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Pirates of the Caribbean

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6.8 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 25 critic reviews
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Based on 48 votes
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Game Info

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Developer: Akella

Genre(s): Role-Playing Game, Adventure

Players: 1

ESRB Rating: T (Teen)

Release Date: July 1, 2003

Summary

Designed as a thrilling blend of role-playing and action Pirates of the Caribbean takes place in a large group of Caribbean islands during the golden age of piracy and high seas adventure. You will take command of a ship and its crew, swordfight with other captains, accept and complete daring quests, chase rumors of dangers and riches, and change allegiances amongst the colonial powers in the game. Through skill and daring, you will have the ability to obtain more power than the toughest captains in history ever dreamed possible. [Bethesda Softworks]

Also On Metacritic

FILM: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

GAMES: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow

Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central IGN Insider Guide

Also On The Web: Armchair Empire Preview GameSpy Interview Official Website

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Gamezilla!

A well-realized, excellent, and more importantly, fun adventure title.

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Game Chronicles

Gorgeous graphics, in-depth gameplay, and a compelling environment easily make POTC one of my favorite games of 2003.

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ActionTrip

The gameplay mechanics of melee combat, sailing and naval battles have been greatly improved, making the action portion of the game much more strategic, and ultimately more appealing.

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GameZone

If you like action games, RPGs, and especially pirates with a completely open ended storyline, you should get this one and it will offer a lot of time and replayability.

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Game Informer

RPG fans will love the open-ended feel of the game, but more casual gamers may be put off by the lack of guidance and the game's few minor control issues. [Sept 2003, p.123]

Armchair Empire

Does an adequate job of giving PC gamers the opportunity of hijinx on the high seas.

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GameSpot

Offers a refreshing and entertaining experience that successfully evokes a sense of what it might have been like to live a life of danger and adventure on the high seas.

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PC Format

It might be damn pretty but, running on a 1.4GHz system with a GeForce FX, we still couldn’t get a smooth third-person experience.

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IGN

There's a gorgeous-looking but not-entirely-helpful RPG adventure here, buried under a mass of presentation and control issues. Think of it as treasure under sand, bones and seaweed -- it's all a matter of how much digging you're prepared to put up with.

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Adrenaline Vault

There is a lot of variety and freedom here, and at its best this is the most physically attractive virtual pirate adventure ever released. It all boils down to this: if you want a fast-paced action title, do not go near this release; but if, on the other hand, you want a slower-paced role-playing experience with lots of different types of things to do, then by all means give it a shot.

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Yahoo! Games

Once you're past the technical hurdles (and the brutal realization of just how easy it is to die in a swordfight or sea battle), Pirates of the Caribbean is an absolutely beautiful looking, freeform RPG adventure. But it is really suited for experienced, patient gamers rather than casual ones.

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PC Gamer

For pirate lovers and diehard roleplaying fans only - a pass for everyone else. [Oct 2003, p.118]

FiringSquad

For all the attempts to make the world lively, the world map has shown what a dreadfully static place the archipelago is. AI ships float around randomly, making no attempt to even look like they’re even trying to run trade routes.

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Gaming Age

A good, just not great game. If you want more diversity and ability to choose the length of your evil doings, you may want to give Port Royale a spin instead.

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Play Magazine

Instead of the marketing-driven production you might expect, Pirates of the Caribbean is a deep and interesting role-playing experience. [Sept 2003, p.81]

Gamer's Pulse

The lackluster sword fighting, terrible interface, and nasty bugs detract from the experience a great deal. Excellent naval combat isn't enough to make up for these issues.

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GameSpy

A sad mess that not only has virtually nothing to do with the movie or the ride, but is a pretty poor game in its own right.

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Gamers' Temple

With a clunky interface, poor control, and frustrations aplenty, it should be sent to Davy Jones' locker.

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GameCritics

The game's real mistakes were made at the design level, and that's a pity, because it contained the potential to be a much better experience than it ended up being.

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Game Over Online

And then there are all the crash bugs, and the easily broken quests, and Pirates of the Caribbean just isn’t a lot of fun to play.

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Edge Magazine

The joy of Pirates of the Caribbean is to be found in the variety of the elements delivered - sword fights and canon battles happily sit alongside contraband trade route management. But ultimately none offer a tremendous amount of depth. [Nov 2003, p.107]

Game Revolution

A cool game hiding underneath scads of bugs, control problems and weak swordfighting, leading to not a cool game whatsoever. If you're dying to be a pirate, dig up one of the Monkey Islands.

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netjak

While the graphics are insanely impressive, the gameplay rolls in on the other end of the spectrum. It stinks.

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Computer Games Magazine

If you're looking for the thrill of a pirate's life, frankly, you're better off with the Disney ride that inspired it all. [Oct 2003, p.88]

Computer Gaming World

It has a few great moments, but it seems like an incomplete collection of half-finished ideas. [Nov 2003, p.126]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this game is 6.8 (out of 10) based on 48 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Edward D. gave it a9:
The game is awesome, some things are hard, like the fighting (on boats and on land) but as i say it is awesome. if there was to be a new version, there should be some cheats, like some more money! i get 5,000 every time i go on it which is hard. please write if there is an easy way to make money.

Deals M. gave it a9:
Awesome game, throughly enjoyed playing it. Delving away from the main story to wage war with the english was definitely the most fun I had with this game :D Oh, and btw if you press TAB in the map view you can scroll around entire map, a few of you didn't seem to know that.

Glen gave it an8:
I enjoyed this a lot. Ok, the controls are a little bit iffy and the combat could be better, but they made a big effort here and it shows through the immersion. The slight free-roaming aspect works well, allowing you to take your time with the main missions and tour the caribbean finding the odd side quest and beefing up your ship. Graphics are vibrant and impressive still to this day. A must play for pirate fans. Just remember it's a bit amateurly made.

Mike W. gave it a10:
I keep trying new and different Pirate games but none are a patch on this one. Why won't Bethesda just let us have a new improved version of this? It has to be the best pirate game ever!

Mahdi M. gave it a10:
Though it has some bugs it is a wonderful game. It has a great storyline. On land fighting isn't too fun but the more important ship battles are extremely well made. The RPG-aspects gives it more depth. You can even be a trader (or smuggler if you like it more) if you get boored of fighting or want to do something else. This is a very good game since you can do so much and it's really fun even to just sail around.

SYMBA gave it a10:
I don't understand you who didn't got how to control this game. THERE IS OPTIONS (if you don't know you can set your own controls there)! This game is incredible and worth playing. It's hard at start but when you got what to do in battle it's easy.

Josiah T. gave it a10:
This game is the most amazingly realistic, fun and all around a-we-so-me game of all time. The buying of stuff is so realistic, you can buy things like jars, rings, necklaces, ships, cannons, and everything you could normally buy.

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Pirates of the Caribbean

Game Info

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