Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End (Nintendo DS) - Review by Andrew

Introduction

Sometime around the turn of the millennium Disney announced that it was to produce movies based on two of its most popular attractions: The Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Caribbean. The Haunted Mansion starred Eddie Murphy; the movie was such a box office disaster that it led to the game, on some formats at least, being cancelled even though it had been completed. Pirates of the Caribbean was a different story altogether and, like the first Matrix movie, was almost completely ignored by the larger publishers. Things changed dramatically with Dead Man's Chest though and while this was an all formats release most critics thought that the game didn't quite capture the excitement of the movie. This summer brings us At World's End, the final part of the trilogy and clearly a last stab at producing a game worthy of the movie it's based upon and worth your money.

Gameplay

The main focus of At World's End is exploration and it's up to you (playing as Jack, Will or Elizabeth) to fight your way through one of the handful of movie locations. Unlike the last outing though, it's not simply a case of simply drawing your sword any time something moves. In an attempt to add greater depth to the levels the developers have taken a leaf out of the Tomb Raider design book. This mans things like hanging from cliffs, swinging from ropes and simple puzzle solving are more important in the levels, making the whole thing seem far less linear. The locations themselves are also filled with collectables so it's important to investigate every locked chest as, among other things, it may contain an all important map piece without which you can't proceed to the next location.

There are also more useful items to find and once you've located these they appear in your inventory for use later in the game. These include things like grappling hooks, to enable you to swing from platform to platform or a torch for burning away obstacles. Cleverly, while you need these items for your current location, you could also have used them in a previous location meaning lots of backtracking, which artificially lengthens the game. Multiplayer fans are also catered for although you will need two copies of the game for the dueling. The same is not true of the Lair's Dice (which is also available in the single player game), which is available thanks to the DS' download function.

Controls

Not too bad at all and, unusually for a movie tie-in, it's both intuitive and responsive. Your first location is also a practice island allowing you to hone your combat skills before it really matters.

Graphics

If you played last year's game then this is where you'll notice the biggest changes initially, with the developers now turning in a full 3D engine. There's also an improved level of detail in the model textures making the environments more realistic and atmospheric. This all comes at a price though and disappointingly the character animations are not nearly as fluid as they should be which is unusual for a Disney game. There are also problems with the camera and while it is generally intelligent in its third person viewpoints, it does occasionally become fixed 'side-on' when you least want it to. What this means from the game's point of view is that some of the trickier jumps become hard to judge leading to a kind of trial and error gameplay and, ultimately, frustration.

Sound

Lot's or orchestral themes from the movie and some well placed voice samples too. Not too bad at all, for a movie tie-in.

Dual screen

This comes in to play in a number of different situations but you'll mostly use it to select from your inventory, that is once you've collected it. You'll also use it in a handful of touch-screen mini-games in order to open locks but its primary use is in combat in conjunction with the standard controls. This is a simple case of drawing a line across the screen in order to instigate an attack with the controls used to block your opponent's attacks. This does grow more complicated when dealing with the more experienced swordsmen but by that time you should be pretty good yourself.

Final comments

As far as PotC titles are concerned this is a huge leap forward and this DS offering is definitely one of the better versions to be released on the back of the movie. It looks better, sounds better and the developers have clearly given the gameplay a great deal more thought. There's still too much mindless combat (which simply comes down to button bashing) but the greater focus on puzzles and exploration give the game greater depth. All this makes for a pleasant surprise though and for once At World's End is a movie tie-in, which we can actually recommend.

Pro: Nice Sound and Visuals, Dueling is Fun.
Con: Not Very Long, A Little Repetitive.
Final score: 7.2

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