The key reason for the widespread acclaim for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is that it included naval fighting and sailing into the core Assassin's Creed gameplay loop. Everyone who played it agreed that a sailing/piracy game based on the concepts of AC Black Flag would make a fantastic stand-alone title. For the last eleven years, Ubisoft has been attempting to determine how to make this a reality. What makes something that's only an expansion become a significant game? How can you make wagyu steak out of canapés?

From Dhow to Kingpin

You begin as a pirate who is fortunate to still be alive after a brutal run-in with the British navy. You'll arrive in the pirate stronghold of Saint Anne after a basic tutorial level, where you may begin learning the skills necessary to become the nastiest monster to ever sail the seas. The Indian Ocean is the setting for the game. It extends from the East Indies to the African coast. I loved how the game's early islands seemed like a vast expanse at first, but as I advanced toward the coasts of Africa and the Indies, they shrank in size.

Your primary focus and, to be honest, the culmination of all your work here is the main narrative. You will encounter every group and explore every coast and island in addition to repetitive side tasks. You'll construct stronger ships, weapons, and gear by gathering or pillaging materials.

In order to get additional silver and crafting supplies, you may also trade commodities or solve treasure map puzzles. You'll sometimes be informed of noteworthy occasions and face off against elite ships or commerce fleets. In order to help you in your pursuit of the greatest ship and the largest prize, you may even take down mythical creatures and ghost ships.

It is commendable that sailing and battling at sea have a similar feel and gameplay to Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. In general, there are many of locations to discover, ships to sink, and objects to acquire. There are also day/night cycles, fog patches, unexpected storms, and their rogue waves to lighten the atmosphere. Since the game is played on a map with other human players, you may also invite two friends along for the trip. You're never short of things to do, and the sound of sunken sailors wailing adds to the pleasure. So what exactly is the issue?

Is it human or artificial intelligence?

Some of the game's most embarrassing scenes also originate from the primary narrative. The great pirate kingpin for whom you are expected to bid is John Scurlock, whose simplistic ideas, motives, and speeches are almost endearing. Generally speaking, the game's first half has some of the most cheesy dialogue and overused characters I've ever seen in a video game. The heights attained here are noteworthy since there is fierce competition in that sector.

The game became much worse in the second half. At one point, I thought the whole East Indies quest giver was written by AI since it is that poorly and grammatically worded. To be quite honest, the screenwriter of the primary narrative ought to be permanently disqualified from creating any material that involves human interaction. I feel sorry for the voice performers who had to give life to something that was inherently horrible. I'm not sure whether the poor performance or the lines they had to act out is what caused the strange and horrible voice acting. At least in that regard, the missions serve their intended purpose—they do teach you all you need to know for the endgame.

The Final Round

When you first hear about Endgame, it sounds amazing. You get to start your own pirate business that consists of manufacturing and selling different illegal goods. In order to do this, you will need to seize manufacturing outposts during PvP-enabled takeover events. This implies that attempts to obtain the same outpost by other players will occur. The person who takes possession of the most ships—including ones that are under player control—wins the takeover. Failures have to wait twenty or thirty minutes before trying again.

Numerous production locations need to be taken over, and once they do, they begin to produce Pieces of Eight, a unique currency that can be used to purchase the finest weapons and cosmetics available in the game. To enhance the creation of special cash even more, you may also engage in delivery contract runs and legendary heists.

The worldwide player leaderboard is the greatest feature of the ending. Players that make the most money via smuggling are eligible for exclusive benefits and cosmetics. By deftly fusing the ideas of community engagement and regulated PvP, Endgame realizes your dream of ruling the Indian Ocean as a pirate kingpin.

You have passed over the Helm, and death is marked. Get Ready to Be Pursued.

Sadly, there are also glaring flaws in the ending. Although taking over the industrial outpost is a lot of fun, managing them becomes tiresome after a while. I discovered that I needed to spend around 45 minutes just gathering up the pieces of eight from each of the roughly 20 places I had captured in the Red Isles. I became so bored after a few rounds of this that the idea of having to do this every day seemed like a complete nuisance. After a few weeks of early enthusiasm, I believe that very few people will remain in the endgame, since just stealing pieces of eight will not maintain your holdings full enough to compete on the leaderboard.

The statement that appears as the subtitle for this portion of the Skull & Bones evaluation serves to further add intrigue. After you begin engaging in endgame activities, it continues to appear at random times. I didn't know whether that was a glitch or something that was really occurring in the game. You'll face waves of strikes from the Helm that appear out of nowhere during endgame activities, so maybe this is a feature? If a bug exists, The devs could not have missed it, therefore shipping the game with it is not very promising. To be honest, this was one of the game's few glitches. Even still, the launch's evidently ill-thought-out gameplay concepts and lack of basic polish provide little cause for optimism.

Pirates in Real Time Service

Skull & Bones is a live-service game that will have future updates that should sporadically come out in addition to a seasonal pass. Developers will undoubtedly attempt to fix all the issues and make the most progress. Even so, the game doesn't provide a worthwhile experience at this stage. It has a lot of fantastic ideas, and I can see how it might have become something very special. Sadly, there aren't much things to do here except enjoy the soothing experience of floating across a beautiful environment and a few exciting activities that might quickly turn into chores.

You may expect to spend a gratifying 30 to 50 hours playing it if you're wanting to live out your pirate dream, skip every conversation, and ignore odd game mechanics that leave you wondering whether they're a problem or a feature. However, a larger audience won't be drawn to it. It could even make them angry. Wagyu Steak, that is not; instead, we got a game that did away with every fundamental Assassin's Creed mechanism and focused instead on giving players the finest possible sailing pirate experience.

If you have an itch to scratch related to sailing or pirates, it's a terrific idea to give it a try with a Ubisoft Plus membership. A free trial is also offered. At this point, everything else is a waste.