I have the development of Skull and bones too narrow over the years; I watched the pirate game pop up at a show with a new trailer or demo, then sink back beneath the waves with delay after delay. So when Ubisoft recently opened the game to the public with an open beta, I was intrigued to see what the near-finished product looked like. I’m known for loving piracy, and Ubisoft has the incredible Assassin’s creed black flag finally in the back catalogue.
The open beta weekend was a surprising experience, because I didn’t realize that there was a whole MMO-like game besides the pirate ship battles. The MMO stuff isn’t great either; from seeing everyone’s gamertag above their ship to poorly implemented mechanics, it feels like the boat part of Skull and bones drags a lot of extra technicians along as baggage.
Skull and bones begins with the player engaged in battle against a British fleet and commanding a respectable pirate galleon. Unfortunately for the buccaneers on board, the British bring overwhelming force and sink the ship with volleys of cannon fire. The player wakes up after being washed up and the problems immediately begin with character creation.
Image: Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft
The player’s pirate looks at his reflection in a body of water, revealing his face and shoulders. This means that some character creation categories are a mystery. For example, I can change my body type to one of four options… but I can’t to see my body. Same with tattoos; there are options that obviously add some sort of scar or ink to my pirate’s body, but I can’t see what they look like before confirming. Even basic things like whether a hairstyle has a ponytail are a mystery. Character creation feels hacked, along with incomplete tools; I choose a starting face, which has only three skin tones assigned to each, and then stumble through the rest of the options.
Things don’t get any easier as I climb aboard my new ship, a much more modest ship than the mighty galleon from the tutorial. I make my way to a small island and get out. The movements on land are slow and labored, and the characters I meet don’t do much to interest me. Some of them discuss how the captain of the last galleon died, and I get the impression that I’m just some random swabbie who survived the massacre. Other people refer to me as the last captain and scorns me for our defeat. It’s unclear from a narrative perspective who I am and what the stakes are, but it’s not long before I’m sent back on my boat to gather supplies.
Once I receive all my quests from NPCs on land, I head back to my ship – no land combat for me. I was surprised to see classic MMO quests Skull and bones – especially since the game lacks some of the failsafes that other developers implemented long ago. Let’s say I’m waiting to get supplies from the ocean when a more nimble ship swoops in and takes them first. That spawn is now gone and I have to look for a new one. It’s a minor inconvenience, but an inconvenience nonetheless, especially since it’s a fixed issue in games like World of Warcraft.
There’s a lot of junk in there Skull and bones that just feels bad, especially because of how amazing it feels to be on the open ocean. This is a game where you are the captain and you don’t get your hands dirty cutting the sails or firing the cannons. Instead, you have people who handle that. I used the controller to play and with every movement I felt like the conductor of an orchestra.
Image: Ubisoft Singapore/Ubisoft
There are no entry actions, but otherwise I have access to a variety of options in battle: cannons, rams, evasion maneuvers. This is not a tactical game of strategy and positioning; it’s more like a shooter, but instead of a gun you have a boat. I concentrate on aiming the boat, enabling automatic cannon fire from my crews and avoiding the ideal firing angle for my enemies. In no time I order the ship to charge towards my enemies with a ramming maneuver. The reliance on positioning and pumping out easily accessible damage is familiar to me, and combat is forgiving: it doesn’t require trigonometry to find the best angles.
If you are looking for one Master and Commander-esque series of charged ship battles that play out like a chess match, you may be disappointed. If you like the fantasy of being the captain of a pirate ship, with all the rough parts of history carefully polished, you’ll probably have a great time on the high seas.
There is also the world itself as a dramatic backdrop. Sailing in a storm feels appropriately dangerous and cinematic, with the choppy waters causing the boat to bob and dip. Failing to sail through stormy seas will damage your ship, and getting through a rough patch makes me feel like an experienced captain. There’s also a fair bit of ship customization, from ship class to the cute companion that hangs out on my ship to keep the crew company.
It has been a long journey through development Skull and bones, and I feel like certain parts of the game – like land movement and character creation – are less carefully crafted additions, roughly based on the mechanics that work. It’s a journey through rough waters, marred by strange glitches and inconsistent gameplay. But when the stars align and a great ship scenario occurs, I can see the vision of it Skull and bones. Those glimpses were just too few and far between to really enjoy my time in the open beta.