Highlights

  • Skull and Bones nails its sailing gameplay, offering players hours of fun exploring the oceans.
  • However, storms in the game lack excitement and danger, as well as special mechanics, making them feel like mere set dressing.
  • Future updates should add more lifelike storms with rogue waves, waterspouts, and unpredictable winds to create a thrilling experience.

Skull and Bones may be filled with controversial mechanics, but one thing it does get right is its sailing gameplay. Taking the helm of a ship, heading off into the great unknown, and experiencing everything that the oceans have to offer can be a lot of fun. Just like with Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag before it, players may get lost for hours exploring this part of Skull and Bones. However, even though it can be fun, there are some things that could benefit from being tweaked a bit.

Specifically, the storms that players will run into on their journey in Skull and Bones need a bit more life. While players may be excited to cruise through one at first, they will likely get pretty bored of them quickly. Simply put, there is just no real danger or variation with these storms, and that should not be the case. Storms are one of the most dangerous parts of sailing, so hopefully Ubisoft is able to make them a bit more interesting in a future update.

Skull and Bones Sailing
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Skull and Bones' Storms Are Fairly Lackluster

As players explore the oceans of Skull and Bones, they may see dark looming clouds in the distance. If they decide to venture towards them, then they will encounter a storm ravaging the waters and any boat that wishes to head into it. Waves will crash into the sides of vessels, lightning will strike randomly, and rain will fall from the sky. If players are in first-person, this experience can be extremely riveting as they fight with the very ocean itself. And even in third-person, sailing through a storm can be fun at first.

At first glance, these storms are great. But, players will quickly discover that there is nothing really interesting about them outside Skull and Bones' aesthetic. They are never truly in danger of damaging their vessel or sinking into the murky depths due to the turbulent waters. Instead, the storms simply feel like set dressing to make players think they are in the real ocean. Additionally, the only type of storm is a basic rainstorm, which can quickly get old.

A Future Skull and Bones Update Needs to Right That Ship

Skull and Bones' storms seem to lack anything super lifelike at the moment. In real life, the ocean is affected by far more than rainstorms and ships are in much greater danger. Players should have to defend themselves against rogue waves, maneuver around waterspouts, prepare for extremely strong unpredictable winds, and even dodge a hurricane or two. When these storms appear, there should be a sense of dread, because it means that players may be a second away from entering Davy Jones' locker.

Adding truly terrifying storms would not be impossible, as games like Sea of Thieves have already tapped into that potential a bit. In that game, storms can cause ships to become extremely unruly as players must battle against the high winds. Additionally, boats will begin to flood, compasses spin uncontrollably, and even the ship's bell will continuously ring until players have gotten to safety. All of that makes for a pretty fun experience that Skull and Bones may want to replicate.

Sea of Thieves is not the only game to play around with that concept either, as even Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag - a game Skull and Bones spun-off from - went all out with the storms. While the storm aesthetic was mostly similar, players actually had to deal with rogue waves and waterspouts. That is something that would have shined in Skull and Bones, so hopefully those at least get added in a future update. Even if Ubisoft does not want to add full-on hurricanes, it could at least make the storms feel a bit more like they did in a pirate game from 11 years ago.