Xbox

Pirates of the Caribbean

Oddly enough, that’s the only “complaint” I have, but it’s more of a compliment to the great game design. Pirates of the Caribbean is so well crafted a game that it may make you forget all about the film. Generally, most summer movies are made to go in one ear and out the other in two hours or so, although Disney and Bruckheimer films tend to be gargantuan, seat filling crowd pleasers. In a perfect world, three times the folks who see the movie will run out and pick up the game as well, and if you’re one of them, you won’t be disappointed. This is one of the best games you’ll play this year, period.

The dogged PCness of Pirates will undoubtedly turn off some console owners. If you can deal with it, though, you'll find an engaging RPG that rewards the effort it takes to master.

Pirates is an open-ended role-playing game in the vein of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. What you do and where you go is up to you, and it’s filled with more exploration and freedom than story-driven RPGs. This is both good and bad, and is at the very least unique.

Even with its problems, Pirates of the Caribbean is an enjoyable game that's recommendable to those intrigued by the subject matter.

Pirates of the Caribbean isn't your typical movie-based game. As you already know, it's not based on the movie at all! And that's probably why it's as good as it is. Long and addictive, if you let Pirates consume you, it will. Pirates might not make a whole lot of sense to the casual player. The game starts off with a simple "do as I say" tutorial, and then before you know it it's time to battle. No ship tutorial is given. The manual is helpful, but you're pretty much on your own. Because of the self-learning involved, this isn't the kind of game that everyone should buy.

Bethesda's Pirates of the Caribbean is a marvelous example of what can be done when a developer just happens to have a pirate-themed RPG and the wonderful world of Disney just happens to have a pirate-themed film --based on a pirate-themed amusement park attraction-- and they're both scheduled to hit the market at the same time. The good news is that developer Akella's vision of pirate life (originally known as Sea Dogs II matches up very well with Disney's vision of piracy. The bad news is Johnny Depp is a no-show in the Xbox game, so we'll all still have to hold out hope that Donnie Brasco 2 will be made into a game for the home console.

On retrouve un peu les mêmes erreurs que sur Sea Dogs, mais Bethesda nous sert tout de même un titre particulièrement immersif, au gameplay varié et qui mérite que l'on prenne la peine d'approfondir toutes les phases de jeu. Un titre plutôt bienvenu sur Xbox.

As movie sequels go, Pirates of the Caribbean is not too bad. I played it on the PC and despite little flaws, managed to have a pretty good time. My review will be based solely on my PC experience. However, I want to put up front that the Xbox version of the game is nowhere near as good. It was pretty buggy, with disappearing quests and crashes during FMV sequences. In fact, our Xbox review console broke while playing the game. We won't blame Pirates for this, but the combination of an old Xbox and a disc-intensive game was apparently too much for it. We did play the game enough to see that there were a lot of flaws however. So if you are buying this game for your Xbox, you may not have as good an experience.

While not a perfect game, and probably too much game for simple fans looking for an action movie license, Pirates of the Caribbean is a must have for RPG fans looking for something other than orcs and dragons. This will shiver their timbers for sure.

On the whole, Pirates of the Caribbean is a mildly entertaining though frustrating experience. I find that the most fun to be had is to disregard the main plot of the game entirely and just set up trade routes, battle pirates and buy bigger and better ships. Fans of the movie will be rather disappointed to find that aside from the picture on the box and title screen there is little similarity at all to be found. The general impression I get when playing this game is that Sea Dogs II had a whole lot of potential to be something great had it been left in the oven a bit longer.

This is quite a shame, because you get the feeling that if they took more time and care here, we could have had one of the best pirate games ever. Instead, this is a cool game hiding underneath scads of bugs, control problems and weak swordfighting, leading to not a cool game whatsoever. If you're dying to be a pirate, dig up one of the Monkey Islands. And if it just be adventure ye be after, than you're much better off with Morrowind. Or just spend that money on a ticket to Disneyland.

There is nothing more tragic than a truly amazing game being reduced to being only occasionally good because of completely preventable things like bugs. I pray that Bethesda releases an updated version of Pirates of the Caribbean in the future. It's a great game. I recommend it to any fans of Bethesda, any fans of pirate games, any fans of open-ended games ... but not yet. I'd wait a few months and see if an updated edition comes out, since you'll be otherwise stuck with a bug-ridden mess.

The strength of the game lies in your freedom to roam as you please. It won't advance the story, but you can sail to different islands and visit many scenic locations. The music is also pleasant and appropriate for the time period. If you're looking for a slow-paced adventure with a strong storyline, maybe Pirates of the Caribbean will appeal to you. But for action-minded gamers, I'd recommend Pirates: Legend of Black Kat (PS2, Xbox) instead.