Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End review

Can it really be as good as it looks? Our review has the answer

GamesRadar+ Verdict

Pros

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    Gorgeous

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    PS3-beating visuals

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    Faithful to the movies

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    Lots to find and see

Cons

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    Poor combat

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    Highly linear

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    Last-gen gaming traits aplenty

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It's very rare that the videogame off-shoot of a blockbuster movie lets you feel like you're in the movie. This is one of those times. Never before has a game looked so much like its source material. But don't go firing a ten cannon salute just yet - it's got plenty of issues that threaten to spoil the party.

The game is primarily a fighting game with free movement. You walk into an area, get pounced on by a bunch of bad guys and then see them off with a variety of attacks. You unlock finishing moves as you progress and there are several combos to be found as you switch between punch and sword attack buttons as you fight.

There's a simple parrying system, whereby you can push in the direction of an enemy who's about to attack (indicated by a red ring around his or her feet) and then press A. After a slight pause, a cool animation will take place. This is sadly true of the game as a whole - you press something then watch the results, as opposed to really feeling like you're in full control.

To make things worse, practically every enemy can be defeated by pressingA three times. After two swipes, they turn their back to you, whereupon they inexplicably wait a good three or four seconds for you to deliver the finishing blow. It gets harder later on, but only because you have to press it four times, not two, before they turn their back in the same set animation. You can vary your attacks to stop it from looking crappy, but that is the only word for it.

More info

GenreAdventure
DescriptionIt's a movie tie-in brawler, but its blend of spot-on animations, upgraded battle actions and cinematic action sequences could still be enough to interest more than just idle fans of the film
Franchise namePirates of the Caribbean
UK franchise namePirates of the Caribbean
Platform"PS2","PSP","PS3","DS","Wii","Xbox 360"
US censor rating"Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen","Teen"
UK censor rating"12+","12+","12+","12+","12+","12+"
Release date1 January 1970 (US), 1 January 1970 (UK)
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Justin Towell

Justin was a GamesRadar staffer for 10 years but is now a freelancer, musician and videographer. He's big on retro, Sega and racing games (especially retro Sega racing games) and currently also writes for Play Magazine, Traxion.gg, PC Gamer and TopTenReviews, as well as running his own YouTube channel. Having learned to love all platforms equally after Sega left the hardware industry (sniff), his favourite games include Christmas NiGHTS into Dreams, Zelda BotW, Sea of Thieves, Sega Rally Championship and Treasure Island Dizzy.