Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon

Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon

Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Founded	2002
Founder	Barking Dog Studios
Products	Video game
Parent	Disney Interactive

Treasure Planet: Battle at Procyon is a real-time strategy title created by Barking Dog Studios and released by Disney Interactive in 2002. The storyline unfolds five years following the events of the film Treasure Planet, focusing on Jim Hawkins as he advances through naval ranks in the single-player campaign. Additionally, the game offers a skirmish mode featuring both historical engagements and open-map battles.

Gameplay

Players control ships primarily with the mouse, setting navigation waypoints and selecting enemy targets. Gameplay interactions include altering camera perspectives, performing docking procedures, deploying tow-ropes and grappling hooks, and utilizing a cloaking mechanism unique to the Procyon Submersible. Ship speed is managed through an interface resembling an engine order telegraph, offering four levels—Full Stop, Ahead Slow, Ahead Full, and Emergency Full—which influence turning capabilities.

Combat plays a pivotal role, with vessels outfitted with multiple weapons banks divided into light, medium, and heavy classes. Light armaments reload rapidly but deal less damage; heavy weapons deliver strong attacks but have slower reload times; medium weapons provide a compromise between speed and power. Available weaponry includes carronades, laser cannons, plasma rockets, beam weapons, laser Gatling guns, harpoons, fire catapults, and net launchers. Most armaments automatically load, aim, and fire; players must maneuver their ships to align targets and choose specific firing zones such as sails, hulls, or rudders.

Certain projectile weapons require manual placement of charges, necessitating anticipation of enemy movement for successful deployment. Mortars inflict damage from long distances, while gravity charges generate wells that trap opposing ships.

The 'Panic Fire' option automatically discharges all loaded weapons at nearby foes without target prioritization or obstacle checks—excluding projectile weapons—providing an effective defense when surrounded.

Campaign

Taking place five years after the film Treasure Planet, the campaign follows Jim Hawkins as he graduates from the Royal Navy Academy and takes command of an Imperial patrol vessel. Amidst ongoing peace negotiations between the Empire and the Procyons—raccoon-like warriors historically at war with the Empire—pirate incursions and assaults by enigmatic iron ships known as Ironclads threaten Imperial domains.

Jim uncovers that his former ally Long John Silver leads the pirates collaborating with the Ironclads. After missing an opportunity to join a fleet pursuing Ironclads, Jim investigates further and destroys an Ironclad base. He learns that these Ironclads are Procyon warships intended to distract Navy fleets while a Procyon diplomatic fleet abducts the Queen. Though Jim alerts the Empire, he is intercepted by Silver’s pirate forces.

At a pirate stronghold, Jim encounters two identical command vessels both claiming to be Silver. He discovers one is a robotic impostor assisting the Procyons. Together with Silver’s true ship, they eliminate the fake and rush back to Parliament but fall into a Procyon ambush. A large-scale battle ensues ending in Procyon defeat. Evar, the Procyon diplomat, attempts to ram Jim’s ship but is destroyed by Silver’s heavily damaged vessel.

The Procyons are forced into severe peace conditions; Silver is presumed dead but receives a posthumous pardon and knighthood. Jim suspects Silver survived and is rebuilding his fleet.

Skirmishes/Multiplayer

The game includes three factions: Royal Navy, Procyons (including Ironclads), and Pirates. Players either choose or are assigned factions depending on the map selected, with AI-controlled allies or opponents added as desired.

Historical skirmishes come with preset fleets, crews, weaponry, factions, and allies tailored to each scenario. Open-map skirmishes allow players to customize fleets by modifying ship armaments, adding named crew members who enhance roles such as Captain or Gunnery specialist, and selecting ships. Fleet configurations can be saved for later use but are restricted by "Victory Points," which are earned through missions completed, enemy units destroyed, and lifeboats collected during single-player campaigns. In skirmish mode, Victory Points balance AI fleets; default limits include 1000 Victory Points and up to 10 ships per fleet but can be adjusted within certain parameters.

Multiplayer utilizes identical maps from single-player skirmishes over LAN connections or formerly via Internet play. Players connected by exchanging unique codes to engage only with known opponents. While LAN multiplayer remains functional, Disney has discontinued Internet matchmaking servers.

Reception

The title achieved a range of reviews from favorable to moderate. GameRankings assigned it a score of 75.10%, while Metacritic rated it 73 out of 100. Additional evaluations include IGN’s 8.5 out of 10, GameZone’s 8.3 out of 10, Computer and Video Games’ 7 out of 10, and GameSpot’s 7 out of 10. More tempered assessments were given by GameSpy with a 2.5 out of 5 and PC Gamer at 67%. Game Revolution awarded the game a C+ grade. In summary, the reception was mixed but leaned toward positive within the gaming community.