Pirates of the Caribbean is an exciting role-playing game set within the universe of the smash hit movie. The title is brought to you by publishers Ubisoft and was developed by Bethesda Softworks. This is a gorgeous sprawling epic of a game which doesn´t follow the storyline of the film too closely, instead offering you a range of naval battle, exploration, trading and even sword fighting - all set within a series of exotic locations.
The game is vast indeed, requiring a staggering 1.5 gigabytes of hard disc space. Unfortunately I had severe problems installing this, and some searching on the net threw up a number of people who had encountered similar problems and a worrying number of people who had gotten the game running but were suffering frequent crashes.
The game itself is a complex affair which takes some getting used to. There are a number of different interfaces and player views to get acquainted with. Upon choosing a new game your first mate introduces you to the action by prompting you on how to deal with the various aspects of being a seafaring captain. You play Captain Nathaniel Hawk, an English trader with a slightly battered ship. Starting onboard your ship you are introduced to the inventory system and basic controls for the captain, these are not easy to get the hang of and seem awkward even after playing for a while.
After finishing your initial business in Oxbay the colony is raided by the French and taken over, leaving you with the option of fleeing or dying. My ship was sunk in the port the first time I played because we dallied to long and the French ships have majorly superior firepower so don´t engage them. You should escape as fast as possible and make for Redmond where the governor is waiting for the news that Oxbay has been taken. Objectives are added to your Quest Book as you progress, this along with most of the other information you need to access is found by pressing F2.
The main choices for progression are quite varied, you have a rating for relations with the various nations, for example to begin with your ship flies the English flag and so French ships will attack you, as will pirates. Obviously as the action progresses and you choose to rob from this or that person, or work for this or that person, your allegiances change accordingly. In order to be successful and grow any sort of an empire you need a steady flow of gold. This can be achieved by completing missions or jobs for people, such as finding information, ferrying people or goods, or perhaps destroying a specific ship full of weapons which is bound for an enemy port. You can also check the trading book and see where is best to buy and sell specific goods for profit. Your final choice is to just lurk about the ocean attacking any passing ships, blasting them into submission and then boarding them to pillage and steal.
The missions get a little boring after a while and the trade patterns don´t seem to change so you can become quite adept at buying and selling goods in the right places to turn a profit. The exploration is good and wandering around the islands, drinking in taverns and chatting to the locals reinforces the RPG feeling of this title. Unfortunately the dialogue is not the greatest, some of the questions you can ask are awkwardly phrased and too few of the people have anything interesting to say.
The combat is a big part of this game, especially if you decide on a pirate´s life. As with the main game, combat is split into two types, one for when you are controlling the captain on land or deck and one for when you are controlling the ship. As the captain you can sword fight and fire your pistol to defeat the enemy. The control system most closely resembles an RPG, holding down the left mouse to walk and pressing the action button when prompts appear to access other sections of the map with the spacebar allowing you to talk to people. The combat system is awkward; you can fire your pistol, which seems to auto-aim, or draw your sword and lunge for the enemy but it is difficult to effectively co-ordinate. While sword fighting you can also block and perfecting the timing of this is key to your survival. Taking on multiple enemies can be near impossible unless you have beefed up your character a bit but once you grow in strength you can perform the sort of daring escapes you would expect a pirate captain to be capable of. Upgrade points are gained as you progress and your character can convert these into new skills or upgrades for your existing skills.
Learning to control your ship on the high seas is another steep learning curve. The view is mixed between a choice of 1st and 3rd person, rotating around the ship or seeing through the eyes of the captain on deck. The game cuts to these views for docking the ship, combat and storms. When you are between islands the view changes to a huge overview map of the area in which you steer the ship with the W,A,S,D keys while trying to avoid the extremely common hazards. In the combat mode you can lower sails to slow down, load the cannons with whatever ammo you prefer, or fire on the enemy. If you get close enough then you can attempt to board the enemy boat and you will then assume control of the captain for some sword fighting.
Pirates of the Caribbean features an open play area in which you must determine what to do next. There are options available and certain courses of action seem to be impossible, but for all intents and purposes you are your own boss and this is a very good thing. This game recreates the background universe from the film but does not force a linear rehash of the storyline. The player is free to choose his or her own path, including who they feel like allying with, what activities and missions they wish to engage in and ultimately whether they wish to be a pirate or just a cheeky trader. This freedom cannot be underestimated; it gives the game a wide open feeling and encourages exploration while boosting that all important replay value.
The game looks good with quality textures, bump mapping and a host of lovely lighting effects. The character models are also nicely rendered although the animation is not the best I´ve ever seen. The weather effects are very nice and definitely add a bit of reality to the situation; storms are a very real deadly threat to your ship so avoid them like the plague. The many island towns you can visit and explore are nicely rendered and each port features an architectural style based on the nationality of the colony. You can visit traditional English or Spanish houses, although all obviously within a colonial style. Despite this I think the game looks best from the 3rd person ship view, panning around your craft with the sun shining through the gaps in the sails and canon shot flying through the air ripping holes and smashing wood in spectacular fashion. Some of the naval battles feature large numbers of ships and they look fantastic, you can see the sailors scurrying about on deck and the distant smoke trails from the burning wreckage of ruined ships as they are swallowed by the vast ocean.
The sound in the game is very atmospheric; insects, birds and other wild animals can be heard in the jungle areas around some of the towns. The people will mutter lines of dialogue, some of which are humorous, as you pass by. There is a hubbub of conversation in the taverns and sea shanty tunes can be heard on the breeze. You can also eavesdrop conversations, which is nice but not generally very rewarding. The combat sounds are good too, the flash of steel when you lock swords and the boom of cannons firing. Sometimes at sea there is an eerie lack of sound which can make things appear calm and if the enemy fire from distance the first you will notice is when the cannonballs begin to fly through your sails and splash into the sea around you.
This is certainly one of the best licenses I have ever played (which isn´t really saying much) and may be due to the fact that this game started out life with Russian developer Akella as Sea Dogs 2 before Bethesda stepped in and announced the new name to tie in with the movie license. This has been developed as a pirate game first with the film background added in later. There is little to remind you of the film apart from an encounter with the Black Pearl, but I think this is a good thing and the open-ended nature of the game creates a great deal more replay value than a linear title following the story of the film would have.
There are faults aplenty but this is perhaps inevitable in such a sprawling effort which is seeking to cover the spectrum of pirate life. Aside from the installation hassles, clumsy controls and dull dialogue there are also too many loading screens especially for a 1.5 GB install. There is a loading screen between virtually everything you do and it does get annoying after a while. Playing for a few hours you can´t help but notice that the missions become a bit repetitive, and some of the scripted sequences are clumsy, which is highlighted as you are guided towards them in such a ham-fisted way.
Pirates of the Caribbean was a fun, action-packed but ultimately lightweight film with a lovely visual style. The game has more depth to it and despite the steep learning curve it is worth persisting, at least for a while. It does capture the beauty of the film and combines it with a complex, varied and sometimes exciting game-play experience. However if you are looking for a life of crime upon the high seas you´d probably be better off investing in the new version of Sid Meier´s Pirates.
