From a movie standpoint, Pirates is an incredibly family friendly, and overall fun franchise. It would only make sense for a video game, and it seems that if it wasn’t pressured to be released simultaneously with the film that the lackluster experience that the next gen version of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End provides could easily have been avoided. Despite its standout points, Pirates 3 is more blunder than plunder.
Your first mission in the Pirates video game takes you behind the scenes of the second film, Dead Man’s Chest. As Jack Sparrow you’ll undergo a painstaking tutorial that holds your hand for too long, and far too often. The tutorial gives you an idea of how repetitious the combat is going to be immediately, and also shows how convoluted and linear the title is. Swordplay consists of tapping “A” (Xbox 360) twice, after which time your enemy will be stunned, and turn his back to you. Hit your single attack button again, and it’s instant death for your fatuously brain dead foe. Waves of enemies come at you, and unfortunately you’ll be pressing the attack button until it gets jammed, or falls off. The only variation of combat you’ll find as you play along is the finishing moves – Pull your trigger, and hit your “B” or “Y” button for a slick little finishing move. Each character has his or her own unique set of finishers, however, a single change in fighting style isn’t enough to mix things up to make the combat satisfying. Using projectiles like knives, or guns is fun and very pirate-esque, however, the lack of a cursor provides little to no aid in taking down your foes. Plenty of knives will zip by your foes, as they remain not even remotely close to being any sort of harmed by your projectile. A reticle would have been a very helpful, and seemingly obvious addition to the mechanics. Boss battles mix up the combat again, but simply consist of flicking the controller’s analog stick up or down to attack or defend. They aren’t particularly difficult, but it’s a nice change of pace. However, by your second duel, you will still find that the tutorial is walking you through, pestering you over and over again after a few hours of play. If you can get passed the gameplay and its brutal monotony, you should be more than satisfied with what is the tip of the Pirates 3 video game experience.
While the game doesn’t necessarily break any barriers with the way it plays, for a film game, it’s surprisingly detailed. In fact, for a next gen game, characters and environments are noticeably quite pretty. Rain effects over recognizable environments make for an immersive experience as you play as a set amount of familiar film characters, from Jack, to Elizabeth to Gibbs. All of these characters are voiced by sound-alike’s who will make you turn your head twice in conviction, it’s just sad how little they speak, as if the developers were curious as to how fans might react to them. The audio and animation in the characters really help capture the source material in a convincing and enjoyable way. Fans won’t only enjoy this, as they’ll likely enjoy more of the ‘off-camera’ scenes, like how Sparrow escaped prison, or how Will Turner sneaks in to Jones’ organ hall. Treasure hunting is abundant and appropriate, and point to the majority of the 360 version’s fun-to-earn-achievements .
However, among all of this, gamers won’t be satisfied as gamers. Repetition dominates this generally simple game, but it’s a relatively well used license for a video game. The most damaging part of the game is that there is no auto save. I found myself playing for a number of hours and later finding myself playing through it again because the game did not save. That said, the fact that I went back shows how interested I was to play it again, but it was purely out of a fan lust. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End isn’t forced to walk the plank, but it’s really getting on this captain’s last nerve. It’s just enough to stay alive, but the simplicity and constant guiding you along really hurts it overall.
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