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Original 'Pirates of the Caribbean' Stars on Regrets, Triumphs and a $2. Of Gore Verbinski (Pirates 1-3) and Rob Marshall (Pirates 4), the quartet. Lightsaber master who fought battles as Darth Vader in the Star Wars films.

Most gamers probably won't make it eight hours into this nautical Arr-PG before tossing it overboard--two hours max for anyone lured in by the slapped-on movie license. Why? After a pathetic 'tutorial,' Pirates hurls you into an ocean of confusing menus, frustrating battles, jittery camera movement, and more bugs than a beehive. But, as with Bethesda's medieval RPG Morrowind (on which this game is heavily based), Pirates offers unique game-play freedom as a reward to those dedicated enough to play through the pain. Exciting options abound in how you choose to build up your character (gutsy swordsman, expert seaman, or shrewd trader?), shape your reputation (hero or rogue?), choose and solve missions (plunder towns, explore dungeons, or bother with the main quest?), and more. And yes, the controls and interface are terrible, but as your characters gain skills and you learn tricks for avoiding the game's rough edges, they become bearable. Like sunken treasure, hidden within Pirates' choppy seas is a decent game only those with plenty of time and patience will ever discover.

My Pirates experience was far from swashbuckling--this is one of the most wildly inconsistent games I've ever played. Ship combat is a beast to master and only becomes something less than frustrating once you've upped your skills and amassed an armada (but even then it's still tedious). Crack lingua italiana f1 2012 car. And I spent hours at a stretch not really sure where to go or what to do, only to--shiver me timbers!-- suddenly have a dozen plot points and subquests hit me at once. It was just enough to keep my interest afloat despite so much of this game being barely shipshape.

Master

The complex plot, deep customization, and copious subquests can't save this shipwreck. It's like Morrowind, minus the best part--exploration. Here, you spend too much time running errands between a handful of tiny islands. The gameplay simply isn't fun: Delving into the intricacies of pirate economics left me cold, and sloppy control leeched all fun out of stabbing skeletal monkeys. It's not a total wash, though--I warmed up to the naval warfare, and I've rarely seen a nicer virtual sunset.