Movie tie-in games don’t come out with the frequency they used to, but the modern era has already proven that they can be taken to further heights than ever before. Star Wars has had hits with games like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle set a new bar, packing the best Indiana Jones movie since The Last Crusade into a thoroughly fun gameplay experience. If there’s any franchise that could benefit from this approach, though, it’s Pirates of the Caribbean.
Pirates of the Caribbean already has a fairly storied video game history, ranging from direct tie-ins to the original films to crossovers with games like Sea of Thieves and the Kingdom Hearts series. As far as film franchises go, it’s arguably had one of the more successful video game runs. It still hasn’t tapped into its full potential, though, and there’s no good reason that we should have to keep waiting around for the perfect Pirates of the Caribbean game.
Pirates Of The Caribbean Had A Lot Of OK Games
LEGO Pirates Of The Caribbean Is Easily The Peak
Unfortunately, the history of Pirates of the Caribbean video games got off to a relatively rough start. The first official tie-in, a GBA game that shared The Curse of the Black Pearl‘s name, released to a critically disappointing 49 on Metacritic. Meanwhile, an Xbox and PC game called Pirates of the Caribbean didn’t have much to do with the franchise. Rather than being developed as an actual tie-in, it was a rebranded sequel to the 2000 action RPG Sea Dogs.
Pirates of the Caribbean maintained an aggressive pace of game releases throughout the course of the original trilogy. Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End received direct tie-ins, The Legend of Jack Sparrow filled in some gaps in Jack’s story, and Pirates of the Caribbean Online launched a few months after At World’s End‘s release. The tie-ins were never acclaimed, but they were entertaining enough to scrape by.
In 2011, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean delivered the best experience yet, remixing the original trilogy and the newly released On Stranger Tides in heightened comedic fashion. Getting a LEGO game is usually a great sign that a franchise has risen to the top, but for Pirates of the Caribbean, it also signaled the end. Since then, Pirates has only received mobile video games and crossovers, a disappointing fate for such promising material.
POTC’s Most Ambitious Video Game Never Released
Armada Of The Damned Had Big Ideas
The most ambitious Pirates of the Caribbean game might have been Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned, but this seventh-generation title never actually launched. Planned as an open-world action RPG, Armada of the Damned was canceled in October 2010, only a year and a few months after its announcement.
Armada of the Damned was set to follow original characters within the Pirates of the Caribbean universe, which could have provided the opportunity for a compelling story that didn’t rehash beats from the films. A protagonist named Sterling would have had the choice to become a well-respected Legendary swashbuckler or a feared Dreaded pirate, reflecting the franchise’s penchant for corsairs of every moral inclination.
Pirates Of The Caribbean Games Have Untapped Potential
There’s So Much More To Do
The Pirates of the Caribbean content in Sea of Thieves might be the best option of the past decade, but it still falls short of what a modern Pirates of the Caribbean game could be. Sea of Thieves has a simple gameplay loop about finding and selling loot, and a Pirates of the Caribbean game could be so much more.
In all the years since Sid Meier’s Pirates, pirate video games have continually failed to recapture Sid Meier’s focus on creating a complete pirate experience. While Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag has a lot going for it, filling up the runtime with trailing missions while lacking any trading features doesn’t help matters. If I had to pick a winner, it would be Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, but being a pirate game isn’t its sole focus.
The Pirates of the Caribbean name could be the perfect ammunition to get a blockbuster budget for another pirate game, providing the opportunity to finally deliver on all counts. Like Armada of the Damned, it wouldn’t even need to tie in directly, as the Pirates of the Caribbean mythos is fascinating whether Jack Sparrow is involved or not. Threats like Barbossa’s damned crew or the Kraken could make for memorable showdowns, and the East India Trading Company is the perfect overarching force of villainy.
Despite the lull in movies, the Pirates of the Caribbean brand is still going strong, and the recent announcement of a $380 LEGO Black Pearl is perfect proof. A new tie-in game could raise the bar for swashbuckling interactive adventures, with plenty of opportunities to inject off-beat creativity into the mix. The Pirates of the Caribbean films made $4.5 billion at the box office, and it’s time for a game to finally capitalize properly on that success.
