Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

The game starts somewhat promisingly, with a passable in-game render of a large pirate ship. It's clear that the developers have managed to capture the atmosphere of the film, to some extent – all of the necessary elements are there. Gruff-voiced, barnacle-clad pirates, rats, torchlights, dodgy-looking bridges – aesthetically it's just about there. The movement of the characters looks good, with competent animations, and there's even some attempts at ray lighting. However, there's an overall lack of graphical detail, and some of the animation is beyond shoddy – most notably badly-cut-out spiders that appear to have been drawn by a child. Despite the occasional aberrations, there is some kind of vague, barely-present charm that just about salvages the game visually.

The same cannot be said for the control system. The playable characters are moved around using the analogue stick, with motion controls used to fight. At first, it's fine – swinging the remote around in a certain manner results in a certain type of attack. It's when you realise that there are only really 2 types of main attack, and that the game structure revolves around endlessly repeating these attacks, that the true lifeless and repetitive nature of this game becomes apparent. Every single battle is almost entirely the same, other than the locale and the goon that you're whacking with your sword. Items, such as a gun and bombs, are so poorly implemented that it's often difficult to use them properly, especially in the middle of a sword-fight, so you're lumbered with swinging your Wii remote back and forth wishing you were somewhere else.

 

To the developer's credit, they have tried to vary the controls to some extent – using the nunchuck allows you to perform combos, and you can also block. Some of the combo moves do look interesting, at first – sadly, the novelty wears off after the first ten fights. Other attempts to liven up the gameplay experience fall flat on their glutes – the game occasionally initiates a 'Jackanism,' requiring you to wiggle the remote in a certain way to unlock bonuses. It begs the question: Why? If the developers don't have enough imagination to integrate the Wii remote into the game in a subtle way then we'd rather they bogged off. Rotating the remote in a clockwise circle is completely incongruous to both the game and the story itself, and it smacks of utter desperation.

As well as being able to play as the inimitable Jack Sparrow, you can also play as Will ( Orlando Bloom ), Elizabeth, and some of the other characters from the film. Perhaps unsurprisingly, none of these alternatives offer any more than the feeling of stagnant mediocrity that Jack himself offers.

Aside from the main game, there are some mini-games that you can play by collecting items and performing Jackanisms in the game. This would've been nice about 10 months ago, but sadly nearly every Wii game features some kind of mini-game these days, and as such it's simply not enough to account for the obscene drudgery of the rest of the game. Poker is always nice, however, even if it has a weird Pirate facade.