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Amehdaus's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (DS)
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| [January 10, 2007 11:39:39 PM]
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[Part III]
Proposed Change
In light, put Sora and some Heartless into the game, maybe a hidden level. I can guarentee word of it would boost sales tenfold.
In seriousness, including situations and opponents in the game requiring the use of the many nifty combos already in the game would help greatly in improving the game. Likewise, more variety amongst weapons beyond the aesthetic and three levels of damage would diversify the play experience. (Now, I'm not certain, but the parasol wielded as a weapon may have a random chance of stunning the foes but I cant be certain that it is the cause - if it is, kudos to the game designers on making it the best weapon in the game.)
Brainstorming
A lackluster game overall, and laden with everything movie-license games stand for - because license abuse is superior to gameplay. I'm not terribly surprised. I imagine companies have generic game programming already set up and simply insert license settings and avatars when they win the bid. Smart marketing, actually.
Emergence
Movie license games don’t need emergence. It happens occasionally. I can’t think of anything offhand but I’ll give the industry the benefit of the doubt. Theoretically, one could say that additional Pirates of the Caribbean story is "emerging" from the gameplay, but once you break it down the scenarios neither add nor reveal anything relevant.
Flow
The levels follow the course the course of the movie, filling in the gaps as they woud have occurred and moving geographically as well as as chronologically. After playing the first three levels, I believe I've seen everything the game has to offer as far as gameplay variety (outside of themed locales and villains) and if I continue to play it will be be out of a drive to see Davy Jones' avatar and how he attacks in the undeniably emminent boss battle. A level feels like an eternity, however the ability to restart from the last checkpoint (5-10 per level) helps break the game into shorter sessions.
Social Interactions
Hear is where the game shows potential I have not yet tapped. There is a cooperative mode tied to the DS wireless which just might make the game more interesting. Then again, one character fighting three incompetent foes may not be that much less interesting than two players fight six incompetent foes. Then again, the minigames might be promising. What could be more fun than a bunch of guys sitting around shooting the monkey? I'll spare you all from further elaboration
Cut Scenes
They exist... not so much as scenes as Cut Dialogue Boxes. There is some good humor in character with the movie and I believe I mentioned the levels opening and closing with movie dialogue. The witty repartee displays with a nice character portrait to show who is talking and utilizes the DS second screen so you can still glance at the paused action.
Conclusion
Avast ye scurvy bilge rats, best ye enjoy the game with rum in yer rotten gut! [Disclaimer: Underage or irresponsible drinking is in no way condoned by the author of this review.] Drink up me 'earties, yo ho!!
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| [January 10, 2007 11:39:22 PM]
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[Part II]
Design Elements (and Reward Structure)
The money accrued through blind violence and wanton destruction is utilized to purchase unlockable features such as concept art, characters, and weapons which are ingeniously listed and visible at any time so that you *know* you are just 5 bags of gold away from being able to see Will Turner in his oh-so-sexy wedding suit. I'm straight and I'm still drooling at the thought~ although it was the aforementioned Johnny Depp in tribal attire that was my first priority.
"Replay value" is also emulated in the unlockable features as the special characeters can only be attained by finding a statue in each level - which is only avaiable if you've defeated the boss for that level at least once. This is actually rather obnxious. I've unlocked the Mortician who's statue was rather obvious, but located in the very last part of the first level, requiring a great deal of repetitive piracy to access. He doesn't have a special attack, by the way -- but is extra slow and has less health than the other characters to make up fo it... Yeah.
I must admit, as a movie-license game, it provides far more entertainment than I was expecting even despite its simplicity. Y, Y, Y perfectly accompanies a Neverwinter Nights II loading screen or a World of Warcraft gryphon ride.
The cartridge also sports three minigames which are no less intelligent, but take advantage of the DS stylus and provide a nice reprieve when they pop up. 'Shoot the Monkey' has Jack (Barabosa named the monkey Jack, remember) popping up behind crates and rigging on ship deck with a pair of suicidal pirates and you (as Jack... Captain Jack, not monkey Jack) race against Mr. Gibbs (who, judging by his reaction speed, has been reacquainted with his trusty flask) to shoot the monkey the most times before time is expired. You get a point when you click the monkey with the stylus and and lose one if you shoot the crew.
The other minigames are far less entertaining and logical (I can understand wanting to shoot the monkey). 'Boom Barge' pits you in a cannon fight, but you can only shoot the flotsam between to two ships (using the stylus to angle the cannon) attempting to float it into the enemy hull. 'Walk the Plank' pits Sparrow in a duel against a generic pirate-y foe accross a cross-spar of the ship's sail. By quickly repeating the pattern of coloured dots that light up in sequence, you maneuver your foe off the far side to plunge to a water grave. Yarr! Nothing says "Pirate" quite like blue, white, white, red, white, green.
Level Design
The first level is the dungeon level. The second level is the city level. The third level is the jungle. The dungeon has nifty things like cages to destroy and random cannons to fire and barred portcullis that only open when you clear the room of ill-trained guards. The city has debris and torches to encourage pyromania while elizabeth (in her wedding dress) chugs rum and the English forces determinedly continue to poke her. I read no innuendo in that statement... none whatsoever. The jungle... has more things to light on fire and plenty of pagan natives to introduce to the brimstone.
Conflict
What could be more conflicted than a young girl forced to decide between Orlando Bloom and Johnny Depp? The game provides wave after wave of unskilled swordsmen supplemented with Englishmen who favor the bayonet over actually firing their rifles. It would make a much more difficult game if Jack had to swerve off waves of fangirls - more sense too, in many cases. They have the numbers and the blind fanatcism.
Interest
It's Pirate's of the Caribbean. Therein the interest lies. Curiosity over which character will star the next level and which hole in the movie will be filled with bloodthirsty (and rum-thirsty) warfare drive me to play further into the game... during commercial break.
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| [January 10, 2007 11:38:50 PM]
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[Part I]
Characters
Much of the cast of the second movie in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy are available to play in the DS installment of the game. Each level places the player in control of one character with a unique special attack. In the first, Jack Sparrow (sorry, *Captain* Jack Sparrow) armed with his trusty pistol and ricochet ammunition (clearing enemies on the screen). In the second, Elizabeth Swan dual-wielding swords (to clear a line of enemies). The third features Will Turner (with enough throwing axes hidden on his person that American Dad's "Ocupado" rings in my head). Beyond these I cannot say with my limited time playing the game, although a "Mortician" (generic guard of the prison), Lord Beckett (the East-India Trading Company entrepeneur featured as a villain in the movie), a tribal warrior, a "Voodoo Doll," "Captain Pirate," and Former (and once again?) Commodore Norrington are named in the unlockables menu as potential characters.
Also, alternate outfits are available for the characters including Jack's tribal chieftain (god?) costume and Swan and Turner's wedding clothes. An interesting and notably unique aspect of the game is that once a character/alternate outfit is unlocked you can switch freely to that character during a level. For example, using *Chieftain* Jack Sparrow to complete Elizabeth's Swan's level. There isn't much difference, play-wise, amongst the characters but the option is interesting and it only just occurs to me that I believe I missed some cutscenes when I did just that.
Story
The game delves into the path of the Matrix video game licenses by supplementing the movie rather than reliving it as an obstacle course. In the film, Jack Sparrow is introduced evacuating a coffin he'd utilized to escape a prison wherein he'd stolen a drawing of a key. No screen time is used to extrapolate on the experience. The game begins with the player in control of Jack Sparrow migrating from a cell of the prison to the location of the drawing and ultimately to the boss battle that gives Jack the method he needs to escape.
Likewise, Swan's adventure extrapolates an urban chase and Turner's an exploration of a jungle island in search of Sparrow. It adds an interesting element as each level opens and closes with dialogue from the movie but works a play experience (swashbuckling exclusively) into the gaps.
Gameplay
Y, Y, Y. Theoretically there are are other buttons that may even do things like kick or block, but I've seen no need for them. Occasionally I'll add in some Left trigger action if the opponent likes to block, but that comes up far less often than one would think.
It's a shame, one of the many unlockables are combos of buttons leading to leaping attacks, eye gouges, spinning attacks, and all sorts of piratey nonsense -- but with that handy Y slash, there isn't really any need. Well, to be perfectly honest I've used the "eye gouge" with Elizabeth for my own entertainment as her variation is a slap.
Another wasted element of the game is the amazing variety of weapons, from swords to spears to guns to the almighty parasol... each of which is defined by nothing more than a visual change and a difference of dealing light, medium, or heavy damage (with a porportionate decrease in attack speed). I don't quite see how a cleaver deals heavy damage while a cutlass deals light or any other logic as to how weapons were assigned their damage values... but que será será~ (I will be mildly aggravated if the accents on the 'a's do not display properly) Also, as weapons decay after a only a few swings, attachment to a single one isn't conducive to play.
Meanwhile, Rum restores health (what lesson are we teaching our children?), blue rum restores the special attack bar (who knew they had Midori in the Caribbean?), and bags of coins drop from chests, barrels, pirates, and crows ("No girl can resist a sparkly" - somehow I foresee this reference falling flat).
Innovation
I didn't get the game because I wanted a quality entertainment experience and stimulation of otherwise dormant braincells. I have the game because it is Pirates of the Caribbean. Savvy?
It's a side-scrolling swashbuckling game offering nostalgia for the SNES Turtles in Time and essentially boils down to three enemies appearing on screen who must be killed... before three more invariably spawn. Once the waves of charmed ones are completed, you get to walk a few paces to something resembleing a change of scene (slightly differently shaped fighting area) and repeat the process. Y, Y, Y.
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Amehdaus's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (DS)
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Current Status: Playing
GameLog started on: Friday 5 January, 2007
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