Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

"Don't play this game while drinking too much rum."

Captain Jack Sparrow: She's too much woman for you to handle!
Reader: O_O

Anyway...
With the recent release of Spider-Man 3, I was very cautious about buying this title, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Most movie tie-ins end up in the trash. Does this one belong in that pile?
Obviously, if you've seen my score, you'll know I'm going to say yes.

This game starts in the very beginning of Dead Man's Chest, so for those of you who wanted to buy this game to spoil At World's End, which comes out this Thursday at 8, you'll have to play through Dead Man's Chest first. One complaint about story mode, however, is that it makes Dead Man's Chest too short, probably to focus on At World's End more, which is the name of the video game. It also doesn't tell the viewers that they're playing Dead Man's Chest, so for those who aren't familiar with the series and plays this game, they might think At World's End is some sort of mega movie.

In addition, the way the plot is presented just aggravates me. I'm not going to spoil anything, but in Dead Man's Chest, many crucial plot details are left behind in the transition to the game. I'm sure they did the same thing with the At World's End part of the game. It annoys me, and the way the plot is presented... so simple.

On the other hand, the humor in this game is, well, humorous. You'll be seeing lots of one-liners in this game, several of which are funny. It can get a a little "naughty" at times, though. For example, Jack Sparrow is talking to an Inn manager and says something like, "You must hear interesting noises coming from your rooms during night, aye?"

So, let's get down to the gameplay: like you expect, using the Wiimote as your sword. Swashbuckling (sword fighting) is much different than from previous sword fighting games before it. Unlike Red Steel, for example, sword fighting in Red Steel takes place in these battles which are from a first person perspective - Pirates takes place in a third person perspective, and it does the trick, too.
Let me get this straight: sword fighting is fun. It what makes this game so fun. Unlike most other games like this, swinging your sword like a maniac won't get you very far, at least with the bosses.

Unfortunately, the sword fighting doesn't replicate your exact moves, and instead you can fling the Wiimote upward, sideward, forward, and any other "ward" you can think of. Combining these different moves is the key to battling strategically. You can, however, get up from your couch and swing the Wiimote like it really is a sword, and that works too. Blocking is done by pressing a button. If you really get into the game, you'll be slashing and then stop, pressing the button on the Nunchuk to block in a cold sweat. You can also use the Nunchuk to pick up and grab an enemy, but so far, I've been largely unsuccessful in doing so.

After playing the game for a while (shortly, if you get into it) your arms may start to ache a bit... at least mine did. Hey, that what happens when you swing it sporadically.

The bosses are quite challenging, with tons of HP and a maddening fury of attacks. Blocking and combination attacks are the key to these battles. Sometimes I found these battles a little too hard, but don't take my word for it, most of the people who'll read this have more skill than me. Ahem, one thing I found funny: I thought Sao Feng's bodyguards in an earlier level were easier than him.

Pirate's Dice (or Liar's Dice) is included in this game as well. For those of you who've never played this game, get in on it, it's quite fun. You even have to bet money, like in real life. Poker is also in the game, but I'm not familiar with Poker.

Now to raise up the issue everyone's been talking about: graphics. I don't know what Gamespot did to those pictures, but my game certainly looks much better than that. Not stunning, or course, and it doesn't look ultra-realistic, but I'd say it's a little higher (sometimes on) Playstation 2 standards. There are some issues, though. Some graphics in which you don't look at too much (like a waterfall with water flowing) look fine, but the frame rate of those are slower than everything else. It was made even more painful when we had to step on the waterfall to fight some people. Also, one more complaint: the effects could have been better. I'm talking about an instance when Will Turner was climbing down some weeds on a wall and leaves fall off. That's good, but don't make the leaves just disappear after a few seconds. You let it either fade away, or hit the ground.

"Challenge mode" was a bit disappointing. You, and another player if you so choose, are given these goals like defeat a certain number of enemies or something like that. It gets boring fast. At least, after a while, you get many characters to choose from so your favorite can most likely join the mix. As always, though, the "Dueling" mode where you can challenge your friends is quite fun, but be sure not to hit anybody!
(Oh, read the fine print: you need to get through parts of Challenge mode to get it.)

Overall, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End for the Wii is a good, solid title. You'll certainly have fun and if you have a good sense of humor, you'll laugh. The story mode is a bit on the short side, though, so if you just want to spoil yourself because it comes out tonight, rent it. But I think it deserves a buy. It's a lot of fun.

Score: A Solid 7

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/24/07