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Video Games : Pirates of the Caribbean (Xbox)
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Rating: 
- Great game let down by its flaws
When I first picked up this game a few years back, I was very impressed with the graphics as well as the gameplay. Though the game does suffer from some framerate issues, the graphics are plush, colourful, and really do well portraying the carribean setting.
The story is engaging and supported well with side missions involving assassination, trading, escorting merchants and (of course) piracy. The gameplay is mostly enjoyable but running around the jungles of the various islands looking for secret treasure can get a little boring after a while.
The real fun is to be had on the high seas! The player can choose to ignore the story completely if they so wish, living the life of a freedom-loving pirate or a profit-hungry merchant in a plush and beautiful sandbox carribean.
The Merchant-minded player will spend their time buying large amounts of goods at an island's store before using their map to find and sail to the island which will pay them the most per unit of their chosen import. The more adventurous player can also deal in contraband, fetching a higher price (on an island which cont's the chosen merchandise) but at the risk of being betrayed/attacked by the pirates you're dealing with OR being ambushed by the island's governmental soldiers.
Players who choose the life of the criminal will find themselves in pitched sea battles firing broad-sides and destroying their opponent's sales to cripple them before boarding, fighting a (mostly) fierce foot battle and taking the ship/remaining crew as their own. The clever thing about this style of play is that you can either swap your ship for theirs (scuppering the abandoned vessel), stick all of THEIR cargo/crew in your hold and sink their ship or install one of your officers (recruited at taverns) as captain and build your own fleet!
My criticisms of this game are more about the technical faults than the design. Crashing/Freezes are FREQUENT in this game (twice per hour of gameplay should be expected) and they occur most often whilst loading the deck-fight of a captured vessel or saving the game. The latter corrupts your save file (making it permanently useless) and for this reason, you should always save TWO save files at any one time. On an unrelated note, this game tends to suffer from framerate problems when weather effects or jungle foliage are dense.
Definitely not without faults, but overall I think it's an experience well worth the money you'll pay for it.
Rating:
- so laggggggggggyyyyyyyy
Let get started by saying that this is the only game i have ever found to be unplayable and i have been playing them since the NES days. The graphics when they load up are superb but try and move your character the frames per second takes a drastic dive. then i come to the controls which are basically all over the place i could go on all day with how poor this game is but i won't waste your time just take my word and avoid this like the plague.
Rating:
- undescriblable
This game is one of the best i have seen in quiet a while. From the starting ship the lugger to the awesome manowar there is a massive amount of ships wether u like small and fast or big and power ful they have got it all.
A magor annoyance is the controls to pick something up u have to press y, move across to open, press a, select the item u, want then press a.
THe graphics are another thing the skeletons are realistic(if u know wat i mean) the swordfighting is cool. I DON'T SAY DUDE AND I DON'T SAY AWESOME BUT "THAT WAS AWESOME DUDE."
Rating:
- The Curse of the Movie Tie-in...
To be honest 'movie tie-in', is a nail in the coffin of any game. I can't think of any off the top of my head that are actually good. And this is no exception. While not unplayable, it neither provides a stunning RPG experience (try Morrowind, Knights of the Old Reublic or Fable), or any sense that your actually in the world of the film (buy the DVD and talk in a psuedo-Cornish accent).
The major flaw with this game is that its not actually anything to do with the film. Bethesda had been developing a pirate based RPG for a couple of years before the film came along, and just tacked on the additional film based plot element at the last minute. And when I say tacked on, I mean tacked on. You can practically see the glue marks. And when I say element, I mean element. Don't expect sprawling adventures with Capt. Jack, or to get to hang in Tortuga, because you'll be dissapointed. There is only one real reference to the film in the entire game.
Aside from the pitiful development, the game doesn't do too badly. What plot is left isn't too bad, in many ways its a shame the film franchise was involved at all, some of the obviously cut plot elements show promise of a decent story.
The gameplay is both exceedingly good, and amazingly bad. On land, moving is usually frustrating, and combat is even worse. Thankfully theres a fast movement system that cuts walking down to a minimum in towns, and lets you get on with the meat and potatoes of pirating... sailing. The sailing is probably the reason why I gave this game 3 stars instead of 1. It is truely incredible. The game is worth getting just for that. The first time you get to stand on deck, you'll see what I mean.
The graphics are excellent. Most textures are detailed and crisp, you can practically see the creases in your characters clothes. Where the game really excels is and weather and sea effects. Sunlight, fog, sensets are all fantastic. Theres nothing better that rolling into port, on a rough sea in a sunset to better prove this.
Soundwise the games comes out ok. Lacking the cinematic umph of the movie soundtrack, it goes for a more jaunty theme (at times more Pirates of Penzance than Pirates of the Caribbean). Kiera Knightly (plays the damsel in distress in the film, albeit with a stunning grasp of swordplay) lends her voice to the cutscenes (don't expect many...), which unfotunately feel as out of place as the rest of the movie content and also looks a bit cheap compared to other movie games (Lord of the Rings ones in particular) where they got the whole cast involved.
All in all, its leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. Neither good enough to warrant the pitiful film content, or having enough film content to allow for a few rough edges. Its very much a 'what if' game. What if Bethseda had been left to their own devices? What if it hadn't been rushed out? I suspect, Bethseda might have produced a classic if it hadn't been rushed. Instead, they've produce a entertaining if frustrating and at some points idiotic game.
Rating: - Arr Matey!
Its beautiful, he says staring across the ocean into the sunset from thedeck of his Massive Battleship. This game is one of the most graphicallysuperior games I have every played. You only need to start sailing aroundat daybreak to confirm this. You play as Nathanial Hawk, a Merchant/Pirateguy who is pretty handy with boats, pistols and swords. He very much likeshis treasure too. The game essentially consists of 2 main elements: A)Walking around on land, in order to get yourself a bit of Gold.
B)Sailing around on the Ocean attacking whoever incurs your displeasure.
You can choose from a variety of ships to commmand, in first and thirdperson mode, varying from the small little Xebec to the Insanely largeManowar. Each ships has its own little advantages and disadvantages. Whatalso makes this great game better is the fact that its really open. Youcan sail anywhere on the Map and trade with whoever you feel like. Thereare always people to fight, and there are challenges to test even the bestof Gamers.
The scenery is rendered amazingly, as are the boats andpeople, even the Skeletal Pirates look good.
I recommend all Ye Landlubbers should get this game as ye'll be blownaway!
- Great game let down by its flawsWhen I first picked up this game a few years back, I was very impressed with the graphics as well as the gameplay. Though the game does suffer from some framerate issues, the graphics are plush, colourful, and really do well portraying the carribean setting.
The story is engaging and supported well with side missions involving assassination, trading, escorting merchants and (of course) piracy. The gameplay is mostly enjoyable but running around the jungles of the various islands looking for secret treasure can get a little boring after a while.
The real fun is to be had on the high seas! The player can choose to ignore the story completely if they so wish, living the life of a freedom-loving pirate or a profit-hungry merchant in a plush and beautiful sandbox carribean.
The Merchant-minded player will spend their time buying large amounts of goods at an island's store before using their map to find and sail to the island which will pay them the most per unit of their chosen import. The more adventurous player can also deal in contraband, fetching a higher price (on an island which cont's the chosen merchandise) but at the risk of being betrayed/attacked by the pirates you're dealing with OR being ambushed by the island's governmental soldiers.
Players who choose the life of the criminal will find themselves in pitched sea battles firing broad-sides and destroying their opponent's sales to cripple them before boarding, fighting a (mostly) fierce foot battle and taking the ship/remaining crew as their own. The clever thing about this style of play is that you can either swap your ship for theirs (scuppering the abandoned vessel), stick all of THEIR cargo/crew in your hold and sink their ship or install one of your officers (recruited at taverns) as captain and build your own fleet!
My criticisms of this game are more about the technical faults than the design. Crashing/Freezes are FREQUENT in this game (twice per hour of gameplay should be expected) and they occur most often whilst loading the deck-fight of a captured vessel or saving the game. The latter corrupts your save file (making it permanently useless) and for this reason, you should always save TWO save files at any one time. On an unrelated note, this game tends to suffer from framerate problems when weather effects or jungle foliage are dense.
Definitely not without faults, but overall I think it's an experience well worth the money you'll pay for it.
Rating:
- so laggggggggggyyyyyyyyLet get started by saying that this is the only game i have ever found to be unplayable and i have been playing them since the NES days. The graphics when they load up are superb but try and move your character the frames per second takes a drastic dive. then i come to the controls which are basically all over the place i could go on all day with how poor this game is but i won't waste your time just take my word and avoid this like the plague.
Rating:
- undescriblableThis game is one of the best i have seen in quiet a while. From the starting ship the lugger to the awesome manowar there is a massive amount of ships wether u like small and fast or big and power ful they have got it all.
A magor annoyance is the controls to pick something up u have to press y, move across to open, press a, select the item u, want then press a.
THe graphics are another thing the skeletons are realistic(if u know wat i mean) the swordfighting is cool. I DON'T SAY DUDE AND I DON'T SAY AWESOME BUT "THAT WAS AWESOME DUDE."
Rating:
- The Curse of the Movie Tie-in...To be honest 'movie tie-in', is a nail in the coffin of any game. I can't think of any off the top of my head that are actually good. And this is no exception. While not unplayable, it neither provides a stunning RPG experience (try Morrowind, Knights of the Old Reublic or Fable), or any sense that your actually in the world of the film (buy the DVD and talk in a psuedo-Cornish accent).
The major flaw with this game is that its not actually anything to do with the film. Bethesda had been developing a pirate based RPG for a couple of years before the film came along, and just tacked on the additional film based plot element at the last minute. And when I say tacked on, I mean tacked on. You can practically see the glue marks. And when I say element, I mean element. Don't expect sprawling adventures with Capt. Jack, or to get to hang in Tortuga, because you'll be dissapointed. There is only one real reference to the film in the entire game.
Aside from the pitiful development, the game doesn't do too badly. What plot is left isn't too bad, in many ways its a shame the film franchise was involved at all, some of the obviously cut plot elements show promise of a decent story.
The gameplay is both exceedingly good, and amazingly bad. On land, moving is usually frustrating, and combat is even worse. Thankfully theres a fast movement system that cuts walking down to a minimum in towns, and lets you get on with the meat and potatoes of pirating... sailing. The sailing is probably the reason why I gave this game 3 stars instead of 1. It is truely incredible. The game is worth getting just for that. The first time you get to stand on deck, you'll see what I mean.
The graphics are excellent. Most textures are detailed and crisp, you can practically see the creases in your characters clothes. Where the game really excels is and weather and sea effects. Sunlight, fog, sensets are all fantastic. Theres nothing better that rolling into port, on a rough sea in a sunset to better prove this.
Soundwise the games comes out ok. Lacking the cinematic umph of the movie soundtrack, it goes for a more jaunty theme (at times more Pirates of Penzance than Pirates of the Caribbean). Kiera Knightly (plays the damsel in distress in the film, albeit with a stunning grasp of swordplay) lends her voice to the cutscenes (don't expect many...), which unfotunately feel as out of place as the rest of the movie content and also looks a bit cheap compared to other movie games (Lord of the Rings ones in particular) where they got the whole cast involved.
All in all, its leaves you with a bitter taste in your mouth. Neither good enough to warrant the pitiful film content, or having enough film content to allow for a few rough edges. Its very much a 'what if' game. What if Bethseda had been left to their own devices? What if it hadn't been rushed out? I suspect, Bethseda might have produced a classic if it hadn't been rushed. Instead, they've produce a entertaining if frustrating and at some points idiotic game.
Rating:
- Arr Matey!Its beautiful, he says staring across the ocean into the sunset from thedeck of his Massive Battleship. This game is one of the most graphicallysuperior games I have every played. You only need to start sailing aroundat daybreak to confirm this. You play as Nathanial Hawk, a Merchant/Pirateguy who is pretty handy with boats, pistols and swords. He very much likeshis treasure too. The game essentially consists of 2 main elements: A)Walking around on land, in order to get yourself a bit of Gold.
B)Sailing around on the Ocean attacking whoever incurs your displeasure.
You can choose from a variety of ships to commmand, in first and thirdperson mode, varying from the small little Xebec to the Insanely largeManowar. Each ships has its own little advantages and disadvantages. Whatalso makes this great game better is the fact that its really open. Youcan sail anywhere on the Map and trade with whoever you feel like. Thereare always people to fight, and there are challenges to test even the bestof Gamers.
The scenery is rendered amazingly, as are the boats andpeople, even the Skeletal Pirates look good.
I recommend all Ye Landlubbers should get this game as ye'll be blownaway!