Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
- June 02, 2006 11:50 AM PST
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Following the story arc of the movie, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest allows players to control the infamous Jack Sparrow from a 3rd person perspective through 11 levels of sword fighting, puzzle solving, and good old swashbuckling.
Best-Case Scenario: It's a Pirates of the Caribbean game. Being that there are no expectations to be groundbreaking, Dead Man's Chest could surprise.
Worst-Case Scenario: It's a Pirates of the Caribbean game. It runs the risk of movie-to-game gone badly, which has been happening a lot these days.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is the first Pirates game for the PSP, and for a pirate like Jack Sparrow, the real fun comes from the fighting system. Choose from a variety of weapons such as swords, pistols, knives, and grenades to do your bidding. You'll use a combination of buttons to switch between quick and strong attacks to defeat enemies of different caliber. Some wield a single sword, dual swords, hatchets, or guns. Overwhelmed at times by the sheer amount of opponents on screen, it's time to fight like a dirty pirate. Use cheap shots such as a swift kick to the groin, head butting, or smashing a bottle over an enemies head to temporarily stun mobs and help manage your targets. If a sword combo is established without interruption, Jack will lunge forward with a brutal attack impaling his enemies, then removing them from the hilt with a kick to the chest. Brutal, yet satisfying.
Multiplayer, on the other hand, is an entirely different game quite similar to Sid Meier's Pirates. Up to four players take to the seas in a battle royal of pirate ships with multiple modes including classic Deathmatch, Last Pirate Standing, or Plunder the Flag. There are many ways to take out opponents, whether you are looking to steal gold from them to purchase upgrades for the next round or just plain sink their ship into the deep abyss. Note that in single player, your notoriety and advancement will allow you to unlock extra ships for multiplayer.
Overall, with a big Hollywood name and A-list actors, Dead Man's Chest for the PSP could be subject to a few shortcomings. The delayed controls and linear AI make this game somewhat difficult to play. It's hard to tell whether the controls are lagged or if it's just Jack's drunken stagger, but you'll come to find maneuvering from one small area to the next quite a chore. Once you get the camera controls and Jack's choreography down, you'll be more aware of items in the environment such as grog for health and skulls that light up to indicate interactive sequences such as rope swinging or explosive barrels. Look for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest to hit store shelves on June 27.
