Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

fair
key review info
  • Game: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • Platform: Playstation
  • Show system requirements
  • Gamepad support: N/a
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Roast Jack anyone?

I?ve been dealing recently with lots of games made after famous movies and most of them have been failures or just mediocre titles that are easily forgettable. Let?s just say that Shrek 3, Spider-Man 3 and Ghost Rider disappointed me a bit more than the films did? Having seen the last part of the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, I was delighted by the perspective of playing the game with the same name, but I feared the fact that I was about to run into another failure. Well, At World?s End is not as bad as one would expect it to be, but it?s not top notch either? So the syndrome of bad games launched just in time to push the movies? sales continues?

Story You?ll be surprised to see that the game features a mixture between the story of Dead Man?s Chest and At World?s End, so practically you?ll take part in the last two movies? action while the plot?s heading towards its ending. Captain Jack Sparrow is after Davy Jones? heart, trying to break a curse that will make him part of the infamous crew of the Flying Dutchman. In case you didn?t know, the Flying Dutchman is a ship, one filled with aquatic zombies and creatures that are half men - half crabs or other such gruesome combinations. Since we don?t want to see Jack looking like that, we?ll see him go on a quest to find the heart of Davy Jones.

He?s not the only one looking for that gross ? item, as Lord Beckett and his army want the heart for themselves in order to control the seven seas. The second part of the trilogy left us sighing for Jack Sparrow as he seemed to have vanished inside a Kraken?s mouth. Things are not always what they seem and the funniest pirate in history is back, ready to charm the ladies, command the Black Pearl, his beloved ship and finally get that blasted heart. Even if you?re the biggest Pirates of the Caribbean fan, you?ll still have trouble with the game?s plot, as it can become confusing, at some points, where some things don?t really fit in the whole story.

Concept Pirates of the Caribbean: At World?s End falls into the action-adventure games category, featuring lots of swordplay, a couple of cinematic interactive sequences and some basic puzzle elements. Throughout the game you?ll control Jack Sparrow, but you?ll also have the chance to play with Will or Elizabeth and test their swordfighting skills. Predictably enough, the main weapon of the character you control is a sword, but he or she will also be able to use daggers, bombs or pistols as secondary weapons. The game?s combat system, especially those cutscene-like interactive sequences resemble God of War and that?s becoming a trend among the new generation of games on the Playstation 2. In few words, At World?s End is all about button mashing and hitting the correct combination at the right time. The game?s fairly easy and it took me about 4 hours to finish, without even breaking a sweat, as I was also watching TV and eating a pizza while fighting the men of Davy Jones.

However, you shouldn?t consider this an insult to your gaming intelligence, because the game was clearly created for children? or at least I think so. As Jack Sparrow and company, you?ll visit all the famous location from the movies: Tortuga, Shipwreck City, Singapore and jump from the Black Pearl to the Flying Dutchman in a pirate ship confrontation. If the pretty short story mode is not enough for you, there?s an additional challenge mode in the main menu that should prolong the game?s lifespan. Well, you?re out of luck, since that mode is as boring as it gets, providing the same action from the story mode, plus a few more tasks, like defeating enemies within a certain time limit or killing a predefined number of foes. Did I mention that one or two hours of those four were spent playing pirate dice or pirate poker? Those minigames may be the thing that saves At World?s End from being a complete failure? unless you count the great atmosphere and the humor.

Like in God of War, you can unlock combos as you progress, but they?re not even half as spectacular as those performed by Kratos. Most of them involve hitting a foe with the sword a couple of times and then jumping forward and slicing him in a way that generates a couple of sparks. Spider-Man 3?s cineractives or God of War?s button mashing sequences were rebaptized to "Jackanisms", that moments during the gameplay when you have to push the button shown on-screen. The results of this button-mashing affair are pretty nice to watch, because they?re pretty neat cutscenes, but the feeling doesn?t even compare to what God of War provided for us, gamers. As in most games nowadays you?ll use the left analog stick to move around, the D-pad buttons to switch between weapons and items and the action buttons to fight.

There?s a grab button (the circle), that can prove to be quite useless, unless you?re close to the enemy and he?s not attacking. Jack will also parry attacks, when you press the L1 button and you can keep it pressed throughout the game, as it helps during combat, a lot. At some points in the game, you?ll interact with the surrounding environment, by breaking tables, cutting ropes, moving chains, cutting trees or by dodging an enemy hit that sends your foes off the edge of a cliff.

Gameplay It might all start from Jack?s attitude, but your main health booster is in this game? a chicken. Yes, ladies and gentleman in one of the most awaited games of the month we?re using a roasted chicken to increase our character?s health. It makes sense, because it would have been stupid to see Will eating pizza or Elizabeth sipping some energy drink. You can "use" the chicken by pressing the R1 button and you?ll be using the same button to throw bombs, daggers or shoot a pistol. The objects you can interact with are signaled by a yellow circle that glitters around them, so you couldn?t miss them even if you wanted to. The game?s missions are linear and there are never two ways of reaching a certain point.

You can have fun by collecting all sorts of items that add to the total percentage of the game?s completion. After each mission you get a new character to play with in the Challenge mode, new garments, swords, locations and charms for your pirate poker games. In case you didn?t know Texas Hold?em was quite popular amongst medieval pirates, or at least the story says so. Anyhow, this minigame can become addictive and you?ll almost always win, either because you?re lucky or because the other player folds out when you?re bluffing and increasing the stakes. The Pirate Dice took me a while to understand, since it?s not a normal dice game. Also, watching Dead Man?s Chest again helps you a lot in case you?re having trouble with the minigame?s rules. All you have to do is bet the amount of dices that the other players have with a number of your choice on one of their sides. The only things that can get you stuck in this game are a couple of worthy Pirate Dice players or the damned tornadoes in the Maelstrom level.

Since the AI is not good enough to get you, probably the producers thought that implementing a couple of "traps" will make you appreciate the game?s "difficulty". This can be considered a major bug, or I?m just too pretentious, but I was frustrated to see that enemies ONLY attack in groups of three. Except for the boss fights, there will always be three on-screen foes and if by mistake a fourth one appears, he?ll die in a couple of seconds, getting killed by Jack or Will. If the normal fights were too easy, I can?t say the same about boss fights, that aren?t necessarily difficult, but rather long and tedious. In normal and boss fights there are two ways to kill the enemies: plain button mashing and aggressive action or smart thinking and using the environment around the player. Throw boxes on the enemies? heads, make them fall off a cliff, push them into the water or make them trip, these are the things a player can do when he?s tired of mindless button mashing.

There are about 4 types of enemies that you?ll encounter: Davy Jones? men, Royal soldiers, pirates and locals from either Singapore or Isla Cruces. They only attack in packs of three, have them the same two or three moves and the same two or three lines. Do you sense some repetitive action over here? I had fun while fighting the huge Kraken boss, because I had to protect the sailors who readied the cannons meant to destroy the beast, by cutting the creature?s tentacles. In the meantime it kept growling, shaking the ship and stealing away members from my crew. The game?s action can vary a lot depending on the character you choose to play with and you?ll see that Elizabeth is weaker but more agile, while Will has more technique than Jack. Learning a couple of combos in the beginning of the game will make this title fairly easy and you?ll reach the final mission in no time, without frustration, but with your fingers aching.

Video The game doesn?t shine in the graphics department, unless you consider the fact that the cutscenes use the game?s engine a groundbreaking feature. What?s the deal with all of these stiff characters lately? We?ve seen them in Spider-Man 3, Shrek 3, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and now they?re back to decrease this title?s ranking. A couple of good lighting effects and a decent camera save the whole package, so At World?s End is not a complete failure, specially because of the atmosphere it can create in the locations shown in the game. The jungle levels look far better than Tortuga or the pirate ship levels, because the vegetation is beautifully drawn and convincing enough to make a Pirates of the Caribbean fan feel right at home.

Aside from being stiff, Jack looks a bit big when compared to the rest of the environment and so do many of his merry men. Also, you?ll see fun stuff, like petite enemies that pack a lot of power and die fast, or tall crab-like enemies that move in slow motion while fighting. Since we?re talking about fun stuff, Jack Sparrow is a famous ladiesman, but this time he?s done it! There?s a mission at some point in the game, that requires to get our pirate hero slapped by 10 ladies. The thing is that they all look alike, without one single changed pixel. Ten identical twins? My, Jack, you?re a lucky man!

Sound By reading all of this you probably think that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World?s End is plagued by flaws and it?s a bad game. You?ll be surprised to find out that the audio experience provided by the title is one of the best I?ve seen in a long long time. It can be compared to what we heard and felt while listening to the score of the Kingdom Hearts II game. Repetitive dialogs aside, Jack Sparrow can keep you glued to the screen with his funny and arrogant lines that bring some spice to the game?s boring action. His taunts are just what you need to get a combo going, just when you?re about to quit, because it seems too easy. Keep in mind that the voices are not those of the original actors from the movie, but their replacements did a terrific job. The game?s soundtrack deserves an A+, as it?s the same brilliant orchestral score from the movie that gets you in the pirate groove.

Multiplayer Maybe you didn?t see this coming, but the game features a multiplayer mode, that will appear as an option once you get to play the challenge or duel modes. Choosing the "Challenge" from the main menu, you?ll be given the choice of a character that you have already unlocked while playing the story mode. Two players is the max number for this mode and you?ll have to perform certain tasks within a time limit, trying to best your mate. The one that finishes first or kills more enemies wins and you can select any of the locations you played on in Story Mode, all of the game?s characters and some rules for the challenge.

Conclusion What seemed like a dull game in the first minutes, turned into a pretty nice adventure, that, although it has many flaws, can keep a gamer satisfied and glued to the TV screen for at least 4 hours, the length of the story mode. Jack Sparrow?s insanely fun spirit is present in the game and that?s enough to sell any media product, isn?t it? Sadly the movie trilogy ends here, but maybe one day we?ll get the chance to see a proper gaming version of such blockbusters.

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story 7
gameplay 6
concept 6
graphics 6
audio 9
multiplayer 7
final rating 6.5
Editor's review
fair
 
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