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> Results: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
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by Michael Anderson
September 14, 2007
Not to be confused with the movie or other games with the same title, this could have been called 'Prince of Pirates'!
Reviewed for DS.
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The ESRB Says
Violence: GamerDad hacked and clashed his way through a variety of enemies in bloodless battles.
There is a general expectation that movie tie-in games will deviate somewhat from the actual story in order to focus more on gameplay elements that will make for an enjoyable experience. This was true for most console versions of Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End, but the DS version is something entirely different. Reminiscent of games based off the Prince of Persia GBA engine upscaled to 3D for the DS, the game consists almost entirely of running around hacking and slashing your way through enemies in scenes that are reminiscent of things from the movie without actually feeling like part of the film.
That detachment isn't necessarily such a bad thing - games such as Eragon have had great success ignoring the film and other game versions and forging their own path. Unfortunately, this game is entirely undermined by bland gameplay and boring combat. It is the sort of game that is fun as a quick diversion but little else. There are several mini-games and those are ultimately the best part of the game. To the extent that when my older son took the game after I finished he quickly tired of the main quest (he did ask if it got better ... I told him it didn't) and he and his brother now use the game solely to play 'Pirate Dice'. There is more than just combat, as would be expected given the reference to Prince of Persia - there are platform and adventuring elements as well, but nothing that is particularly engaging or exciting. There is no 'train wreck' here, just the sort of stale and bland licensed game that has come to be the cynical representation of all movie tie-ins.
This is a fairly tame title with very little to be concerned about in terms of content. There is violence, more violence and still more violence. Yet it is not visceral or scary or gory in any way. This is a typical action game that kids love playing in the spirit of the 'beat em ups' such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or the more recent Naruto games. None of the elements from the movies that would scare kids - the skeletons in particular - are at all scary here. The game pretty much skirts pirate themes such as drinking and womanizing, so those aren't of any concern.
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> Results: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
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