Gaming Trend

Gaming Trend Review

by Keith Schleicher

The first Pirates of the Caribbean movie was considered to be a joke in the film industry before it was released.  A film based on a Disney ride wasn’t exactly the high point of inspiration.  Johnny Depp had rather odd roles in most of his previous movies and didn’t have the prestige he currently has. While Bloom was slowly becoming known for his work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and gaining some appeal with the ladies, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom were not headliners that would bring in a crowd.  The movie also had a large budget, making many skeptical that the movie could make a profit.

Then Pirates of the Caribbean was released and reviews were good.  Very good.  The buzz around the movie built up and it made a nice sum of money for Disney.  Captain Jack Sparrow became the face of the movie.  Johnny Depp got an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his work in the film.  A new franchise was born.

The sequel came out this summer with an even bigger marketing blitz than original, and that included new video games for the series.  In Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest (PotC: DMC) for the PSP you get to play as Captain Jack Sparrow, doing that pirate thing, getting into trouble and fighting your way out of it.

Several issues come up with the graphics in PotC:DMC.  Captain Jack doesn’t look bad, but he has a certain swagger to him.  In the game, he looks more like a pansy because of how he holds his arms and hands when standing still.  He does have more movement and moves a bit more smoothly than anyone else in the game.

The character models look rather blocky with low polygon counts.  While this wouldn’t be bad if the texture helped to smooth out the graphics, the textures are rather bland and don’t do anything to hide the rough edges.  Several clipping issues also occured, such as the times when an enemy would be defeated and the enemy would fall through a wall behind him.  The characters disappeared shortly thereafter in a puff of smoke, so it's not that noticeable though.

The backgrounds are even worse on the eyes.  In one stage Captain Jack runs through a jungle fighting against the natives.  Trees look like they used four rectangles put together, with stripes for the textures.  Rocks were incredibly jagged with nothing to help smooth them out.  Even ledges looked like they were made with only 90 degree angles.

If this wasn’t bad enough, a kindergartener would be able to count the number of unique enemies within each level…a very slow kindergartener.  I can understand why there wouldn’t be that variety in a level, but only having two different characters in a mission is disappointing.

They did get the music of PotC: DMC done right.  Those familiar with the movie will actually get a bit of a rush hearing the theme of the movie in the background.  It’s energetic, exciting, and really sets the mood for the game.  Each of the other levels has music appropriate to their background.  For instance, the jungle level has a tribal beat to it.

The sound effects are adequate.  Swords clang against each other.  Bottles break when smashed.  Barrels and crates creak when busted.  They won’t win any awards, but the sound effects aren't anything to complain about.

The voice acting is good, but when you think of Captain Jack Sparrow you think of Johnny Depp.  Unfortunately Depp doesn’t do the voice of Captain Jack.  While they have found an adequate replacement for Captain Jack, it’s just not the same listening to his voice.  The other characters in the game that Captain Jack interacts with in the cutscenes use other voice actors.

The controls of the game are rather simple.  Movement is handled with the analog nub, but the d-pad has other functions.  Down on the d-pad lets Jack attack with alternate weapons, while left, up, and right on the d-pad perform power moves.  Speed attacks are done with X, while Square performs a strong attack.  Triangle makes Captain Jack jump.  Taunts, stuns, and a swing pump are all performed with the Circle.  L and R rotate the camera.

The controls are simple, but sometimes the camera doesn’t play nice.  Sometimes you can’t even see yourself or the enemy you are fighting on the screen in front of you.  Another reason why the controls are so bad is explained in the gameplay section.

The game starts out reliving moments from the recent movie.  First Captain Jack Sparrow breaks out of prison and escapes in a coffin.  He then moves on to the island inhabited by the cannibals. Anyone who has seen the movie can recognize that path that Captain Jack continues to take through the game, living the life of a pirate as only Captain Jack Sparrow can.

Most of the game involves combat.  An enemy with one weapon requires you to hit X, X, X, and then Square several times to defeat him.  An enemy with two weapons requires you to hit Square, Square, Square, and then the X several times.  This combo system is very simplistic, and it never feels satisfying.  You feel as if you are playing game where you need to just get the timing down instead of planning your attack.  It's also repetitive as you can't mix up moves to defeat enemies.

The combat isn’t too bad when facing one enemy at the time, but multiple enemies cause a huge issue.  You can stun an enemy temporarily, but they aren't stunned for nearly long enough.  Not only that, but there is no way to defend against an attack. This causes Jack to take damage no matter what he does making the combat incredibly frustrating.

Dying wouldn’t be so frustrating if it weren’t for the save system.  You can work you way through roughly half the level, but if you end up dying (and you probably will), you go back to the beginning of the level and have to play the whole thing over again.  Starting at the beginning of the level over and over again made me want to throw my PSP, or at least the UMD, into the street and let it get run over by several cars.  There are checkpoints throughout the levels, but they are too sparce.

Weapons can be picked up along the way, such as bottles and knives.  These are nice because if Jack hits an enemy with them, they are dead with one hit.  Once it has been used, the special weapon is used up and you have to pick up another one.

Inventory management is non-existant.  Once I picked up a torch by accident and I wasn't able to get Jack to put the torch down.  This made combat very difficult and increased the frustration factor of the game since I wouldn't be able to use special weapons.

A few puzzles need to be solved.  Jack might have to get across a canyon by swinging on a vine.  He might have to open a gate by pulling on a lever or blowing up a barrel close to the lock.  Any place where you can interact with the environment is highlighted with the skull and torches that are symbolic of the franchise.  When you get close enough to interact with the environment, the torches light up.  Some might think that this is too easy, but because of the portable nature of the PSP you learn to appreciate it.  In all honesty, the areas are pretty easy to figure out without the symbols.

PotC: DMC does feature three difficulty levels, but even going through this game once is torture enough.  Going through the game multiple times is nothing short of masochistic.  Some gamers might enjoy the challenge though.

Interestingly, PotC: DMC has a multiplayer mode that is different from the regular game, a multiplayer ship battle.  The three multiplayer modes available are Plunder the Flag, Deathmatch, and Last Man Standing.  Five different ship classes are available for you to control, and each of them has different handling and weapons.  Choosing the right type of ship for the match could determine the winner.  It’s a good thing that you can play against enemy AI though, because finding other people to play this with you is tough.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest feels like one of those bad movie-title licensed games from the early days of gaming.  It’s surprising that none of the developers noticed the glaring issues in the game.  This is really too bad as the multiplayer is actually a lot of fun and a bright spot in this otherwise piece of garbage.  No matter how big of a fan you might be of PotC: DMC, run away from this game as fast as you can and save your money for the movie.

Gaming Trend Score

53

1. Graphics: 48
2. Audio: 74
3. Controls: 63
4. Gameplay: 35
5. Value/Replay: 60
6. OVERALL:53