Skull & Bones - Before You Buy

Skull & Bones (PC, PS5, Xbox Series X/S) is Ubisoft's long-awaited online pirate game. How is it? Let's talk.
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#skullandbones

[@prossnip42]

The fact that boarding enemy ships is just a cutscene is a such a fundamental misunderstanding of why people bought a pirate game. It would be the equivalent to playing Minecraft and the process of building a house is a cutscene

[@bencarlson4300]

Or taking off in your spaceship as a cutscene

[@hunterjarman4728]

@@bencarlson4300wait a minute

[@TheMarcHicks]

​@@bencarlson4300LOL 😆

[@joshthepagan]

Half the fun of BF and Odyssey was the amazing ship combat and boarding.

[@WarFoxThunder]

IKR

[@koalaoperative]

Pirates without swords are just assholes on boats.

[@davidwells5611]

I don't know why this comment made me laugh so much but , it did. Good job, you.

[@Crynomical]

Gets me everything when you board lmfao

[@TheDeath138]

That's my issue with Skull and Bones. Without swordplay, it's only half a pirate game.

[@angrypuppett33]

😂

[@Defort-jd8xe]

Just like Ubisoft but without the boats

[@Demmon98]

OG Sid Meyers Pirates is what I grew up on. But Blackflag will forever hold a place in my heart.

[@Chickensea10]

Thanks to skull and bones, assassins creed black flag orginal multiplayer is slowly popping off! Just played 20 minutes!!!!

[@joshuanoble5333]

Bro that pirates game on og Xbox? I still have that shit 😆

[@Chickensea10]

@@joshuanoble5333 the multiplayer still works! just did 20 minutes!

[@az_street_walker4181]

Og sid meyers pirates…. I remember playing a pirate game when I was young (don’t remember the platform and don’t remember much of the game) but I remember the ship boarding for some reason and have been searching for the game I think you just told me the game I’ve been looking for

[@az_street_walker4181]

W comment fr it is that game

[@Reviilos]

Ubisoft already made one of the greatest pirate games ever. All they had to do was make AC 4 online but with some extra character and ship customizations. Assassination missions, some SoT style treasure hunts and some dungeons to explore, keep it updated, keep the world evolving and keep the lobbies populated. They would probably have even gotten away with using a very similar map, it was gorgeous, make it slightly bigger and modernize it a little and boom, perfect game. Literally that easy

[@An4lAvenger]

One of those rare times where we are practically begging a studio to simply rebrand and re-release a game instead of investing time in a new one, but they just decide to waste their money.

[@Chickensea10]

Thanks to skull and bones, assassins creed black flag orginal multiplayer is slowly popping off! Just played 20 minutes

[@bazzle_brush]

3 words: Sunk cost fallacy

[@ctg4818]

Being online only would also make AC4 a very bad game

[@Chickensea10]

@@ctg4818 true that! but in brighter news! the multiplayer servers still work! just gotta try a little early in the morning or close to 12!

[@ARIXANDRE]

The lack of on-foot combat alone makes going back to AC 4 a better usage of my time.

[@wazzupmydawgz60]

Everyone knew there's was no on foot gameplay from the beginning what are you whining about?

[@bio_hazard_74]

@@wazzupmydawgz60the fact that everyone knew it was a stupid ass idea and maybe they would change it

[@jamesconlin5099]

Autistic

[@kakarotjenkins7318]

i dont get it either, they made the game they said they were making, everyone loves the idea, now they hate it, i enjoy it. so whatever lol. everyone is entitled to their opinions

[@jonnywtf3039]

I didnt know there was no om foot combat, I was really hoping there would. I'm very disappointed

[@YAH2121]

A pirate game with no swashbuckling or on foot combat is crazy ngl

[@anderssorenson9998]

But can I put ashore to stow me booty under a big X, yaaarrr or naaarrrr?

[@WettyandDry]

No yo ho ho is a no no no from me...

[@duncanmacleod7287]

We can only hope rockstar makes a pirate themed game.

[@Desertking93]

I’m seeing this comment pop up a lot and I’m 100 percent for it. I can see that game selling better than gta. We need a petition for this

[@ledf2012]

filled with shark cards microtransactions and screaming kids

[@thomaswilson4292]

I can’t wait to jump into another online Rockstar game just to spend the first 2 minutes losing multiple times by huge trolls who can’t let a new player learn and enjoy the game. I’m a casual gamer; I don’t like the PvP aspect of getting gut punched. I want to enjoy the created world and play with friends. (I’m not crying about it. I’m stating my personal reason for not liking Rockstar online games)

[@Desertking93]

@@thomaswilson4292 you can play rockstar games without having to put up with this little dick energy kids who ruin it lol

[@JonySmith-bb4gx]

No thanks

[@cashin1243]

The Sea of Thieves love is real. That game has changed so much for the better. You should genuinely do a “Before You Buy (again)” on SoT if you have a slow release week. That’s all this game did, send me back to Sea of Thieves.

[@NicoleTheDodo]

yeah playing the beta just made me want to play Sea of Thieves

[@edenastria2722]

ah yes, the "quadruple A" game.

[@redfoofan4618]

Bro, forget Skull and Bones, I couldn’t care less about this game! What worries me most is if AC 4 Remake is anything like this, we are in for a real bummer!

[@martinreyes4354]

Need to add some sss behind those A's

[@geraldslusser6997]

Felt pretty honest to me. AAA basically just means bad game that's out of touch with fans, so AAAA means it's even worse 😂

[@G1lgamesj]

Ah yes Quadruple AAAA, "circling around nipples"

[@ordered.from_Temu]

Me: 'WHAT DID YOU SAY JAKE!???! THE QUADRUPLE A GAME IS NOT FOR YOUUUU?????? 🤯" 😅

[@funsea4167]

I think we can all agree that for $70, Ubisoft is the real pirate here. But seriously, as a naval history nerd I feel pretty confident in saying that pirate games inherently appeal to those who at least have a slight affinity towards history. It would’ve been really cool if they leaned into that. Accurate ship models, accurate weapons and gunnery, accurate tactics. You could’ve done all of this while still making it accessible to a wider audience. But I guess we’ll just have another Ubisoft financial dommy-mommy

[@Alexamenus]

I think the affinity towards history is an overstatement, disney flooded the niche 20 years ago and made it more grand fantasy focused for everyone.

[@mitchelkvedar674]

Played the beta for like 15 min, ships were wayyyyyy to fast and the British were sounding hardly British and also said lines that were hardly naval in nature

[@wesseljacobs2201]

I feel there first reveal trailer let the game look much better. Of course it wasnt realistic but atleast it looked like a realistic pirate fantasy that could easily fit in potc.

[@damp2269]

@@mitchelkvedar674 just looking at the footage it looks like they are on a drifting competition and not on boats.

[@jaunathang]

The curious thing is that Ubisoft used to base its games on history. I remember playing Assassin's Creed while learning about history when I was a teenager... D:

[@baldytail]

I loved Black Flag, definitely the best AC game. You get to do naval battles with boarding and all the other normal AC stuff as well. So much fun and when you manage to take down the spanish galleons it just felt quite an epic battle.

[@ImpmanPDX]

Looks like they took that sea combat, added the grappling mechanic from Odyssey, and called it a day.

[@gordonpronto]

A big reason I follow GR is Jake has a similar taste in games to me, so this video is informative but upsetting. Thanks for saving me $70! Keep up the great work

[@Thz333]

Not just 70. All the possible Tencent imbued micro transactions too. 🎉😊

[@davyjones04]

​@@Thz333As someone who owns the game, the only microtransactions in game are cosmetic only.

[@Thz333]

@@davyjones04 doesnt matter. Ur already losing.

[@sowavyryan]

No sword fighting is crazy

[@Kaynos]

They probably gonna sell sword fighting as a DLC 😂

[@FromTheSkylessVoid]

Bro no anything is crazy lol I heard you can’t even recruit your own squad

[@jamesconlin5099]

No its not

[@andrijafilipivic4480]

Aggread

[@steppin-razor]

​@Kaynos not even funny xD

[@GKNOWBODIES]

Imagine making a basketball game with no basket.

[@bigboi4732]

NBA 2k games in a nutshell

[@bigboi4732]

They try to shoot but didn't score

[@johnmarkson1998]

@@bigboi4732 sports games in a nutshell

[@GKNOWBODIES]

@@bigboi4732💀💀

[@Gmasterjoelio]

A basketball game where shooting into the basket is a cutscene

[@pixelblaze8284]

pirates of the Caribbean online was the shit when I was a kid. I sank so many hours into that game and I've played the fan remake a bit but while a lot of the mechanics don't really hold up in current days as much it was so well rounded and way ahead of its time back when I played. Also the community was fantastic! There were these big server wide events on the islands fighting off invasions and they were some of the most fun I've ever had in a game. There was also fantastic ship combat with or without crews. There was a great variety in combat with guns, swords, grenades, etc and even a few voodoo type magic weapons like in the movies. It was all just such a great time and I've been waiting the last like 16 years for another pirate game that could scratch that itch for me.

[@lucidgoose]

Super happy for your honest review, didn't get a chance to play the beta and this confirms my suspicions, we'll keep an eye on it. Hopefully they improve but no way for me as of now

[@claymathews8814]

I love how “Its not broken at launch” is the best thing ive heard about this game so far

[@SCSAsJorts]

The bar is in hell

[@Yamyatos]

I'll add some then: it's actually fun. As an mmo looter shooter where you play as the boat. Not what people wanted it to be, but it's what it is. And playing it as such is actually a lot of fun. That said, it's certainly not worth the asking price (personally, 30 bucks would have been an insta-buy, but given the situation, they may have shot their own foot not making it a F2P model), and certain features would have been nice, even given this format, like the ability to customize the crew, including strenghts and weaknesses of crew members.

[@SCSAsJorts]

@@Yamyatos you sold me more on not getting it

[@Yamyatos]

@@SCSAsJorts That's alright. Different people have different tastes after all, and i wasnt trying to sell you anything. Technically, i wasnt even replying to you either.

[@dionvandenberg]

I'm watching the frame pacing and I would like to object to that statement.

[@joelhayes5874]

All Ubisoft had to do was copy the AC 4 Black Flag formula and this would have sold like hot cakes. That ship boarding scene was one of the biggest gaming killjoys I’ve seen in some time.

[@hotpockets69]

If you want AC4, just go play it bro.

[@sfreemanoh]

At first I thought it was just a weird cut, where gameranx didn't want to show the entire boarding process. Then a couple seconds later I understood, and was like "WTF"?

[@philipsparks6089]

@@hotpockets69the gameplay and story is fun, but very clunky in that game. People were hoping they would keep the same formula and then polish it to modern day standards. People like you commenting dumb stuff like this are whats wrong with youtube.

[@KryMoore]

It is so strange when people tell you to go play something else instead of disproving what was said.

[@Koooles]

@@hotpockets69 well yeah, but the idea that you take that formula and expand on it is appealing, not whatever this mobile game is. Also a lot of people loved the pirate stuff and not the assasination stuff. Hence, the whole thing about building game around it. It actually baffling how someone can fail at it, since most of the age is alerady there.

[@Spitznock]

It is what we all sort of figured it would be, but at least it's finally out. Maybe Ubi'll give it the attention it needs to be something worthwhile in the future, but if not, that's probably okay, too.

[@LeftIsFascist]

The best part of AC 4 was boarding enemy ships and clashing swords on the deck.

[@masebot1247]

Pirates of the carribean from 2003. It had progression from small ship to big ships, armament upgrading, crew management, fleet of 3 iirc, boarding,land combat, getting stuck in storm, traveling to island via minimap, and more. Albiet clunky tank controls of the early 2000s

[@OreoGamingGeek]

Dang, I may have to go back and check this out... Passed on it when it first came out cuz I was a graphics snob, but I've been getting into 2000s era games lately...

[@Vikasthegunner]

Those Caribbean colony towns looked so pretty too. I particularly liked Redmond and its lanterns at night. Combat was so clunky though.

[@sebastiangruen728]

Are u talking about the online game? Or the stand alones? I loved the online one if they remade that for today that’d be ideal

[@masebot1247]

@sebastiangruen728 damn was never aware disney made a online version. But I'm talking about standalone.

[@CtheBernwickle]

Yes Thankyou, like that’s what I want, I remember that game, it was the best pirate game I’ve ever played

[@moltenbullet]

As a Singaporean, I have a few friends who worked on this game. The project started around the time they got out of schools with their diplomas and degrees, bright eyed and eager. I can feel their heart break with what this game became. I can see now why most of them chose to leave ubisoft despite it being, at one time, a dream place to work for them.

[@chadxlr3978]

Oh wow. That’s insane. Tbh the game isn’t awful. But they really messed up with not having on foot combat.

[@gwendee]

I'm a Singaporean too and I tested this game at Ubisoft 10+ years ago. I'm quite surprised with the gameplay cuz it looks almost exactly like how it was when I tested it as a uni student all those years back. You'd think in over a decade they would do a lot more.

[@vaibhavbhandari1030]

That's sad, says a lot of corporations. They're not interested in making quality content.

[@thehater6189]

Interesting. What did they expect? I have not followed the game at all but it seems like exactly what I would expect it to be.

[@luxter858]

​@@chadxlr3978 The mini ggames def are awfull too. I like the visuals, the boat customization and the weaponry. No on foot combat is just bs. The boarding is just a straight up joke. If it were an 30€ indie game i wouldnt have been surprised. Shouldnt have spent so much on the goddamn water

[@samuel112313]

sid myers pirates was an absolute banger of a game, But nothing has yet to compare of the wanders that was black flag. The ship combat was crisp, the exploration was incredible, the ground combat was good ole classic assassins creed style, the resources for crafting were challenging and fun to obtain and worth it! I have been dying for a game to match black flag or for Ubisoft to remaster it.

[@boordagulgaming]

Thanks for this. Your reviews helps me save a lot on buying games.

[@lordhades8512]

Ubisoft never fails to disappoint

[@arkhamknight6371]

Ubisoft got alot of amazing games, stop the nonsense,even this game is good.

[@alexbrown200]

​@@arkhamknight6371 fundamentally wrong you just need to deal with that you aren't going to convince anyone ubi do make amazing games Mirage was brilliant but Skull and bones is terrible

[@danielmoung9098]

Stop Trolling! Is skull and bones a flop? Yeah. Does it make ubisoft bad? F*** NO! Clearly someone forgot about ac mirage, avatar frontiers of pandora and pop lost crown!!

[@arkhamknight6371]

@@alexbrown200 Don't need to convince anyone,I love all their games,from assassin's creed, to watch dogs,to far cry,to fenyx rising, to ghost recon wildlands n breakpoint and to now avatar, you hate them? Your loss brother

[@dawarboss3709]

Not really a loss when its ubisoft

[@tommasoleonardi8535]

they just had to expand the piracy of ac4 and make a pirates of the caribbean inspired game, how hard can it be

[@rommelthedesertfox3089]

They should’ve made the naval combat like it was in AC3

[@koibitothescrublord4977]

How hard can it be? Okay make your own pirate game and let's see how easy it is.

[@mcqlean4829]

​@koibitothescrublord4977 considering it's the same company that made black flag means they had all the assets all they needed to do was write a story.

[@geoffrogue3049]

@@koibitothescrublord4977 Yup, they'll just go right out and find $200 million to make a comparable pirate game. Sure. GFY.

[@russelltom2087]

​@@geoffrogue3049I've played better $10 indie games, this is the best a AAA studio can do? And charge $70 for this crap?

[@ThatGuy-iz3vy]

I love the noticeable laugh Jay is holding back for the introduction 🤣🤣

[@rooman66]

Thanks for the heads up - maybe one for the sales then 😀

[@user-ki8pn1vw3s]

black flag and sea of thieves: play as a pirate. skull and bones: i am boat🗿

[@imranplays5619]

xDD

[@Tyanus2]

I think ship being very responsive is one of the issues, when you played Black Flag knowing how to position your ship and predicting your shoots was what gave value to fighting and excitement when everything aligned.

[@edwardp7725]

Fr I didnt buy a pirate game to drive a ship around like a Porsche lmao

[@deetheottsel]

100% while I haven't played skull and bones, just from gameplay the ships look like they have no real weight to them. In AC4 if I wanted to turn the Jackdaw, I had to plan a little, not much but enough so I didn't mess up any additional things I was trying to do like shooting other ships. This looks like they took the base idea and just tried to make it as accessible to everyone as possible (which isn't always a bad thing, but in this case, it leads to what look like weightlessness)

[@mitchelkvedar674]

@@deetheottselexactly I played 15 minutes and what immediately turned me off was the ship speed and movement felt so Un-real

[@deetheottsel]

@@mitchelkvedar674 every time I hear about this game I want to play Black Flag a bit more, I genuinely wanted Skull and Bones to be a newer AC4, let me relive been 13 playing AC4 in the living room, but Dev hell really killed any chance to be close to even the quality of a 10-year-old game.

[@damp2269]

all they have to do was copy world of warships and skin it with 1400s ships.... not that hard to do.

[@luarvikluarvik4276]

World, Character, Place, well said. Unfortunately, many games lack these qualities nowadays.

[@KymRyan]

Sid Meier's Pirates was so fun. Like the fleet dynamics is the only thing you could complain about when you had other ships in tow. But otherwise A+ pirate game. I'm sad to see the state of this but not shocked when their boss is trying to claim AAAA game...like that's not a thing my dude. It's a shame when really IMO they could have just made black flag without the Assassin parts and added a bit more customisation/ship options and people (myself included) would have loved it.

[@Milliardo__Peacecraft]

12:42 Jake was so grumpy he left in a double take a la oblivion.

[@PAL1D3N713]

Hate how they took out the good aspects of what made the ship fights in Blackflag great and made it into this atrocity it is today

[@lawrencetalbot8346]

Getting really tired of decade old predecessors out doing follow ups because studios ignore everything that made the prior games fun just to either push microtransactions or messaging

[@XenonArcher]

what exactly did they take out in the ship v ship side of things? having played both i think S&B ship combat is better

[@usernameiphone3gkid]

@@XenonArcherL

[@steel2572]

​@@XenonArcher As someone whos played black flag many times over it feels somewhat similar in terms of controls. But I honestly prefer the feel of black flag. Black flags sailing always felt quite weighty in a good way while your ship feels quite floaty in this. Also changing sail speed in black flag always felt super responsive while in this i sometimes found myself mashing the button to make it switch. I also prefer the aiming system in black flag with the wave shape that you can adjust for broadsides etc. It just feels like a turret that you have to lead your shots with in this. Another thing I personally am not a fan of is how numbers pop up when you do damage. Makes the game less immersive and more 'gamey'. Black flags combat felt very visceral with the sound design and lack of numbers but thats personal preference. Another factor might be how in Black flag your camera is almost like if you're on the ship but in skull and bones its zoomed out like your on travel speed from black flag all the time which again I dont really like.

[@XenonArcher]

@@steel2572 you don't have to be in 3rd person cam in S&B. It has a 1st person view. I never had issues with the sailing. This game feels responsive. Maybe a little too responsive I guess. But again, if I'm in pvp I'd rather that than unresponsive clunky gameplay like blackflag, which btw, is absolutely what AC4's ship controls was like. But it worked cus it was single player. Combat is soooooooo much slower in black flag, it's unreal lol. This is a pvp game. If S&B had AC4 SHIP mechanics and combat, it would suck vastly more than it currently does. The ship combat is much better for the kind of game this is. An mmo.

[@DarrellGoodliffe]

Playing the demo....sailing around was fun enough, the combat was fun enough but as soon as I hit land I thought 'is this it', I am not a pirate game fan especially but it didnt have enough on that side to persuade me to drop 70 notes on it, so ye, once again a good review

[@MaxxSkywalker]

I really loved the Pirates of the Caribbean section in Kingdom Hearts III, but I don't have a specific favorite pirate game.

[@nachos1162]

I feel like "live service" at this point is a good way for them to subtley communicate to people not to bother

[@yofedstyhrega4594]

Yeah because the original game is going to suck and if you decide to get the season pass and play the next seasonal update you'll constantly be reminded that you could be playing completed games

[@wansino69]

i think the only good live service game that was released recently was Helldivers 2. Really good game imo, alot of fun with friends

[@starjadiancloneinvestigato1772]

whenever I hear live service, alarm bells go off in my head now thanks to this channel

[@steamyrayvaughn1412]

I've noticed that if you don't play it all the time, you fall behind in terms of levels and content

[@LowkeyHundo]

Even the early 2000s Pirates of the Caribbean Online MMORPG had ship boarding mechanics and cool ship varieties.

[@Chickensea10]

Thanks to skull and bones, assassins creed black flag orginal multiplayer is slowly popping off! Just played 20 minutes!!

[@Jaguar21010]

​@@Chickensea10bro, stop copy pasting your comment. But glad the old multi-player is getting some life

[@joseph_p]

As of a year ago there was a semi active fork you could still play. That game was always super janky, but great at its core.

[@StevenSudweeks]

I was hoping that this would be a mix between the Pirates of the Caribean Online and Sea of Theives. A combo like that would make a great game.

[@alkaholic4848]

They should do a modern remake of that.

[@Azekeuel]

the 3 skin colour options just being white red and yellow is crazy 💀

[@kennym8713]

Lmaoo

[@Wupazz]

Honestly this might be a hot take, but considering piracy in general, this game has a really good foundation for an extraction shooter type game. We don’t have enough of em, and an Arcady non super realistic and funny (if they gave it some personality) game built around pillaging town for special cargo and destroying merchant / other players ships for their stuff, and sailing out would be super cool In the state it’s in now, that might be the best way to convert it to something with substance and make it extremely unique.

[@josephdurham4950]

As a big fan of zombies, its a bummer to see pirate lovers not have as large of a selection of good games to play

[@NiceDiggz]

They knew nobody asked for this and they had 5 years to fix it and didn't they just made what they wanted

[@JustAnotherAccount8]

@@NiceDiggz Plenty of people are asking for pirate games...

[@THE.OMNI.MAN.]

​@@NiceDiggz to be fair, a lot of people like pirate games and were probably looking for a new one. Cant really blame them.

[@Lenariet]

Need The Day Before: Somalia Edition.

[@Kamtar34]

Mmmm pirate zombie game

[@TheSnatcherOG]

Can’t fish off my boat, 2 bones out of 20

[@Brick_Steve]

Lmao

[@rubberducky5990]

Fishing is paid dlc

[@opossumboyo]

Confession; Every time I play Sea of Thieves I just find a random boat to join and fish while the rest of them do real pirate things. I’ll help with quests and whatever but I never speak or contribute outside of that. I only fish.

[@Brick_Steve]

@@opossumboyo real gamer shit right here. SoT is a bitchin time I love it

[@Yamyatos]

Shivers ran down my spine when i read this.. gosh i hate fishing so much in every game ever. Why is it a core feature in everything from mmos to even dating sims nowadays lmao.

[@999Lucas]

The combat is so unique they have a chance to hone in on it and add some fishing stuff to focus the game play, but the problem is that UBI doesnt do that. GR Wildlands taught us a lot about how they view potential, and where they put development dollars, and really lost steam due to the lack of depth and polish.

[@FlowkageUNofficial]

Does anybody remember that pirates of the Caribbean game where you could make your own dude and basically sail wherever you wanted? Or was that a fever dream I had when I was 10?

[@HuchiaZ]

YES That was my favorite game I joined too late. I'm surprised there hasn't been a clone

[@Jp-qq9ny]

No hand to hand combat is wild

[@jgsource552]

even ac black flag is better... an old ass game... god damn

[@contris1]

this looks like budget arcade to me. get a ship, shoot with it, upgrade the ship end of story.

[@maxcaines3568]

​@jgsource552 Because that's an assassins creed game.... You can't even get out your car in forza...... you can in an old gta

[@Jimov]

​@@maxcaines3568Different things entirely. GTA is an open world game involving missions and gun combat. Forza is strictly a racing game so there's no need to get out of your car. With Skull and Bones, you can leave your boat and explore the world. But what's the point of not having the ability to engage in combat when out of your ship? You watch any pirate film and most of it involves hand to hand combat using cutlesses, swords, old pistols. A pirate game without swashbuckling is so shortsighted.

[@barnmucker9367]

@@maxcaines3568This has to be the most brain dead comparison I’ve EVER seen in my life

[@BigBoi678]

Can't wait for the ship boarding and sword fighting DLC

[@KydKrooKz]

LOL underrated comment 😂

[@CUPIDShuffle12]

that'll be about 25 dollars sir

[@BaconDanglers]

​@aidentruschka6974 25 each

[@marioscorner7036]

Just wait 10 more years, it's coming.

[@BEAST.420G]

This guy Ubisofts 😆👌🏼

[@gaberodriguez3813]

It finally happened. I had enough trust in you guys to say wait a minute, before I buy a game I really should watch the before you buy… amazing lol

[@islandboygio8167]

my favorite pirate game by FAR is Uncharted Waters on steam. Not sure if the game is still doing well, but I remembered playing that game for hours every day with friends. literally had everything I wished for. Long boat rides to destinations, quests, exploring, ship design, the crew even got sicknesses and diseases. If I still played on PC id definitely check the game out again in 2024 to see what my opinion would be today, cause I still think about it.

[@KuroNekoIX]

I appreciate that no matter how disappointing a game release is, you guys always try to give us some pros some cons and some personal opinions. Seriously, you guys rock!

[@Bomb6A9Head]

should just say its trash finish

[@FungalBunghole]

​@@Bomb6A9Headtrash finish

[@made-of-magic]

All we needed was black flag's sailing but without the assassin's alien precursor storyline. They took that, gutted everything and said "This is AAAA" no. This game reeks of free-to-play with the quality that we'd be celebrating if it were an indie dev, but not a massive behemoth of a company. I look at the roadmap and what I see is "This will have a battlepass and be microtransaction galore", which shortens to "I will not be buying this game". What this game needs: Player personality, crew building, notable characters, ground combat, boarding combat, walking around your ship, captain's quarters, fleet building, maybe even some settlement stuff, and definitely the whailing minigame where you can drop the longboat down. I would rather go back to my Black Flag save and just sail around post-game with no story to do, rather than play Skull & Bones. Also, ship customisation. While it's cool and all to have all the different ships and stuff that you can buy in order to make and then upgrade, it'll never beat the tuned experience of having "Your Ship" like the Jackdaw. A ship that was designed specifically to play the game with, that the various ships in the game were tuned around the upgrading of and the feeling you get when you have the fully upgraded Jackdaw and can take down Man-o-War after Man-o-War. With this game you start on your little raft ship huckin spears at sharks, then you go get the small ship by buying the schematics, then grinding timing minigames, then returning to the hub to build it. How to make this better? Well how do you get the Jackdaw or the Mulligan? You take it. Imagine if you boarded a ship that you took down, then got to choose - as in Black Flag and Rogue, whether to take the ship, scrap the ship, or send it to a trade route, or even adding the pirate hunter mechanic. I'd be incentivised to upgrade that ship in order to take on a bigger ship and own it instead. I'm rambling, but the take-away is that the game is not worth my time, and I am saddened by that.

[@XenonArcher]

boarding combat WILL NOT WORK. ship v ship combat is far too fast paced for it ffs

[@made-of-magic]

@@XenonArcher Then slow it down. Ship combat being fast paced makes it feel unimpactful and unsatisfying anyway.

[@thebarbaryghostsf]

I'm sure there is already a team on Discord coming up with the Indie alternative to this, and it's going to be amazing.

[@jo3d1rt391]

@@XenonArchermust not have played black flag huh? Yea ship boarding while the other ship is still functioning doesn’t work. But if you disable the masts it’s just a floating pile of wood ready to be boarded.

[@XenonArcher]

@@made-of-magic no. It's fast paced cus it's an online game. If you're in a pvpve event, you have several enemy npc ships to fight, as well as numerous enemy players. Like, actually use your brain. Think what boarding does in AC4. You basically stop the naval fight for you. If you actually remember how it works in AC4, if you board a ship with other enemy ships around you, they well stop shooting your boat and circle around waiting for you to finish. This works, cus it's SINGLE PLAYER. that does not work in an online game, OK?

[@Cyberjjc]

You mentioned Sid Meier's Pirates and that (to this day) is my favorite pirate game.

[@CliffhangerDK]

Wow, and I thought my preview was hard on the game, but geez Jake 😂agreewith everything though!

[@nevetz845]

1:18 ten years of development and they make ships turning on the spot like they have modern bow thrusters.. I'm impressed both as a gamer and as a sailor

I'm sure that was design decision. To make it simple as a piece of bone, arcade style as much as possible. Everything feels like it's sped up. I think it can be fun, but also kinda weird to look at. Ships totally not moving the way you would expect. It's really like, you have some really modern ship, but they build and old pirate ship looking body over it.

[@ChrisTedoni]

You can’t just pivot on the spot. If you are flooring it, you’ve gotta yank up the sales, turn and then floor it to make good turns. Not saying it’s realistic, but you gotta adjust a tiny bit.

[@Likdoe3968]

It’s not a simulation game

[@justclauz8746]

It looks like the Call of Duty of pirate games@

[@chipperparrot]

@@ChrisTedoni floor what, the gas pedal? lol

[@JupidJT]

It feels like Anthem. You go on a boat, do a mission, then go back to the questgiver in a hub city. Rinse and repeat.

[@lucasvanmeter2759]

Pirates of the Caribbean on gameboy color 😍 had ground and naval battles, and a boarding and looting option. And you had to get worry about rations on the highsea. I mean sure it was a 8-bit graphically speaking but hands down best pirate game ever.

[@nicklarson1951]

Cutthroat island for SNES is still my fav pirate game, you're right that we are severely lacking in pirate game genre!

[@tylerhunter6379]

Ngl my excitement for this game died when the first gameplay reveal came out

[@anubrakahn2970]

Jake is one of the most wholesome people out there. It's awesome to watch him trying to be both positive and honest when he has to review a game that totally sucks ass.

[@chrismason7272]

Agreed. Integrity is certainly lacking in modern day reviewers and streamers, glad to see some people still have it.

[@luierdaneenpamper3877]

ubisoft should sell vacuum cleaners

[@richardyoung2917]

Yup. Watched like 10 minutes of gameplay and seriously wondered “how was the development time so long?” This looks like ass. lol

[@Ethan-fz6tp]

This game doesn't suck ass.

[@factotums]

@@luierdaneenpamper3877 I honestly don't know what they are going to do. They've become a brand people automatically associate with bad, generic, expensive games, and this game is like a big, loud obnoxious billboard for all of that. A. Their character design. Like in the new Saints Row, I don't know how you offer so much customization but you still cannot make your character not look like a db. Instead of giving five generic options to please everyone, better to just design a character from the jump and go all in on him/her, ie RDR2. B. I don't really have a B, beyond maybe the story, which took 11 years to write something this, again, generic. "Look it's the British Fleet!" "We are under attack by the British Fleet!" "Over there, the British Fleet!"...Seriously? Does that sound like what pirates would say? Could they maybe add some personality to anything? C. I guess I did have more to say. They managed to screw up Character, Story, Dialogue and Gameplay. Not like those are important pillars of game design or anything.

[@Heero_effect]

One positive is they do let you play it for 8 hours before buying it. I’ve found sailing around and combat to be pretty fun. I’m gonna probably get it but later on sale because I had a fun time in the trial

[@paullewis2353]

perfect review well said, glad I played the demo to get the feel first.

[@Calaveravi]

The fact i cant just jump off my ship and explore the ocean and little islands is a monster miss for me

[@Me7oWitThaHoodie]

There should be taverns to just hang out with other pirates and crews. Get drunk, tell stories, recruit some people, have some fights etc

[@Defort-jd8xe]

„Get drunk, tell stories“ sounds nice, would be corny trash in reality

[@englishredneckintexas6604]

All my this. Everything in this review is valid, but this game has one thing that Black Flag doesn't have, which is some kind of sand box level system that doesn't require a plot. That's it. It's a step backwards in every way. One of the biggest of which is having settlements which are engaging, living and breathing worlds. How hard would it be to have a pub to get drunk in? Lol

[@Jimov]

Not being able to go to a tavern and engage in a massive bar brawl in a pirate game is a huge shame.

[@zjpdarkblaze]

the would be one of the best use of the online feature. instead the online feature made it a lot of grinds.

[@sidneyhartmann9786]

Facts !

[@arkenfalgurd5860]

i have 43 hours in it and i enjoyed my time. The only thing i don't like that the endgame is geared towards the grinding for pieces of eight to unlock recipes normally not available. I made a one month ubisoft + subscription, will see if i will renew it or not, depends on next updates.

[@EMbergames1995]

My favourite pirate game is Pirates: The legend of Black kat. I would absolutely love a sequel or remaster for this game but honestly, to me it's perfect as it is ❤ I love media based around piracy and I was interested in this game, however, I am not really an online/multi player so I don't see this being worth it for me.

[@gannonclevenger2327]

Sid Meier’s Pirates is what got me to love the genre so much as a kid, I still play it from time to time. I would love a new game in that series, it’s long overdue!!

[@Blitzkun2007]

This! Black flag was great, but the feeling of adventure in sid meier's pirate was the real deal!

[@Dakotajmillsap]

That dancing always got me as a kid

[@gannonclevenger2327]

@@Dakotajmillsap I feel that, it was done way better on the psp version, took me forever to figure it out on pc

[@MCG55SS]

hell to me its Pirates! but with less content and updated graphics.....sad this game is such a miss imo.

[@BlackMajj]

Purchased the 2004 high-res remake from GOG yesterday. Like $2. Played the original on Amiga back in the day and was hoping Skull & Bones would give us all that but in modern 4k. But we got a mobile phone game. Yay!💩

[@willdavis105]

There’s always something worrying about when developers have been working on a game for over ten years. Sometimes they pull through, but most of the time it feels like it’s because they struggled to reach the expectations and heights they promised, so they keep working on it like ‘beating a dead horse’.

[@tubebammy]

Its insane how Ubisoft introduced their ability for pirate game mechanics in AC3, and although it wasnt perfect it was good for what it was and got us excited for what they could improve on. Then we got AC Black Flag and it almost seemed like they perfected it. Hell, Kingdom Heart 3 followed that formula (albeit with a few Disney touch ups) but that formula was laid out specifically by Ubisoft.... but then they come out with this and it damn near seems like they've never done it before. Ubisoft is just impressive with the things they do and say.

[@JAKman84]

The game has a lot of potential! I will say they are listening to players and rapidly fixing bugs or flow of game play issues adding content already. I would like a deeper "story line" and you can tell there was a lot more there that they pulled back on to get the game out to play. I will say it does get addicting and they do a decent job of adding more for the player to do as you level up/ progress but yes there should be more to the game

[@spiindex246]

Most people don't know this game because its pretty old but Bethesda and Ubisoft made a pirates of the caribbean game in 2003. And the game also had a big part where you could sail with your ship and attack other ships. The game was from 2003 and is literally more fun and has better combat than skull and bones.

[@isaacfarmer7138]

I played the hell out of pirates of the Caribbean online when I was like 8. It was so fun

[@johnbjones8825]

That game was the greatest! It started my love for pirates. The ability to board other ships and actually take control of them was lit! Especially when you could command an actual fleet.

[@alexandermakowski7165]

Its the Second Sea Dogs Game. A Beautiful Game with much freedom. The new Sea Dogs Remaster came out a few Days ago. Caribbean Legend. Story is much longer then Sea Dogs 2 but a lot of fun! Also Textures have been improved and you not only have a few Islands but pretty much the whole caribbean.

[@StellarJay77]

Hey, just so you know, that game still exists. It was rebranded (because the original was Disney) as "The Legend of Pirates Online" and is free to play with lots of QoL improvements.

[@dy3001]

I was just thinking of this game throughout the video. The ability to buy ships, hire first mates, have a fleet, and the combat once you get used to it was amazing. I remember taking the man o' war and fighting the back pearl. The ship controls w were phenomenal, as were the graphics.

[@KillerTacos54]

Just like Madame Web, we literally all saw this coming a mile away

[@opizzaa8285]

😂😂🤣🤣

[@hieubuimanh9521]

It's Webbin Time!

[@cenciende9401]

No need to lie in a youtube comment, you're just making a fool of yourself unless you have invented a time machine and can prove it

[@slinkbradshaw8674]

​@@cenciende9401 only an idiot wouldn't be able to see this game would be bad.

[@StarkEpiphany]

​@cenciende9401 Considering this was announced 7 years ago if you couldn't figure out something wasn't right with this game your just ignorant.

[@tim2slimjim]

I'm actually okay with the boarding cutscene for 2 reasons. 1.) There is no melee combat in the game, and I honestly don't think they would have implemented it well. 2.) In real life, when a ship was boarded by pirates, there was typically no fight. They got in close, blew a couple holes in the ship, maybe killed some people top-deck from afar. Then hopped on and made them hand over all their stuff or die. In Skull & Bones, to be able to board a ship, you have to essentially make it an empty ship. You have weapons that make boarding easier, and they're all deck-clearing things. Like grapeshot, the musket volleys, etc. So when you're boarding, you're jumping on a ship with a skeleton crew and taking their stuff.

[@PerkolatorTheTerminator]

*A Review of Most Modern Ubisoft Games:* “Devoid of any soul, life and anything new or interesting.”

[@joe_shmo9728]

Sly Cooper 3’s pirate mini game was my favorite pirate game.

[@avenganinja1636]

Based

[@danielcervantes5294]

Hell yes

[@OwensShadow276]

Hell yeah man! That was so fun!

[@dbdbdbdbdb123]

I want sly cooper 5 so bad

[@twistedshapeshifter]

Omg I need to play jus tfor this

[@Enigmasuhail]

We need a proper Single player Pirate game..

[@Need4Name]

Not sure we're I heard it, but AC black flag 2 is going to be one of their next 3 games they're making over the next few years. I heard this 6 months ago (ish) I think this game was supposed to be that, but they need to recouped so much back they felt this was the only viable option.... so they decided to start again from scratch. Have no memory were I heard this though. So it's probably just noise.

[@ColbyChaos30]

Sea of thieves is the best one

[@rich2279]

They had so much potential in creating a new pirate IP and completely screwed it up. Hopefully, another studio will take a shot at something that has a good single player story and not something made just to maximize micro transactions.

[@koibitothescrublord4977]

​@@Need4Namesource: just trust me bro

[@geoffrogue3049]

What we need is for Rockstar to make a pirate game with the same eye for detail as Red Dead Redemption. Imagine RDR2 but instead of a camp you have a boat and instead of modern weaponry you have flintlocks and blunderbusses. Heck, they already had a pirate sword and hat in RDR2.

[@harrisonparnell1853]

Pirates: The Legend of the Black Kat remains one of my favorite pirate games. It just needs an update for the modern audience.

[@BE02Raziel]

As for interesting pirate games, besides Black Flag and Rogue, I quite enjoyed Abandon Ship and Tempest - if you don't mind a little fantasy and lovecraft in your swashbuckling adventures.

[@hoss2060]

The whole point if this game when people were first told about it was to add depth to the piratey parts of black flag just like how black flag built on the very limited ship action in AC3. Apparently Ubi forgot that

[@fendelphi]

There was a showcase back in 2017 of this game, and it actually looked more interesting back then, than what we have now.

[@techlorknight338]

They didn't forget. They just don't care

[@Hollywood041]

I was in the Open Beta. At first the service was shit, but I thought that something was wrong on my end. I turned my settings all the way down and ended up frustrated and quitting thinking I was just done. The next day I got on at 0300 and it was running fine, turned settings up step by step to Ultra settings. Ran smooth and fast. I agree that the story at first was go hunt this, go collect that, go mine something else, attack this ship, raid that town... but, that was to introduce you to the stuff. I finished that introduction and went off on my own, ended up in the middle of the ocean surrounded by the French and some Pirates that were both hunting me down in a massive storm. I did some evasion and ended up flying off a huge wave, got air and damaged my ship. I got in a team up fight raiding a village, another against a badass captain, and a "what was that?!" sea monster. That was fun. I had fun. I cannot wait to buy it for ~$30.

[@altairscauldron9776]

it's 70 though?

[@theangrypotato4587]

​@@altairscauldron9776He's saying that while he found it fun, he doesn't think it's worth 70 dollars (which I agree with) so he's gonna wait for it to go on sale.

[@altairscauldron9776]

@@theangrypotato4587 I don't think anyone disagreee with with $70 being too much. For me it is worth 30 or 25 maybe

[@benstephens187]

​@@altairscauldron9776 that's... That's exactly what his comment suggested

[@damp2269]

add 10 buck to those 30 and buy helldivers 2. you can thank me later.

[@thebrethrenofthecoastgamingcom]

Finally someone who has their opinion, you don't like the game and I respect that because you respect those who do! I find Skull and Bones very enjoyable and I think this game will get better over time. Thank you for a honest and respectful review. I don't agree with alot of your points but again so respectful! Have a great day!

[@jayt8645]

Feel like I'm the only person who played it, but there's a Bethesda Pirates of the Caribbean rpg for the og XB that I feel was possibly the best pirate game I've played

[@oceanlo]

Is the ship main character in this game, because i don't see a point making a character in the first place if it doesn't have hand to hand combat or on foot exploration which leads to other question like what's the point having a map of islands if you cannot explore anywhere on foot...

[@shehzadzaman7588]

So a game about pirates but without being pirates.. amazing... It's ship sailing simultor i think

[@maisiie_ch]

not even a simulator, it’s maybe an arcade motorboat live service looter shooter with a pirate reskin and no love or understanding of anything. it’s literally all the worst things of ubisoft crunched together into a single mess. it’s just baffling because i wouldn’t even play the game if it was free to play and they charge >70 bucks for it. really feel sorry for the developers though that had to make this for over 10 years

[@nagibtarhouni577]

no one gonna mention how sly Cooper 3 was the first one to implement this pirate cool system of navigating and using canons lol

[@andrewdees3951]

No foot combat is crazy. It sounds like a Marie time game than a pirate game. Like a sailing sim. And you can't board other vessels in a raid? No fun. But I am gonna try it.

[@Lycan3303]

To think they chose to make this over a Black Flag 2 :'(

[@connorpinheiro2539]

Look at the bright side... they would have put the same effort into Black Flag 2. They saved us the disappointment.

[@dazedandconfused6853]

So excited for the first “Quadruple AAAA” game!

[@fairyfire6481]

The more As we add, we get less features and more micro transactions!

[@AMDACER1]

Its a AAAA.. piece of shit game 😅

[@shakesitoff1122]

The A stands for Ass

[@Aquahutch702]

Thank you Ubisoft for reminding me that AA and indie developers are the ones to support these days.

[@1337-Nathaniel]

I want a dope Sid Meier's Pirates! remake

[@curiousconsultant7922]

Pirate of the Caribbean Online. Released by Disney in '03 was the GOAT of pirate games or even MMORPGs in my humble opinion. It was everything WOW was and so much more. I could write for hours about it but you gotta see it for yourself. The Disney version shut down (i remember the closing event too) but a passionate community managed to recreate the game and launch it by just removing any trademark Disney property calling it "the legend of pirates online" plus the original featured a free tier capping the level lower and what you can unlock in the game and an unlimited tier. The remake is fully free so we all get unlimited access. As for what you said about unfinished games I think that is due to using agility as a project mangment approach instead of traditional V cycles. Meaning it used to be a game would stay in development until all features where created and tested and validated and then version 1 would be the ultimate version with maybe a bit of patching if major bugs are found. Today they sequence the game into many unfinished versions and as soon as it's at least capable of running they ship it and then continue working on newer versions through updates. I learned the lesson never to buy a game on release unless it's something I've been anticipating a lot. And of course anything "live service" that isn't also "free to play" can forget it.

[@gort2279]

Was looking for someone to compare to POTCO. They had a solid pirate ship combat system made 20 years ago. It absolutely was not perfect, but the basic groundwork is something a game dev could work with.

[@XxtamedabeastXx]

BRO I WAS LOOKING FOR THIS COMMMENT!!!!!!! IT WAS SO SO SO MUCH FUN! I PUT YEARS IN THAT GAME

[@daariankhan1129]

That game was elite.

[@curiousconsultant7922]

@@gort2279 as a kid i used to daydream of a POTCO game with modern graphics and animations as well as controls. AC Blackflag was a great stept towards that but they never made it into an MMO. Now I guess the dream is dead since a live service game is NOT the same thing. That mobile gaming trope really needs to die

[@philiphyatt2056]

Yes I was jsut gonna comment this

[@killax7]

So in terms of boarding mechanics. It seems like it would be best for you to have crew as a resource. Let them swing or jump off the ship and die if they must. You'll have to go to port and hire more. Realistically boarding should only be allowed on xtra large ships, smaller ships with outnumbered crews should surrender. If we want the player character/captain to have plot armor, just make it so he doesn't leave the wheel. Let the character press Y to play as a boarding member and fight with the boarding party. If another player ship shows up the player character can press and hold to abandon the boarding to deal with the new threat. Your crew will run back onto your boat and sever the ropes. Crew could play into the economy as a resource with upkeep costs that you have to manage. Make players choose whether to have more ammunition stores or bunks for extra crew. Let players choose where these are located on the ship so that they strategically keep their bow or port side enemy facing to prevent the ammunition store from being hit.

[@6767anton]

Go work for Ubisoft, please. They need you.

[@ty_bih]

Wow that's a pretty great idea to be honest. If you aren't working in the game industry in any capacity, then i think that we're all missing out.

[@MagusMik]

Insightful as always thanks Jake

[@_valdale]

Hell yeah! I made it in the video!🤣

[@morducal2203]

If you want.. Ship Combat, Land Combat, Being able to walk on Land, Fort Raids, a long great Story, plenty of Side quests, random encounters, Many Shiptypes, Real Boarding, Trading, Fleet Management..then definitely i would recommend to give Caribbean Legend a try. Its a great Experience for People that are new to classic Games and classic Games lovers! :) Sometimes a little difficult because you have to level up your Character and Ship but it feels good and rewarding when you progress, capture other ships (yes you can capture ships and make them your own new ships or sell them...or sink them..) and hire officers that either work for you as canonners, navigators or have npcs that walk with you and help you with fighting on land.

[@kobrapromotions]

Thanks man! I'll check it out, i've been jamming retro consoles and emulators later so thats right up my alley! Im playing monkey island atm hahahahah

[@GhostvaperYT]

thanks imma try it!

[@TheEvilGaidin]

The sad thing is it's Caribbean, again... We already have hundreds of these games. the interesting part about Skull & Bones is the setting. It's sad that it doesn't feel as lively as other games though....

[@raizan5946]

@@TheEvilGaidin oh no, the Caribbean, a bunch of isles that you don't know about (generalizing) and the game will explain nothing about since there is no lore or history involved... The indian sea makes it so much better, a bunch of isles that you don't know about and the game will explain nothing about since there is no lore or history involved.

[@Chickensea10]

Thanks to skull and bones, assassins creed black flag orginal multiplayer is slowly popping off! Just played 20 minutes!!!

[@BlackMajj]

Yesterday I bought the 2004 remake of Sid Meier's Pirates! on GOG. It's on sale now so it's like $2. I played the original on Amiga 500 back in my youth. So much fun. Was hoping Skull & Bones would give us a 4K remake of that concept but UBIsoft gave us a "AAAA mobile game". Yves standing infront of the share holders ranting about "complete game" and stuff reminded me of the good old "Don't you guys have mobile phones" and "Is this an early april fools joke?".

[@AlemaoMEGAReimer]

man, i totally forgot about Pirates! It was SO much fun! Good pirate game, for sure! To think it was 20 years ago... and today we have stuff so unsatisfying like this.

[@swiftmckillergermain9028]

They should expand on the boarding part, having the main player, then your crew, then being able to upgrade your crew, it’s weapons, as well as having care for your crew and not going in to 7 boarding parties in a single day, it should expand more on deep dives, like black flag did.

[@nfrschmitz]

I really hope they'll include the naval mechanics in the next AC game.

[@dullahan1847]

Crazy how Sid Meier’s pirates remains the best pirate game ever made

[@wtfserpico]

This AAAA game is the epitome and inevitable result of boardroom game design. Add that to an industry of programmers who are in the industry as a job and not as a passion and you get...exactly this.

[@cenciende9401]

Referring to developers as 'programmers' shows exactly how little of a clue you have about video game development

[@wtfserpico]

@@cenciende9401 It's almost like I used verbiage specifically to make my point. *Edit: Thank you for helping to really spotlight exactly what I meant.

[@robertantal6702]

@@cenciende9401 ups , you fumbled …

[@michael6james]

As someone who sails I have given up having hope I will ever get to play a good pirate game with somewhat realistic conditions.

[@xxlovehaterxx]

Just one game where the wind matters more than just for speed. Points of sail are like really easy to Google.

[@Storm-zm9pp]

Gamers are too stupid for real sailing mechanics

[@jonathanlovelace6816]

Valheim sails kind of work properly :P@@xxlovehaterxx

[@Desertking93]

I’m officially addicted to the game. I was one of the many that bitched about not having hand to hand on land combat but I started playing it for what it is and so far I’m into it. Took a few days but I like it.