Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Not since LEGO Star Wars has a franchise felt so perfectly suited for the LEGO brand. Pirate themed sets have been a staple of the building series for years and LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean continues that legacy by depicted Jack Sparrow and the crew in miniature plastic form. There's nothing groundbreaking here. It's the same straight-forward and fun formula the LEGO series has been thriving on for years.
The first issue I must bring up however is that this game is not a direct port of the home console version, at least as far as I can tell. I have not played the home console versions but I have seen video of both the Port Royal and Shipwreck Cove levels. Though the 3DS game's levels do share basic similarities to their console counterparts, they are much simpler and a great many features have been stripped out. Though a number of sources implied the 3DS game would be a direct port of the Wii version of LEGO Pirates, it seems that instead it's a slightly stripped-down and simplified game based on the console design, akin to LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the DS. UPDATE: Further investigation leads me to believe that this game is the same as the PSP and DS versions. The gameplay seems to be the same among these three versions of LEGO Pirates.
However, that doesn't mean it's not fun.
Disappointing though it may be that LEGO Pirates for the 3DS is not a true handheld version of the same game for home consoles, it still holds up extremely well as a fun and silly platformer, reminiscent of classic collectathon platform games like Spyro the Dragon. If you've played any previous LEGO game, you know what to expect. In particular, this game shares a nearly identical design to LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the DS, right down to the menu layout and basic mechanics of the game.
All four Pirates movies are covered here, with the key points of each story broken down into four levels each. As is standard for the series, humorous cut-scenes portray the major plot points, though if you aren't familiar with the films, the stories won't be real clear. The goal of each level is to collect studs, which act as the game's currency. Nearly any object made of LEGO bricks is destructible and will explode into studs when attacked. Numerous other goodies populate the levels as well, such as pirate coins, red power bricks, and miniature ships inside bottles which can be collected to unlock special dioramas, just like the mini-kits in previous LEGO games.
Only a handful of this bountiful booty can be found in Story Mode, though, as you won't always have a character on hand with the skills needed to reach secret areas or perform certain tasks. As a result, you are free to revisit the levels in Free Play mode. This mode allows you to take any character you like into a level. You are free to choose your lead character, and the game will automatically fill out your party with a variety of others, ensuring you have a mix of characters such as pirate captains, blacksmiths, characters who wield two swords, and even cursed characters. Playing levels in Free Play mode is well worth it, too, as entire sections of levels are often blocked in Story mode, ensuring there are lots of new things to see the second time through.
As has been the case with a number of handheld LEGO games, the co-op multiplayer mode that the home console series is so known for has been removed for this portable edition of LEGO Pirates. If you prefer to play with a friend, stick to the home console versions. However, if that's not a major loss for you, you'll find that this game has in fact been tailor-made for single player gameplay. You no longer have a second AI character following you around as in past LEGO games, so you never have to rely on potentially inaccurate computer controlled players for solving puzzles. It's a shame the two-player mode didn't make the transition to the 3DS as it's a staple of the series, but it is nice that the game has been designed with that omission in mind. A multiplayer pirate duel minigame is included that utilizes StreetPass, but I have yet to be able to try this feature.
And, of course, as in previous LEGO games, there are dozens of things to unlock. Nearly every character from the film series appears as a playable character, ranging from main characters in alternate costumes to obscure extras who barely had any screen time in the films. In addition, there are "extras" to unlock, which are basically cheat codes. They range from the conventional, such as making studs worth twice as much or being automatically attracted to your character, to the bizarre, such as turning everyone's sword into a banana. Of course, this is all standard fair for the LEGO series, but it's still nice to see such fun bonuses included.
Visually, the game is attractive if not amazing. The characters are all recognizable and the environments are well designed, looking perhaps just under the level of detail typical of a Wii game. It's not gorgeous, but it's still nice looking and recognizable. The 3D effect is well implemented and does enhance the look of the game, even if the depth slider does little to change the intensity of the 3D in this game. It's pretty much on or it's off. The framerate chugs a little from time to time, but it's not a major issue. The music is a mixed bag. It's all taken directly from the films, so expect to hear Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer's wonder themes throughout. However, there aren't a lot of tracks included and many of them loop quickly, causing the music to sound overly-repetitive at times.
In the end, how much you will enjoy LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean will depend entirely on your familiarity with the franchise, and how much you enjoyed previous LEGO games. The features included are just like those of LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga for the DS, so if you played that game you know just what to expect here. It's a bit simpler than it's home console cousins, but it maintains the same style of fun goody-gathering gameplay. It's a shame it's not a truly direct port of the console game as promised, but it's still a robust and fun package for kids and fans of all ages.
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LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game re-creates the action, adventure and memorable moments of the Pirates of the Caribbean mythology in LEGO form, incorporating the humor of LEGO minifigures and fantastic worlds built from LEGO bricks and elements for you to explore. You can take on the roles of more than 70 characters and experience the pirate adventure, irreverent humor and amazing creatures of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, through action-adventure game play and hilariously quirky LEGO cut scenes. Throughout the game, you will also have the freedom to explore environments from the highly acclaimed movie series in more than 20 levels.
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