Official Website

Platform: PSP

Genre: Action

Number of Players: 1 - 4

Disney scored a huge back in 2003 when they decided to take yet another of their popular attractions and turn it into a film. Pirates of the Caribbean took the famous ride from the theme park to the big screen and did much better than what anyone could have expected, especially considering another effort that failed prior to this, The Country Bears, and yet another that didn’t do so well after Pirates, The Haunted Mansion, and I’m sure that yet another attraction to film, The Jungle Cruise, won’t come close to matching the success of Pirates. The notorious Captain Jack Sparrow is coming back again in yet another adventure.

Dead Man’s Chest is based on the sequel to the popular film, and once again things aren’t looking good for the flamboyant pirate. Years ago he made a deal with Davy Jones; 13 years to captain the Black Pearl followed by 100 years of servitude, and Jones has come to collection on the debt. Jack has found a way to escape from prison, but he now needs to find a way to escape this terrible fate, but you’re forgotten one thing; he’s Captain Jack Sparrow, and you must help him break free from this terrible fate before Jones makes good on the promise.

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest marks Buena Vista Games first PSP title, and while other companies have recently been creating movie based games that take place before or after the film itself, this isn’t the case at all with this title. It seems that instead the game is following the film, as much as it can at least (and I’m merely speculating since I have yet to see the movie or read a script) thus taking away some of the element of surprise before the film actually hits theaters. But, I suppose that the popularity of Sparrow is what is really part of the reasoning here, the same used to ultimately decide to change the Pirates of the Caribbean ride to mirror the movie, much to the disappointment of many fans.

Through the course of the game you will be control of Jack as you try to keep yourself alive and find a way to break free of Davy Jones terms of agreement. Dead Man’s Chest is a 3D hack-n-slash title for the most part where much of the emphasis is placed upon fighting with a minor amount of puzzle solving skills. Jacks basic attacks are based on strength and speed, but using his cutlass of course, and each pirate, cannibal, and undead wretch that you’ll come across has a way to be defeated, and it will take both cunning and combos to do them in. However, there is a bit more to this than knowing how to carry a blade. Jack will also find a vast assortment of alternate weapons such as daggers, empty bottles, and even muskets which will all come in quite handy. Using these will defeat foes much quicker, but there’s a purpose in wanting to do so.

As you fight through each of the stages, each fallen foe will earn you notoriety points, and as you build them up, not only will your notoriety itself increase, but so will your overall health. Even doing things like rolling a barrel into enemies or dropped things on their heads will earn you more points, and though Jack Sparrow may be without a doubt the worse pirate some people have ever heard of, the face is they have heard of him. Finding things like this is extremely easy since you are merely looking for a skull and crossbones, and once they have lit up, you can let your enemy have it. Jack also will need to partake in a bit of jumping, climbing, and even rope swinging if he is to survive, and there are also maps to be keeping an eye out for. A pirate is always looking for buried treasure (though history itself says that the idea of a pirates buried treasure is nothing more than a concocted myth) and the maps will allow Jack to enter the treasure arena where once again survival is key, and success will gain him a power move, something necessary if he’s to face the deadly kraken.

There are quite a few things about Dead Man’s Chest that are going to attract fans. The game does use the cast to reprise their voices, and I’m sure that portions of the script have been reenacted as well to make for a close to authentic gaming experience. The graphics are done very well, and even Jack has that sort of drunken swagger in his walk which is sure to bring a smile to anyone the moment that you take control of him. And yes, there are other characters from the film present as well, though I’m not going to give away how you meet them, especially those anyone waiting to see the film before grabbing the game. The animations of the “finish moves’ tend to be quite great to watch, and seeing Jack thrust his cutlass into an enemies body is quite a please to watch for the millionth time.

There are however, some problems, and it’s not the fiends of Davy Jones that are out to get you either. Fire ends up being a big problem in more way that one. Getting caught too close to a river of molten lava may very well damage you, but depending on how close you are, I found that the game had a tendency to simply let you take hit after hit while trying to get out of the way, and simply walking doesn’t seem to be the path to freedom. In one instance I actually found myself cast down onto a river of fire, allow to defeat and enemy before being burned to a crisp just as I was a mere jump or two away from reaching safety. I also encounter some polygon break up at times, though not highly common, but definitely annoying, and there also are a few longer than normal load times.

The biggest disappointment here however is that the game is simply far too easy. After a mere three hours or so into Pirates, I found that I was already over 50% of the way through the game, and were it not for the general repetitive nature of this title, that might have been a pleasure. The challenge simply isn’t here and often times even finding those precious maps turns out to be easier that finding real pirate booty.

How this will be made up for some players however is in Dead Man’s Chest’s multiplayer mode. Here the game changes direction and is no longer a hack-n-slash platform title, but instead you can take on three other players in a battle on the high seas. Compared by many to being something like a ship battles seen in Sid Meier’s Pirates, players will chose the vessel of their choice and then take to the high seas. This mode plays much like many first person shooters, and you’ll find a deathmatch, last man (or ship) standing and even capture the flag. You’ll have power-ups and can fire from either side of the ship, but to make it even more interesting you can attack the men on board enemy ships and do more damage. You don’t even have to have other players present to play and you can challenge the computer if necessary. This mode is actually a lot of fun and makes up a bit for the short nature of the regular game.

Buena Vista’s first PSP title isn’t bad, but it could stand for some improvement in certain areas as well. In many ways this is simply a release that tries to cash in on the film itself, but that’s really not going to sway many of the loyalists for the Pirates franchise. Seasoned sea dogs may find this is nothing more than a quick trip to the Caribbean save for some action with fellow sailors, but others might find that helping Jack Sparrow escape Davy Jones’ locker is as difficult as uncovering a sunken pirate ship, but either way, dead men tell no tales.

-mike-