Product Description

Inspired by one of this summer's most anticipated blockbusters, Pirates of the Caribbean will bring swashbuckling adventures and rich worlds to the role-player. Featuring stunning graphics, deep role-playing elements and thrilling quests, the Pirates of the Caribbean game offers players the unique opportunity to prove their mettle against the legendary buccaneers of the Caribbean.

Deciding to become a cold-hearted mercenary for hire, a peaceful and profitable merchant or a swashbuckling pirate will influence future interactions. Gaining wealth and experience gives players the opportunity to hire crew members, sail larger ships and uncover priceless treasures. Players will enjoy advanced AI, incredibly detailed characters and vessels, breathtaking views at sea and lush, exotic locales. Enhancing the game's realism, wind and water conditions will affect how ships sail and fight. Day and night lighting and beautiful water effects make the game come alive.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #8361 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: UBI Soft
• Released on: 2003-08-15
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Platforms: Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows XP

Customer Reviews

Aarrr-gh Jim Lad!
This game was known as SeaDogs II until at some point in the development Disney stepped in and decided to tie the game to their Pirates of the Caribbean movie released this summer. The game has few ties to the movie except the name and the theme, which may not be such a good thing.

This game is, from the moment you load it up and access the options menu, a blatant console game ported to the PC. Whether it was designed that way or it was reverse engineered for the PC is hard to tell, but everything in the game is obviously designed for a gamepad to control. As a consequence the interface is pretty but clunky, barely making use of the PC's wide range of control opportunities. It is, however, very very pretty. Everything looks polished and detailed, and the actual sailing action is very nice just to watch. Sadly it isn't as nice to play. The fact that some controls can't be reconfigured, and that some controls aren't even listed clearly is pretty dire and confusing. Some controls perform the same function in any situation, some do not, with only experience allowing you to distinguish the two. On land your character has very basic movement, turn left/right and forward/backward in a choice of two speeds; slow and average (walk and run). In a swordfight, far from being the nimble clashing of blades and acrobatics the movie and other games of the genre have spoiled us with, you have much the same controls, turn left/right, run/walk and "dodge" which jumps you backward. You can't sidestep (whoever tried swordfighting without sidestepping??), you can't jump and your attack moves are randomised not related to your control input. However your block move will block all attacks (well you have a % chance to block any attack), so that partly compensates for not having moves to choose from. At sea the controls are suitably sluggish to take effect and the reactions to your commands of your crew are visible on-screen, which is a nice touch. On the map screen (used for traveling large distances between islands) the controls aren't configurable (they're WASD), random events happen a bit too often and you get little help surviving them (sail away from pirates, sail through storms (storms are very good for eyecandy!)). Combat at sea is quite good, although using the first person cannon-aiming is strongly advised as the AI aim is abysmal at first. Boarding is messy when achieved but satisfying when completed successfully.

The plot is a fairly enjoyable period piece, but if you resent being railroaded into doing tasks when you want to be off exploring the world, then this might not be for you. You can avoid the storyline but the game then gives you no difficulty gradient to climb, you'll be in at the deep end. Even during the storyline it is far far too easy to get into situations you can't handle, and the limited number of savegames (console feature anyone?) only compounds the issue.

This game desperately needs more documentation and in-game help than you get. Navigating on land is a nightmare with no map available to tell you just which dusty turning beyond a tree you need to get back to your boat. The fast-travel in ports is handy but for some unexplained reason does not include your ship as a destination. So once you've fast-traveled to the tavern, say, getting back to your boat means you have to run through the streets until you find the exit to the port area. As the streets have no signposts this can be tedious.

To Summarise:

It looks like it should be Morrowind At Sea. It isn't. It looks good, the plot is OK, but as it fails to make good use of the PC controls it rather ruins the game and you find yourself fighting against the software to get enjoyment from what should have been an instant classic. If you like sailing or combat at sea in the 1600s and can handle the control system, it could be worth a try. If a strategy guide is produced it may heal alot of the flaws in the (lack of) documentation, so I'd advocate buying one if it is produced.

I ain't gonna lie to ya...
The graphics in this game are generally quite good, but the gameplay is made very difficult by some insane controls. Moving your character (Nathaniel Hawk) is done via the mouse of all things. Another point to mention is that the instruction manual is not too special. The setup and idea behind the game is very good but gameplay can feel quite slow at times as previously mentioned in another review. I would advise to buy this game as it is much better than many pirate games out on the market. You just need to learn to master the controls and be initially patient with the game. Oh, also beware when sword fighting.....this takes a lot of practice!!!

Very good
If you enjoyed the game Morrowind the Elder Scrolls you will enjoy this game, Think of it as a pirate role playing game with freeform gameplay.
The graphics are very nice and have some great touches like youe crew running around the deck and the sunsets when you are moored in a secluded bay, a mention has to go to the great storm and weather effects and also the sea effects!.
The game is hard to start with and you will die a few times but stick with it and you discover just how deep this game can be.
You will need a decent p.c to get the most from the game i run a 2 ghz pentium 4 with a 128mb nvidia graphic card and it runs well.
A lot has been said about bugs in this game and i have to admit the game has crashed on me but only once.