Skull and Bones
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Critic Reviews for Skull and Bones
Ubisoft's long-in-the-works pirate adventure boasts a beautiful world and bombastic ship-to-ship combat, but it sinks amid boring busywork and tedious traversal.
Skull and Bones is a maritime RPG with a strong foundation, even if it feels like a live-service first draft.
Combining moody and gratifying ship-on-ship combat with shallow live service trappings, Skull and Bones is great within the claustrophobic parameters of what market forces allow it to be.
With excellent sailing and naval combat mechanics, it's a shame that Skull and Bones is so hampered by its lack of diversity, odd developmental decisions, and minimal capacity to offer a true pirate fantasy.
Despite its long and circuitous course to arrive at port, Skull and Bones is the type of game that may change significantly in the coming months. But to evaluate it as it stands, fellow pirate enthusiasts may discover what I did – a flawed but beautifully presented historical fantasy in which one can take to the water and make a fortune, even if absolutely everything about the pirate life isn’t always pretty.
Skull and Bones strips away everything great about Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, resulting in a dull live-service game that's often a chore.
Skull and Bones is a very odd game and there are plenty of aspects to it that will leave a great number of players stone-cold. But, there is also something wonderful about it as well; the sense of exploration, the cathartic combat, the glorious visuals, the welcoming online community, and the ridiculously catchy sea shanties. In short, like the very best pirate, Skull and Bones will be loved by some, and hated by others. For my part, and in spite of its issues, I love it.
Skull and Bones isn't an unmitigated disaster, but it ends up throwing a lot of its potential overboard. The problem isn't that it's a game-as-a-service, but that its design falls short. It has highlights and good ideas that make it enjoyable, but if this is AAAA, then let Davy Jones drag us all into the abyss.
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