Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

"Good but not great"

You'll watch the POTC:At worlds end movie and think the game looks like a decent tie-in. You'll go to the shop, buy this for decent cash, take it home all excited and finish it the next day wanting a refund. The game does have some high points but plenty of lows and I'll highlight them both in this review.

STORY 5/10
For starters, this game is actually the 2nd and 3rd movies in one game. It dosn't really follow the plot of the movies. It has the basic outline but the game follows it's own strange little plot which may make dedicated movie fans thing "what?". Aside from the difference in plot from the movies the story runs pretty smoothly but is harshly average.

GRAPHICS 8/10
The graphics for this game are THE strong point of this game. From the second the game starts you'll admire the graphics. Character models, water effects and animations are pretty nice and there are plenty of cut-scenes. The graphics are probably the reason I gave this game a 7 and not a 6. The characters actually do look like their real life counterparts and the environments are bright and colourful. From the opening prison break to the final fight, the graphics are this games saviour.

SOUND 7/10
The audio for this game is pretty nice. It has the real piratey feel to it but the major letdown is the fact that most of the voice actors aren't voiced by the actual movie actors but it shoulden't bother you too much. Most of the sound effects are pretty nice but get a bit repetitive especially the sword fighting. Overall, the sound isn't too bad.

GAMEPLAY 7/10
Judging by the back of the cover you'd think that the combat is pretty in-depth but all it actually is press A a couple of times until the enemy weirdly turns his back on you where you deliver the final blow. Sometimes with stronger enemies you'll have to perform a special move which is performed with combinations of the left trigger and the A,B,Y and X buttons. When you face bosses you'll enter a special duelling mode which can be hard to understand but once you grasp it it's incredibly easy. It's not hack 'n' slash though there's quite a bit of platforming and light puzzle solving. In some levels there's little side objectives like tearing down posters and finding things but it's mainly repetitive. It is quite fun though.

REPLAY VALUE 4/10
In nearly every one of the 9 levels there are 7 hidden objects inside chests scattered across the level and a secret Calypso puzzle piece. Finding these gets you some easy achievements and some extras in the "treasure trove". Aside from this there's really nothing else to do. You might have to go back to a couple of levels to find the hidden things but you should be done with this in a couple of days.

So they're you have it. It had potential to be great but repetitive combat and a linear path spoil it. Buy it if your a dedicated POTC fan but if not you should rent this at most.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 10/15/07

Game Release: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (EU, 05/25/07)