Highlights

  • Being a pirate in Skull and Bones feels more like running errands than pillaging and looting the high seas.
  • Players miss the excitement and thrill of actually being a pirate, with limited combat and lackluster story.
  • While the game may be lacking in the pirate fantasy department, post-launch content could improve the experience.

With Skull and Bones, Ubisoft hopes to give players the pirate fantasy many have been dreaming about for years. While it does put them in the shoes of a swashbuckler during the Golden Age of Piracy, it does not really deliver on that promise. Instead, Skull and Bones' version of the pirate life feels very different from what players were expecting, and it even goes so far as to kind of forget what makes pirates enjoyable in the first place.

When players hear about pirates, most probably think that they will be sailing the high seas in search of their fortune. They should be engaging in all sorts of shenanigans, becoming notorious throughout the world, and ransacking anyone that they come across. Skull and Bones lets them do some of that, but the majority of the experience makes these pirates feel more like delivery drivers than actual pirates. Unlike Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag before it, this adventure simply lacks that special feeling that pirate fans have been craving.

Skull Bones Assassins Creed Black Flag Immersion
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Skull and Bones' Pirates Are Lacking That Exciting Feeling

Players Feel More Like Delivery Drivers Than Actual Pirates

At the start of Skull and Bones, it seems like players may be in for a good time. They must battle against a massive fleet, but due to the overwhelming odds, they are quickly sunk to the bottom of the sea. Before they die, they are pulled out of the murky depths and must team up with other survivors to get to safety. Once they do, they meet other pirates, are given a ship, and are told to conquer the high seas.

That all sounds promising, yet players will quickly discover that it is not as fun as it sounds. Instead of actually being a pirate, they spend much of their time in Skull and Bones simply running errands. Almost every contract has players go out, gather resources from different locations, and then deliver them to whoever wants them. Sometimes, they are tasked with sinking other vessels, however, that is also often just because they need a special resource from them. And while players will grow in strength as they complete these contracts, Skull and Bones' gameplay loop pretty much stays the same.

Skull and Bones' Story and Mechanics Do Little to Improve that Core Fantasy

Not only do Skull and Bones' contracts turn pirates into errand boys, but the actual story and mechanics do little to improve that experience. Players are unable to physically board ships in Skull and Bones, the treasure hunts leave much to be desired, there is no hand-to-hand combat, and there are not really any fun side activities to engage with. All of that makes for a rather lackluster experience, yet it could have been so much more

The pirate fantasy feels like the perfect thing for video games to tap into. Players want to terrorize the high seas, loot and pillage everything they see, and participate in all the pirate shenanigans they can. Sadly, Skull and Bones' open world does not give them that. While some players may have fun sailing, those looking for a true pirate experience like they had in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag will likely not find that here. But there is still a chance Ubisoft can fix that.

Since Skull and Bones is a live-service game, there are multiple seasons of post-launch content planned. Right now, the roadmap has four different seasons filled to the brim with new things for players to do. Not all the content has been revealed yet, so hopefully there are plans to add more pirate-themed activities to the game. Even if it comes in the form of new types of missions, it will go a long way in making this game actually feel like a pirate simulator rather than the fetch quest adventure it currently is.