After 11 years in development and seven years since its announcement, Skull and Bones of Ubisoft Singapore has finally arrived in the hands of gamers, promising to be a great successor to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
Is it really Skull and Bones can it meet players' expectations and provide an excellent pirate experience, or does it end up going against the grain?
Check out our review of the game below, which was only possible thanks to a review key sent in by Ubisoft Brazil.
Skull and Bones navigates a shallow history
Taking players from the African coast to the lush tropical islands of the East Indies, Skull and Bones doesn't have one of the best premises for a pirate game.
After losing your ship, you restart your story with the aim of overthrowing the pirates in power and competing with each other to rule as the most feared pirate.
To do this, you need to increase your Infamy, get resources to build better ships, conclude contracts with vendors, factions and local bosses and build your own smuggling empire.
All this while risking your loot in intense naval battles, dangerous waves, unpredictable weather, ruthless pirate hunters and lethal animals.
An experience worthy of a Battleship
At first, Skull and Bones presents players with some very interesting things. You're thrown into a frantic gameplay section and a tense narrative section.
Straight away, he takes you on your first objectives, even showing you a bit of exploration outside the ship. However, when the world opens up, things start to go a bit off the rails.
Contrary to what many expected, including me, Skull and Bones ends up ceasing to be a pirate game and focusing on naval battles. You receive numerous contracts, so you have to sail back and forth destroying ships and collecting resources.
Navigation is shallow
Unlike Sea of Thievessailing is always a great challenge, as you have to take care of the sails, your ship filling up with water and with dangers all around you, sailing in Skull and Bones is completely without depth.
All you have to do is plot your route, set maximum speed and go in a straight line, swerving when necessary.
Most of the time, you won't be attacked either, unless you do. Once again, I'd like to highlight the structure of the missions, in which you go from point A to point B, collect some resources in an instant and return. In other words, everything is monotonous.
The exploitation and search for resources is heartbreaking
All I ever wanted to do in a pirate game was hunt for resources to improve my ship, shoot enemies and, above all, search for treasure. None of this is fun in Skull and Bones.
Collecting resources is done through a minigame, without even leaving the ship. You just need to create the exact material first, such as a pickaxe. Then press the button at the right time and voilà, you've collected the resource.
But what about treasure hunting? Well, you'll receive a map in the style of the Sea of Thieves. But when you get close to the place, a strong glow appears on the ground indicating that the chest is there. Not very funny, is it?
Playing Skull and Bones cooperatively is definitely something
While Sea of Thieves has one of the most incredible and necessary positive experiences, it's not exactly the same with Skull and Bones.
It's different from what people used to think, Skull and Bones will put each player on their own ship. And it will make the experience even more monotonous.
You'll just be with your friend going from point A to point B to complete the objectives, and at times destroying some enemy ships.
It's worth noting that when I was playing with a friend and interacting with a main mission, he stood outside waiting for me to watch the cutscene, instead of the game showing it to him. We don't know if it was a bug or deliberate, but it completely broke the immersion.
Is Skull and Bones worth playing?
I didn't think the game was bad at all. Skull and Bones can offer a cool naval battle experience, especially with the fact that you have to keep upgrading your ship in search of new challenges.
The customization of the ship is very interesting, as is the creation of the equipment. In addition, the Ubisoft has already outlined a very interesting roadmap for the game. But, of course, the suggested price for the game makes no sense at all. And it's not even comparable with other games of its kind on the market.
I didn't expect much from the game, but I don't think it even met my expectations. With the possibility of playing through Ubisoft+ in PC e Xbox (in the future also on PlayStation)Maybe it would be a good idea for you to try it out. After all, if you're a fan of grind games, you might enjoy Skull and Bones.
Skull and Bones is now available for PC, PS5 e Xbox Series.
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