Back To The Classics
The overall look and fell to this game is very much "pirates of the carribbean". The settings are somewhat familiar if you've seen the movies, and the music is right from the original soundtrack giving you a much deeper sense of emersion.
The character models look very much like their silver screen counterparts, but could use some more flashyness to them. Each character has a unique feel to them, for example Jack is a quick and low powered swordsman..while Will is a much slower, elegant & powerfull sword fighter. Elizabeth is very quick, but feel somewhat weaker than the rest. (perhaps since she is a lady?)
Each character has a unique "special ability" Jack throws Maklov Cocktail type bombs to burn through wood & obstacles on the ground, and Will throws axes to the harder to reach elevated enemies.
The enemy character models tend to repeat themselves based on the level you are on. I saw maybe 3 or 4 different undead pirate models, and probably 2x different British Soldier models during the first few levels. But that is almost expected in hack & slash games. :D
I do admit that the graphics do look a bit outdated. Low resolution textures on buildings, backdrops & ground tend to look grainy when standing still. But most of the time you will be too busy moving about the area to notice.
Cutscenes, used to tell & show many small parts of the story, also suffer from what looks like unskillfull low rez CG. Not that I could do any better, but I've come to expect more from CG.
Johnny Dept stars as Jack Sparrow once again, but unlike the Jack on the silver screen we've all come to love, this "video game Jack" sounds bored, unexcited, and monotone throughout the entire game. Again, I would have expected way more from an Oscar nomiated actor such as Johnny Dept, ESPECIALLY since he does such a great job as the same character on the big screen.
The controls are horrible. The Keyboard is not a great place to play a game like this, especially if you're used to the standard First-Person shooter controls already. Pirates has you moving all over the board just to play. In game help/hints dont specify what key does what at all. The mouse pointer, althought isnt needed, is never displayed on screen. This makes navigating through menus using the mouse more than a chore. The poory ported PS2 control scheme is clearly to blame for this. I recommend using a controller to fully enjoy this game.
In sum, pirates has a great feel & play to it for a hack & slash game on pc.
Characters look good, not great. Music is definately very emmersive, sound effects are good. Graphics look slightly outdated, and the controls with a keyboard are nearly impossible. This game is bargain priced and quickly become one of my guilty pleasures despite its flaws. I just can stop playing it!