Pirates of The Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow
Verdict: I’d prefer the bottle of rum thanks.
Platform: PS2.
Rating: 1/5
If you’re looking forward to September 19th’s ‘International Talk Like A Pirate Day’ but are finding the month long wait just a little too much to bear then perhaps Jack Sparrow and his legend can satisfy your piratical needs.
Are you the typical fan of film-to-game titles that laps up the poorest of games with remarkable enthusiasm? Do you like rushed production, shoddy animation, awful voice acting, laughable cut scenes and woolly, repetitive combat? Then this game is surely for you!
As with every film tie-in, the draw is that you get to play as the central character and live through all your favourite bits rendered in imitation polygons (don’t buy fakes kids). In Pirates of the Caribbean you can be Jack Sparrow and in a surprising and singular bid for quality he’s voiced by the talented Mr Depp.
In an ‘innovative twist’ you can also switch from his drunken swagger to the forgettable wooden sidekicks, Orlando and Kiera (coming to a Punch and Judy show near you soon!). Unfortunately the fact that another character is with you at all times means you have to put up with what passes as A.I. With emphasis on the ‘Artificial’ and none on the ‘Intelligence’ Orlando and Kiera will strive to irritate at all costs.
Jack and Co. have a plethora of loose and unsatisfying sword fighting skills that you can upgrade to slightly more powerful, loose and unsatisfying levels and with out of character ninja-like skills they’ll slice and dice and forward flip their way through an infinite horde of zombie pirates and general sea faring scum.
With awful collision detection that incites visions of multiple realities existing in the same quantum space, the game does itself no favours when it makes you fail missions due to it’s own personal issues with context sensitive points. Having to re-do any of the painfully boring and repetitive levels due to a glitch is no fun, even for a zombie pirate slaying pirate.
The Legend of jack Sparrow gets a star for successfully conjuring up the true essence of pirates - you’ll feel like you’ve been robbed if you part with your cash for it.