Pirates of the Caribbean Critic Reviews

Just that sort of game. It sucks you in and won't let go until suddenly you're late for work or the morning sun is peeking through the blinds and you realize you stayed up all night again.

Naval battles are where Pirates shines. The game's ocean settings look spectacular, with some of the most gorgeous graphics on Xbox.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a tough game; it might mislead some buyers into thinking it shares much more than a name with the Hollywood movie.

I wish Pirates of the Caribbean was easier to get in to than it is, but it's worth your time if you're willing to hang in there.

Though I was irritated with the cache issue (still am), the game itself manages to be everything I expected in a pirate title and more.

The fact that Pirates is not based on the movie works to the game's advantage...The player is free to follow his own path with no preconceived notions.

The weather effects are beautiful (the storm sequences are downright scary), and pulling off a successful ship capture is an exhilarating experience once you manage it.

The world is truly your oyster. Whether or not there's a pearl in it depends on how much you enjoy the freedom given to you.

Even with it's incomplete manual and it's many frustrations, I still liked Pirates of the Caribbean. There's much to do, places to see, buccaneers to slaughter, and mutineers to squash – all wrapped up in a colorful package.

The big, dramatic-looking naval battles pack in a lot of variety, and the open-ended structure of the campaign rewards your curiosity.

Although the lackluster land gameplay drags the experience down a bit, the sailing parts of the game are just so exciting and enthralling that you can totally forget about the less riveting parts of the game. I do prefer Bethesda's other published RPG, "Morrowind," because there is simply more to do.

PotC's depth is maybe a notch or two below what was seen in Morrowind, it suffers from new combat and camera problems stemming from the third person perspective and nearly makes up for all of its shortcomings with outstanding sailing and ship-to-ship combat elements.

Long and addictive, if you let Pirates consume you, it will.

Besides making personal progress, you must hire hands, choose a complementary hierarchy of mates, explore the Caribbean, and, ultimately, earn cheddar. Giving your neighbors a good buggering simply comes with the territory.

There are a few bugs we encountered, including one that muddled our quest list. Put it this way: we spent a lot of time saving, loading, and cursing.

Pirates does have a few shortcomings such as some cumbersome controls, which result in a fairly steep learning curve, and some technical bugs. They don't detract from the game too much but may affect its suspension of disbelief from time to time.

Realism is good, but it is important to find the fine line between being realistic and being boring. For example, a big ship in the game is slow and unmanageable, just like the real thing I am sure, but not much fun to control.

Once you're past the technical hurdles (and the brutal realization of just how easy it is to die in a swordfight or sea battle), Pirates of the Caribbean is an absolutely beautiful looking, freeform RPG adventure. But it is really suited for experienced, patient gamers.

A beautiful RPG marred by numerous bugs which render it nigh unplayable.

We'd feel good about recommending this game to RPG fans if not for the stuttery framerates.