Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest
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List Price: $34.99
Our Price:
$31.99
You Save: $3
Features
• CD-ROM
• Experience the life of a pirate in this swashbuckling action-adventure game
• Play as Jack Sparrow, Will Turner, or Elizabeth Swann, each with signature fight move
• Fight through 19 exciting levels to defeat 29 different enemies
• 17 different weapons including swords, pistols, hatchets, throwing knives, and grenades
• 2-player cooperative wireless mode; 3 2-player mini games |
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Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Some Treasures Aren't as Valuable as Others
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Movie tie-in video games have a little curse of their own. They're almost never all that great. Every now and then you come across some really good ones. Often, however, you come across mediocre games. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is right up that alley. In reality, the game shows true potential, but like a lot of movie tie-in games it doesn't quite go the distance it's capable of going. In the end, Dead Man's Chest comes off as a watered down hack and slash game, and that's really sad considering the potential this game really had.
As far as the story goes, the game really follows the movie quite well. Most of it plays out through storyboards however. One has to wonder that with the power of the Nintendo DS why voice acting could not be a part of these storyboards. Or even why some scenes couldn't be at least computer animated at most. It's a minor complaint, but again, this is what some movie tie-ins suffer from. This game doesn't make use of its full potential.
You play as one of three characters through Dead Man's Chest. Fighting Davy Jones crew, the cannibals and in some instances, the British. You'll either be Elizabeth Swann, Will Turner or Jack Sparrow (of course you'll be Jack Sparrow!). Each character plays similarly the same, but they each have their own special attacks. Elizabeth pulls out two swords, Will throws a series of Axes and Jack fires a shot from his pistol (a single powerful shot, mind you). However, these special abilities can only be used so many times. In the end what it really boils down to is another basic hack and slash game. The game takes a few measures of inserting instances and moments that weren't in the movie, and of course it's so there's more of a game to go around. As you play you'll have access to more powerful combos and attacks, but it really boils down to is that you won't really need them at all. As the formula for just about every hack and slash goes, you only need to hit the attack button. There's really not that much variety to the game. If the characters didn't have special attacks... they'd pretty much be the same. They might have a few sounds they make during battle, but again, it's disappointing that they didn't have any voices at all.
In addition to the hack and slash you'll also find plenty of weapons in crates. While your default cutlass is good enough, it's nice that there are a variety in weapons. They don't last long, though. Each time you grab a weapon you've got a gauge that shows you how "worn" the weapon is becoming. You can also pick up skulls and other objects and hurl them at your enemies. Still, you're probably better off mashing on the Y button.
As you go on your adventure you'll get gold that'll allow you to buy concept art, characters and costumes for your characters. There's not much else it's used for, and were it better spent on doing things like powering up weapons, or even buying better weapons, it might've added some variety to a game that feels dry a lot of the time.
There are also a couple of mini-games. It seems that every Nintendo DS game that comes out has to have some kind of use for the touch screen. Some games use it really well. Others it seems like a tag on. With Dead Man's Chest the touch screen use definitely feels tacked on. You'll use it to play a memory game where Jack walks the plank, or when Jack needs to shoot at the undead monkey, but avoid shooting and wounding fellow pirates. After a while these mini-games just become downright stale.
What really urks me about movie tie-in games is that a lot of the time the developers always stint out on the graphics to get the game out by the time the movie is released. A lot of movie tie-in games are full of bugs or the graphics are choppy. With Dead Man's Chest it's the latter of the two. There are a couple of bugs, but nothing too noticeable. Really, though, the graphics just look choppy and not nearly as detailed as the DS is capable of making them.
It often feels like the game was rushed to meet the release date of the film. The sword fighting grows repetative real fast, and there just isn't enough of a variety to the game. The biggest hit it takes is in gameplay, respectably. It starts off being a fun game to play, but in the end it does what a lot of movie tie-in games do: It fails to hold up to already fantastic games. Simply put, it's got nothing to differentiate itself from other hack and slash games just like it. It also fails to hold up competition to original DS titles that are grand. If you really enjoyed the movie, you might want to check this game out. Otherwise, it's nothing particularly special.
The Good
+You can play as Jack Sparrow
The Bad
-The gameplay gets repetative fast
-There's not a lot of variety to the gameplay
-Mini-games aren't fun
-The game doesn't use the full power and potential of the Nintendo DS... no voice acting or cutscenes... choppy graphics and that sort of thing |
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Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Man's Chest home electronics.