A great game, surprising for a movie adaptation, and will provide a few days of great, humorous fun.
The game has a single and multiplayer. The single player follows the film, and is based in a third person fighter. It has a sort of hack and slash style, and this is evidently seen by how predictable the enemies prepare their attacks. The controls suffer a bit, apart from the normal PSP issues, Jack is unable to execute tasks with certain objects in his hand.
The single player restricted to melee fighting most the most part, in the single player. The enemies look different, but fall into three similar characters, regardless if they are “cannibal” or “pirate” or “undead.” You can queue up certain attack sequences, and the combat is repetitive. The additions to combat arrive in optional treasure finding matches, your objective being to clear off waves of enemies and in return gain special attack moves that can swat three guys at once.
The multiplayer takes place on the open sea, where ships battle. This is similar to Sid Meier’s Pirates game. It certainly feels rushed – underdeveloped, but my guess is that this isn’t really a multiplayer type game.
The soundtrack is superb, and the voice acting is top-notch. Jack Sparrow’s voice sounds like Johnny Depp (and is probably done by him). He has humorous lines throughout the game. What’s all the more funnier is that he staggers around perpetually drunk, and the health replenishment is actually “grog” – he’s one crazy character. The cutscenes are widescreen and have a cinematic feel. The game has a very polished feel to it, from head to toe, which makes it all the more fun.
This is a really fun game, probably one you can finish in a few days. Definitely worth a rent, but I don’t believe the replay value is very high. (I am biased, too, since I rarely ever replay a game)
GRAPHICS: 8/10 (Great sceneries & cut-scenes)
SOUND: 7/10 (It’s mostly the Curse of the Black Pearl remixed soundtrack and excellent voice cast.)
CONTROLS: 4/10 (Once again, it seems to be the PSP’s fatal flaw. The camera does not follow Jack’s movements, and you are stuck throwing knives into walls. The controls are not customizable, and some of the default buttons need remapping.)
DIFFICULTY: 5/10 (Nothing insanely difficult, a few enemies deal massive damage. The environment poses some difficulty, and of course camera angles dominate the problems.)
LOAD TIMES: LOW (Before you know it, you are into the game)
OVERALL: 8.8/10 (A great game, wish it were longer, and had more combo attacks considering Jack is almost always a melee fighter.)