Games
Sony
Microsoft
Nintendo
Other Platforms
Upcoming &
Recent Releases
xx
3 Cards to Dead Time
xx
Aliens vs. Predator
xx
Alliance of Valiant Arms
xx
Armada 2526
xx
Assassin's Creed II
xx
Battlefield: Bad Company 2
91
BioShock 2
xx
Blur
82
Borderlands
xx
Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
xx
Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
86
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
xx
Chronicles of Mystery: The Tree of Life
xx
Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
xx
Crash Time III
xx
Cricket Revolution
xx
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Deadly Intent
70
Dark Fall: Lost Souls
58
Dark Void
xx
Dawn of Discovery: Venice
89
DiRT 2
91
Dragon Age: Origins
xx
Dragonica Online
64
East India Company: Privateer
62
Elven Legacy: Ranger
73
Emberwind
63
Eufloria
xx
Europa Universalis III: Heir to the Throne
xx
Fairytale Fights
xx
Farewell To Dragons, A
xx
Field of Glory
75
FIFA Manager 10
72
FIFA Soccer 10
88
Football Manager 2010
xx
For the Glory
xx
Fort Zombie
xx
Ghost Pirates of Voojoo Island
xx
Global Agenda
61
Greed: Black Border
71
Gyromancer
60
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game
80
King Arthur: The Role-Playing Wargame
82
King's Bounty: Armored Princess
xx
Konung 3: Ties of the Dynasty
78
League of Legends
89
Left 4 Dead 2
66
LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues
83
Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood, The
85
Machinarium
xx
Magnetis
xx
Major League Baseball 2K10
94
Mass Effect 2
74
Men of War: Red Tide
xx
Metal Drift
xx
Metro 2033
xx
Murder, She Wrote
xx
My Boyfriend
xx
Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove
xx
Napoleon: Total War
54
Ninja Blade
xx
Order of War: Challenge
38
Painkiller: Resurrection
xx
Planet Alcatraz
xx
Princess and the Frog, The
78
Pro Evolution Soccer 2010
xx
Rig'n'Roll
29
Rogue Warrior
80
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call of Pripyat
76
Saboteur, The
xx
Sacraboar
59
Saw
68
Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter
72
Shattered Horizon
81
Sims 3 World Adventures, The
xx
Sims 3: High-End Loft Stuff, The
xx
Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing
68
Star Trek Online
50
Star Trek: D-A-C
65
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed - Ultimate Sith Edition
xx
Supreme Commander 2
80
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 4: The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood
81
Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 5: Rise of the Pirate God
xx
Tinker
81
Toki Tori
xx
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction
83
Torchlight
79
Tropico 3
53
Twin Sector
xx
Vampire Hunters
56
Vancouver 2010: The Official Videogame of the Winter Olympic Games
77
Void, The
83
VVVVVV
xx
Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising
79
Wings of Prey
xx
World of Zoo
63
WorldShift
xx
Zero Gear
xx
Zombie Bowl-O-Rama
59
Zombie Driver
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Pirates of the Caribbean

Mixed or average reviews
Based on 25 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 49 votes
Read user comments
Rate this game >
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.
Read Full Review >Game Chronicles
Gorgeous graphics, in-depth gameplay, and a compelling environment easily make POTC one of my favorite games of 2003.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >PC Format
It might be damn pretty but, running on a 1.4GHz system with a GeForce FX, we still couldnt get a smooth third-person experience.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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 theyre even trying to run trade routes.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Gamers' Temple
With a clunky interface, poor control, and frustrations aplenty, it should be sent to Davy Jones' locker.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >Game Over Online
And then there are all the crash bugs, and the easily broken quests, and Pirates of the Caribbean just isnt a lot of fun to play.
Read Full Review >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.
Read Full Review >netjak
While the graphics are insanely impressive, the gameplay rolls in on the other end of the spectrum. It stinks.
Read Full Review >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 6.9 (out of 10) based on 49 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.
