Not even the amusing Captain Jack Sparrow can save Disney and Eurocom's Wii video game, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. The adventure, which spans Dead Man's Chest and the recently released film of the same name, lets players live the movies, busting Jack from prison, rescuing him from cannibals and battling the heart broken Davy Jones. The advertisements sure look exciting, but potential pirates soon uncover a boring game experience plagued by unresponsive controls.
Like most Wii action games, players execute maneuvers by pointing and twisting the controller in a series of directions, or at least that's what the tutorial leads them to believe. This feeble attempt at sophistication degenerates into mindless hacking and slashing, as gamers frantically shake the controller to skewer enemies. That alone damages the game's appeal. Oftentimes, the selected character fails to respond to the constant waggling, leaving them wide open to enemy attack. This leads to countless cheap deaths, as players never know when the game will fail.
Furthermore, the presentation doesn't do these pirates justice. Disney, for whatever reason couldn't get Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom to voice their characters. Sparrow sounds all right, but Will Turner irritates every time he opens his mouth. Even worse, the game sports a soundtrack "inspired by the movies" instead of featuring tracks from the films, which should never happen, especially when Disney slaps its logo on the movie posters and advertises the ride at its theme parks.
Of course, Eurocom and Disney's biggest folly comes from the re-scripting of events from Dead Man's Chest, altering scenes from the film, something that should anger fans. Even little things ruin the game's credibility. For example, when Sparrow escapes in a casket from prison at the beginning of Dead Man's Chest, he uses a pistol to blast off the lid, but in the video game, no such lid exists.
When it comes to movie-based video games, publishers should deliver an authentic experience. Disney Interactive fails miserably, offering consumers a boring game with sloppy controls that does the franchise more harm than good. Numerous collectible items somewhat enhance the experience, but they don't justify spending $49.99 for a product that doesn't work all of the time.
Final Score: 4 (out of 10)
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