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Pirates of the Caribbean
by Jolex Del Pilar
Tuesday, July 15 2003
No not the hokey Disney ride, but Akella's solid effort for the Xbox. Read our full review.
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Title:
Pirates of the Caribbean
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Platform:
Xbox
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Publisher:
Bethesda |
Developer:
Akella |
#
of Players: 1 |
Genre:
Adventure/RPG
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Origin:
Russia
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Expected
Release:
July 2003 |
Grapevine:
Pirates was originally known as Sea Dogs 2 when it first debuted at E3 2001. |
Well, Bethesda’s latest release has landed on our review desk, and for the most part, it’s a fairly impressive release. Here’s a little something that most of you might not have known. Pirates of the Caribbean had been in development for over 3 years (first shown at E3 2001) before its release this year. Originally tagged “Sea Dogs 2”, this game shares a lot with its predecessor in terms of gameplay. The new name, which was announced shortly before the announcement of the feature film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, was purely a marketing move. Seeing how successful the movie has been in its opening weekend, it’s safe to say that Bethesda made a good business decision.
At its core, Pirates of the Caribbean is an Adventure/RPG game. The game features numerous quest and light character development. Not quite Baldur’s Gate, but not as shallow as a typical action game. Like the original Sea Dogs (developed by Akella), POTC features both land and sea-based gameplay. I would say it’s a 70/30 split in favor of land missions. However, a big part of the fun of this game is the joy of owning your own sailing ship(s). You can have up to 4 ships in your fleet, and they can differ in size greatly. The higher the level of you player character, the larger the ship your character will be able to field. Lower class ships (7, 6, and 5) are usually very quick ships, but lack cargo space and firepower. Higher class ships field powerful weapons but are usually unwieldy, slow, and expensive to maintain. While on a ship, there are many things you can do. The primary use of your ship will be as a transportation device to get you from island to island in the huge archipelago. However, your ship can also serve as a transport for goods, an escort ship, or even an assault ship for colony invasions. The choice is pretty much left to the player. Damage to your ship can be repaired in town, or by your own sailors provided you have the right skills and supplies. You must also crew your ship with men which can be hired at the local Tavern in most towns. However, you must remember to take into account the salary of your crew, who will not take kindly to not being paid every month on time.
While the aspect of being a rich merchant trader is intriguing, most gamers will probably prefer utilizing their ships for combat. Combat on the high seas is a very complex task. Luckily Akella has simplified it for you somewhat. Using the analog or directional pad, you can turn your ship left, or right. You can also deploy your sails fully for speed, or only half of your sails to slow down and maneuver into firing position. Firing your cannon is done with the A button. Your crew will usually fire at the closest ship within your ships firing arc, but if you want to fire on individual ships, you can do that manually through the first person view. The whole experience is very intuitive after a few battles, and the design is simple enough that battles on the sea will become second nature after a while. You also have the option of boarding ships if slugging it out isn’t working for you. The success of a boarding action is variable, but when it does happen, you actually get to duel it out with the opposing crew on the deck of your ship and theirs. Akella has handled this aspect of the game nicely. It’s both fun and easy to control. Not to mention that the visuals that accompany these sea battles are absolutely some of the best you’ll see in any game.
Once you have the basics of sailing, and sea-based combat, you can start landing on islands. Landing on an Island is simple. Just bring your ship close to shore, set down your anchor at a port, or beach and you’ll automatically row out to land. Once on land you can interact with NPCs, combat enemies, and explore towns or dungeons. Most of your time on land will be spent investigating clues and tips that you have gathered. These tips can be accessed anytime by accessing your “Quest book”. As you go through the main quest and numerous side quests, you will run into important characters who will help you or try to impede your quest. Once in a while you will run into potential officers for hire. These are special NPCs which will join your crew and lend their skills to your quest. They also will accompany you on missions and help you in combat. However, while playing the game I found it was better to leave your best officers on the ship while you are adventuring around. They seem to die fairly easy, no matter what level they are at, and losing an important officer can reduce your ships overall operation efficiency and effectiveness.
Visually, as mentioned before, POTC is perhaps one of the best looking of the current crop of games. The graphics engine that renders the “sea” is extremely realistic and amazingly detailed. The towns are bustling with multiple NPCs all going about their own business and the towns are very large featuring numerous landmarks and buildings. POTC is just pleasing to gaze at.
POTC is truly a beautiful game to look at...
While Pirates of the Caribbean provides intriguing gameplay, superior visuals, and intuitive control, not all is sunny and bright in the archipelago. First off, the game is fairly buggy. For a game that’s been in development for over 3 years, one would expect a very polished product. However, with reports of lost saves, quest that are impossible to complete, and even battles that never end, POTC is not devoid of its share of game ending bugs. Additionally, for all the beauty that POTC exhibits as a game, it’s amazingly short. We were able to finish the game in less than 15 hours over a period of 5 days. Granted, we are good at what we do, but the typical gamer can expect approximately 20-25 hours at most. That’s about 2 weeks worth of gameplay roughly. Perhaps an option to continue the game after you finish the main quest would have helped, but it still doesn’t defeat the fact that POTC is fairly short for an RPG.
In the end however, POTC is such a well put together game, notwithstanding its faults, that it can’t be denied that once you start playing, you will be literally sucked into the game. You’ll spend many extra hours running escort missions, trading goods, and even rummaging through houses for that extra money that will help you buy a battleship. Akella has put a very solid title on the market for Xbox and PC owners. Let’s hope for a sequel or an expansion pack that will extend the gem that is POTC.
--- Jolex Del Pilar
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