Highlights

  • Skull and Bones falls short of being the new Black Flag experience, lacking key pirate life aspects and gameplay excitement.
  • Disappointing mobile-like mini-games, lack of pirate action, and empty environments make Skull and Bones a far cry from the quad-A game that was promised.
  • Price cuts, broken promises, and a lack of consumer trust may tarnish Ubisoft's reputation and cast doubt on future projects like Star Wars Outlaws.

Although it has spent over a decade in the making, Skull and Bones most likely failed to make the big splash Ubisoft hoped it would, with the project being conceived as a sort of new Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag experience, but instead become a shadow of the original game. The fact that some of the key pirate life aspects are nailed in Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag and not in Skull and Bones' gameplay loop is quite disappointing, especially for some of those longtime fans who expected a completely different product. Yet, the worst promise for Skull and Bones to break is something else entirely, and it has to do with its AAA tag.

There are many reasons why Skull and Bones can feel disappointing, starting from its mobile-like mini-games to harvest resources to the lack of actual pirate action, with the game being more akin to a ship simulator. There are also echoes of what the game was supposed to be or could have been in Skull and Bones, such as the side areas with NPCs where players can explore on foot but find nothing of value. Originally stated to be a quad-A game, Skull and Bones fell short of that promise by a mile, and that alone makes it walk the plank.

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Skull and Bones' Quad-A Promises Are Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Why Skull and Bones is Not a Quadruple-A Game

In a strange turn of events, recent rumors about an Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag remake being in the works made Skull and Bones look duller even before it came out, and the first impressions from users before launch didn't leave much room for interpretation. Sitting at a 60 on Metacritic, Skull and Bones is by far not the disaster some anticipated, but it still fundamentally lacks a soul that makes it a worthwhile experience, and it pales in comparison to the promise it would be a quad-A game.

When word came out that Skull and Bones was going to be a $70 game, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot defended the pirate title saying the price was warranted due to it being a quadruple-A game. Already sailing in murky waters due to Skull and Bones' live-service model and the fact that it's currently not a beloved approach by gamers at large, the game failing to deliver a sort of ultimate experience to live up to the quadruple-A promise may have been the final nail in the coffin for it.

Skull and Bones Not Being a Quad-A Game Doesn't Bode Well For Ubisoft

Skull and Bones is Already Getting Price Cuts

At this stage, it's hard to even conceive what sort of graphics and gameplay a quadruple-A video game could have, but the rather empty world of Skull and Bones is far from it. Some players are already deeming the title a "bargain bin" game, and the fact that Skull and Bones got a price cut just weeks after launch doesn't do its reputation any good. Even still, Skull and Bones broke fans' trust multiple times during its rocky development, and the overall sentiment is that it should have been more like Black Flag without the typical Assassin's Creed elements.

Promising something Skull and Bones couldn't deliver on the quad-A promise may mean future Ubisoft projects like Star Wars Outlaws are met with skepticism, and it's something the developer should try and prevent by regaining consumers' trust. A good way to do this would be to deliver a true quad-A game in Ubisoft's lineup and prove to fans that Skull and Bones was a misstep that the developer is trying to correct. However, with highly anticipated titles coming, such as Assassin's Creed Red and Assassin's Creed Hexe, Skull and Bones' broken promise sticks out like a sore thumb.