of this game for the most part, just re-textured. The caves are pretty cool looking, and most of them hold a treasure chest somewhere (for treasure quests).
Summary:
It's a lot of the same Age of Pirates, but re-textured, and with a better graphics engine. There's a lot of gameplay here, and a lot of fun, if you don't mind some repetitive scenery and some cheesy texturing. This game still has a TON of potential to be great... given it's patch-supported (unknown as of yet), and able to be modded (which it is :D ).