Pirates of the Caribbean Review (no fat)

Game Description

If there is anything in a name, Disney has looked to capitalize on that. Instead of talking about Sea Dogs 2 (the original name for the game), we are reviewing Pirates of the Caribbean. It may have been a good marketing ploy for the movie, but all it has done for the game is made it come out earlier than it would otherwise have…resulting in a half baked product that promised a lot but ended up falling short.

Pirates of the Caribbean Gameplay

In the RPG heavy atmosphere of Pirates of the Caribbean, gamers will notice a lot more action, with less strategy. POTC ships as an Action RPG and the formula works surprisingly well. Players will find themselves on land or on the great sea, but wherever you end up the scenery is definitely going to be pleasing to the eye.

Trading has become a lot less in the game, even with certain upgrades in how it is handled. Buying low and selling high still rules but becomes pointless when players can simply loot anyone they please easily after mastering the melee commands…a repercussion of the heavy RPG aspect of the game.

Gameplay – Learning the ‘buts’

As wonderful as Pirates of the Caribbean is to look at, novices will find this quite hard to play without patience. There is a lot to look forward to with the game but there is a lot to look out for as well. A paper thin manual along with a stripped down tutorial will leave new players looking for assistance high and dry.

It is no longer a chore to go to town -- but the towns are is still dangerous with random battles.

Picking up help and hiring the right personnel is an easy task -- but getting the gold to do it is not.

Similarly, your character can level up at a steady pace -- but the game's demanding AI will make it a lot longer, and rigorous, process than you would actually think it to be.

Making yourself a small fleet out of the hired help and stolen ships will give a good head start in the game -- but even the biggest fleet will succumb to a storm at sea. The gorgeously made weather effects at sea do extreme damage, even in comparison to a normal enemy ship, so it is well advised to stay clear…at least as much as possible.

Pirates of the Caribbean Battles

Out of the two types of battles you will have, sea battles will be the most difficult. The maneuvering of massive 3d vessels shows its flaws when in combat. Elusive at first, but easy to learn controls give you the option of how to fight your opponent. The usual assortment of knippels, bombs, grapes and other pirate weapons will help you to pull off a victory.

With the use of your sails you can opt for speed, choose to stay stationary by folding your sails, or go for a balance with half-mast sails. The bottom line in sea battles is to aim well, because targets can, and will, be missed by your cannons even when you are completely still. The arcade view allows for more control and looks to be the easier way of going about things but you can also opt to tackle the battle from the deck by commanding the actual assault.

The boarding option is available once again, and is much improved. If players get close enough to an enemy ship they have the option of boarding and doing battle with the ships crew. Instead of a generic one-on-one battles of the Pirates and the original Sea Dogs gamers will get to battle a multitude of visible enemies to prove his superiority…thus taking much longer to settle the skirmishes.

This battle sequence while boarding is the same as when you are on land, where simple controls for blocking, swinging your sword, using your gun, and dodging become common for your unfriendly encounters. Energy builds back up over time while blocking so it becomes quite easy to win battles against multiple opponents at once.

Pirates of the Caribbean - Help is on the way

POTC is put together pretty well but as stated before, there is not a finished look to the game. The popularity of the game has spawned multiple mods which enhance gameplay. Not officially supported by Bethesda, but very well the reason why this game is even worth playing.

Buried within the games mechanics is supposed to be a storyline involving Nathaniel Hawk, but with some of the broken programming it becomes more worthwhile for players to do as they please in this open game. With the latest patches already out, even if you choose to beat the game you can still play it without fear of having to start from the beginning again.

Pirates of the Caribbean Graphics

Breathtaking graphics, at least for the scenery, make POTC a joy to look at. There are some noticeable missing graphics details in character face mapping and animation, but not enough to hamper gameplay. Ocean life can be seen swimming in the waters as you sail, and the greatest use of the engine comes during the storms (which you will see plenty of).

The third-person view of your character will become necessary during the many melee battles you will face in, and out of town. The free moving camera also provides some nice views while sailing, with an optional first person view during ship battles. The game really gets the royal and full 3d treatment and it pays off without any sloppy angles.

Pirates of the Caribbean Sound

The sound is there for the kicks but it inspires nothing more than a desire to kick someone for its worthlessness. It does not overplay any tracks in particular, and the sound effects really sound outdated in most areas. Whether this was intentional or not, it becomes compounded with the fact that voice-overs are seriously buggy.

More of the missing would be some dialogue, and sometimes some looping dialogue. The whole sound department seems to have had a creative block throughout the game because there is nothing special there at all…everything from mediocre and below.

Pirates of the Caribbean Summing up

Disney is a bit influential… okay, they are extremely powerful. It is a shame, though, that their marketing of the movie had to interfere with what was shaping up to be a gem in the shape of Sea Dogs 2.

POTC, the video game, has nothing to do with POTC, the movie. It doesn’t follow the movie-game genre either…all that relates it to the movie is the name and time of release.

To put it plainly with respect to gameplay, this game is not for the hack-slash gamers. Everything from sea battles to melee victories to survival on all levels has to be earned with time, patience and skill (which is more about blocking and defending in the earlier stages of the game). So, gamers who are looking for a plain and simple walkover would be disappointed, and discouraged, by the gameplay. However, anybody who is willing to tough it out will have plenty of chance to rejoice in his achievements as the pirate captain of his fleet later on.

There are not many serious Pirating games out there on the gaming scene so, understandably, anything that comes within the genre is attractive to fans who are starved for action. Sid Meier's Pirates was a concept which was taken up and explored by Sea Dogs and this version of the game enhances that to another level.

Although the sound effects and voiceovers seem amateurish, and hurried, the lack of options still ensures that Pirates of the Caribbean is a fairly successful game… at least until we get another option.

Pirates of the Caribbean cost

POTC retails for $14.95US at the time of this review.