It's pretty much inevitable that any popular movie franchise will end up in game format on every console still exhibiting a pulse. And it's also pretty much inevitable that the resulting monstrosity will be light on gameplay, and hastily hurried out the door to coincide with the film's release.
Pirates of the Caribbean is bordering on being an exception to the rule. While not without its flaws, At World's End has enough entertainment value to make it worth a playthrough, but won't be one that gamers hold on to for long term replay value.
The game spans eleven levels, based on the second film in the Pirates franchise, Dead Man's Chest. Through the course of the game, the player assumes control of Jack Sparrow, Will, and Elizabeth, as well as occasional bouts as a few of the supporting pirate cast. The goal of almost every level follows a similar format - defeat hordes of enemies, collect items, and square off one-on-one in a swordplay duel.
Combat is largely uninspired, boiling down to hacking and slashing while attempting to boost your Special meter so that finishing moves can be executed. The meter fills more rapidly when mixing your sword slashes with the occasional punch, and finishing moves are required to defeat the more powerful enemies, and can increase the likelihood of item drops.
Jack can also collect shrunken heads that energize his sword so that he can deliver an area effect special attack, and collect souls of the enemies he defeats. The purpose of soul collection appears to be solely for Achievement, and doesn't affect any other in-game mechanics.
Each level has seven items to collect, spread out across the levels. These are usually fairly easy to find, but each level has one or two that are challenging to find for completionists. There is also a unique Calypso piece in each level that unlocks a background story cinematic and a 150-point Achievement. Progress through the levels is guided by placement of money bags that lead the way like breadcrumbs through Hansel and Gretel's forest.
The backgrounds are detailed, and though not very vibrant, are still pretty enough to look at. The attention to animation is evident, as the developer expertly captured the essence of Jack Sparrow as delivered onscreen by Johnny Depp. The finishing moves are similarly well executed, and give a sense of satisfaction when dispatching an enemy with one.
The individual duel scenarios have a certain interesting appeal to them, but the gameplay component is little more than a variant of the old Simon game, in which the player has a limited window in which to match the direction of the incoming attack to block it. The opponent's attacks are telegraphed by one of three onscreen icons situated at the high, middle, and low positions. The pace of these duels is too slow to give a true feel of swordplay and derring-do.
The difficulty level is not customizable, and is not particularly challenging once you learn to execute simple combos, watch for incoming attacks, and learn the duel patterns.
There are no online Achievements, so no boosting will be required in order to get the full 1,000 Gamerscore points. There are a number of guides and FAQs available online to help track down any collectable items that you miss, and only the 100 Souls Achievement presents much challenge. 9 of the 30 Achievements (225 points) can be earned simply by playing through the entire story without paying any attention to collectables or side tasks.
In the end, Pirates of the Caribbean is an entertaining romp through the storyline of the film, but players will be happy once it's over. The repetitive combat will quickly lose its appeal, and levels will only see replay if the player needs to go back for collectables that were missed the first time round (note that all collectables must be gathered in the same playthrough to qualify for the Achievements - you can't just go back and grab the few that you previously missed).
This review is based on a retail copy purchased used from Rogers Plus. 3.0