Pirates of the Caribbean (PC, XBX)

While we’re not usually down with the eye-patch and peg leg set, our first impressions of Pirates of the Caribbean are very favorable. Set in and around a series of tropical islands, the game is shaping up to be a seafaring version of another Bethesda classic (and GameGal favorite), Morrowind.

Originally, this was a game called Sea Dogs 2 and was in development for the better part of two years. With the upcoming Disney movie Pirates of the Caribbean starring Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom, a deal was struck to make a few tweaks to the nearly finished game and release it as a movie tie-in.

The game seems to be very close to its original form and shares little with the film besides the title and few rewritten plot points. No Johnny Depp cameos here.

As a pirate captain, you can sail from island to island, engaging in trade, hiring crew and going on quests. Much like Morrowind, there’s a giant main quest and many hours of optional side quests.

If you get tired of action on dry land, you can hop on your ship and engage in some ship-to-ship battles. These fight scenes look great, and can be handled from a removed tactical view, or you can zoom in and take over the cannons yourself. You can even attempt to board the enemy ship and finish the battle hand-to-hand.

Of course, once you defeat a ship, you can plunder its cargo and crew, or even swap it for your own ship.

We especially liked the open-ended gameplay in Pirates. You can choose to balance land and sea play 50/50 or concentrate on one or the other. The graphics look great, and we think this easily accessible game could be the perfect RPG for gamers who would never be caught dead playing an RPG.
--DA