Skull and Bones Game Review – Bring a Spring Upon ‘er (PS5)

Aye! “The Golden Age of Piracy” where maritime rovers ruled the seas. Influencing the ebbs and flows of the historic North Atlantic and Indian Oceans…Skull and Bones, a Ubisoft original, took a stab at representing the glory days – specifically the heyday of the Buccaneer (Period, y. 1650-1690). Today, the word describes a person or thing that is fearless and adventurous. Skull and Bones makes a daring attempt to recreate the magnificence of the pirate’s emporium. 

A rags-to-riches reverie encompass the story. Crafting, customization, and challenges constitute the gameplay. Battleships on the water for combat and moreover withal. The following acts as a game review of the long-awaited Skull and Bones. We dive into the overall narrative, mechanics, playability, graphics and sound. 

Skull and Bones is available starting at $69.99 for PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X|S. See also Ubisoft+ for subscription-based price offerings.

Main Story | Dead Men Tell No Tales

Last December, there was an impressions article assessing the Skull and Bones 6-hour closed beta test. This review is in part a comparative review in junction with an overall one. The main story appears to be the quest-line with the first Kingpin in Sainte-Anne. The player is instructed on various basic hitman and go-fetch type quests. The quests and rewards usually revolved around customizing your pirate, ship, weapons and armor set. Depending on playstyle, some may find that to be lackluster. I found it to be a practical, laid-out introduction on how to get hep to all of the customization options and a guided, paced out way to learn menu navigation (there is a lot to learn). Skull and Bones is players’ choice but to “go on account” with Scurlock is the most pragmatic way to get the most out of the game.

The King Corsair, John Scurlock

Gameplay | Hoist Up the Mizzen

In the matter of playability in general; it is compelling. The core gameplay loop of gathering materials, blueprints, hoarding treasures and heading back to a den just to beef up your wardrobe and ship seems overly simple but I found it easy to stay motivated. 

During early February’s open beta, I dealt with mildly unstable server issues that continued into early-access play. This was not such an issue during December’s closed beta. As a fairly understanding and forgiving game reviewer, I found this to happen so often that it was disruptive to the gaming experience.

Fair Winds

Combat 

I struggled to understand the modesty of the combat system. Yes, a pirate game is an ambitious overall undertaking, even for Ubisoft. There are too few pirate games for Skull and Bones to not be perceived in comparison. Fan-bases of previous pirate IPs may be automatically estranged and overly contemptuous. Players who want to stay partisan towards S&B might have a hard time unless they stay in their bubbles. Maybe Ubisoft was hyper-focused on creating a pirate game that was completely it’s own. Yet, if there is one thing Ubisoft historically knows how to do, it is build a great combat system. Why Ubisoft didn’t do that here, left me asking that very question. An opportunity was missed at launch by having no real sword-fighting in a pirate game. I think the game will stay in debt so-to-speak, even with the fan-base, until that is put in place.

Cutlass or No Cutlass; If players are okay with just point-and-click, fleet-to-fleet naval combat for now, Skull and Bones does do it well here. The combat system on balance may improve as the game scales post-release.

Jolly Roger on the Right.

Graphics & Sound | O’ Shenandoah

Playing with no looming time limits allowed for me to properly observe the music during this gaming experience. I was glad to hear bona fide pirate music that felt like it was it’s own to Skull and Bones. “Pirate music” can often just feel like knock-offs from each of the other and it’s been that way since old Hollywood. Grammy-nominated Tom Holkenborg composed the original game soundtrack for this game. His portfolio holds other notable titles such as Rebel Moon, Sonic Hedgehog 2, and Justice League. Well-done.

On top of that, the pirate chanteys are extremely charming and a nice touch as many are historical in nature. 

Ubisoft’s proprietary game engine AnvilNext powers Skull and Bones. Created from the ground-up in the late-early 2000’s, it’s been scaled generously since it’s inception. However, the graphics are give or take depending on player preference. I rarely found the graphics to be janky or disruptive to the gaming experience.

Skull and Bones was reviewed thanks to a key provided by Ubisoft.