Pirates of the Caribbean

"Good, but flawed"

The newest game from Bethedsa Softworks is out. Pirates of the Caribbean, which as some of you know, is simply Sea Dogs II renamed to fit the recent movie.

Graphics: 8.5/10 Graphics at sea are excellent. The sea glitters, your ship has engraved designs, shows damage realistically, etc. A nice touch are forbidding sharks that swim around your ship. In short, on sea, everything is how you would expect it to be.
On land is a different story. The character models are blocky, and somewhat poorly animated. Buildings, the ground, and foliage are decently textured. It's acceptable, but I would expect better from the company that gave us Morrowind.

Sound: 9/10 The sound is good. Cannons thunder, and npcs mutter to themselves, among other nice sound touches. The world sounds as if it's alive.

Music: 6/10 What music? Seriously, the little music that is here is quiet, forgetable, and overall doesn't add to the game.

Gameplay: 9.5/10 On sea, gameplay is divided in to two basic elements: Travelling using a cartoony map, which you will grow to hate; and ship battles in 3rd or 1st person, which more than make up for the mediocore traveling. Depending on the size of each combatant's "conveys", the battles can range from 2 ship skirmishes, to 8 ship slugfests. You can take several approaches. Do you want to run, while blasting at the enemy with your rear cannons, or broadside him, and take down a solid 1/4th of his health in one volley? All in gorgous graphics. Very enjoyable.
On land, you will find yourself fighting when only neccesary. Combat is short, and simple. You simply draw your sword/rapier/cutlass, and mash the "slash" button, and occaisionally hitting the "pistol" button to do a chunk of damage. Think of the LotR movie titles, only simplified.

Difficulty: 7/10 This game is tough in the begining. Unless you are a hardcore gamer, you probally WILL walk away frusterated a few times. However, it's not so hard as you won't ever be able to do it. I think maybe Bethedsa did this on purpose.

Bugs: 3/10 Oh my god, VERY buggy. On several occaisons, I've had my comp restarted, saves corrupted twice, and multiple times the game has suddenly changed some textures around.

Buy, Rent, or Don't Bother: If you crave a good sea game, or loved the open-endness of Morrowind, I would buy this game if you have a spare $30. For everyone else, I wouldn't bother, this game takes a special type of gamer to be enjoyed. I'm personally that type of gamer, but you may not.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/15/04