Skull and Bones
Last updated: 2025-04-08
- Enjoyable, customizable ship combat and progression.
- Visually impressive, immersive open world.
- Extensive ship customization options.
- Lacks pirate-themed gameplay elements.
- Repetitive and grindy gameplay loop.
- Game is buggy and unstable.
Verdict
Mixed
Summary
Positive 62% · Negative 38%. Score: 38 / 100
Positives:
- Ship combat is a core strength, often compared favorably to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. Players enjoy the variety of ships, weapons, and customization options, as well as the engaging PvE and optional PvP battles. The game is also solo-friendly, allowing players to progress and enjoy the content without relying on multiplayer.
- The game features impressive graphics, particularly the ocean and weather effects, which contribute to a strong sense of immersion. The detailed environments, ship models, and sound design enhance the overall visual and auditory experience.
- Many reviewers express general enjoyment of the game, often highlighting its fun factor and immersive qualities. The game is also considered enjoyable when playing with friends, with co-op play enhancing the experience.
- The game offers extensive customization options for both ships and characters, allowing players to create unique pirate identities and tailor their gameplay experience. This includes a variety of ship types, weapons, armor, and cosmetic items.
- The game has potential and is enjoyable despite its flaws. It offers entertainment that is worth the discounted price and can be engrossing.
Negatives:
- The game deviates from the pirate theme, lacking key elements such as sword fights, treasure hunting, and meaningful land exploration. The focus is primarily on ship combat, which becomes repetitive and unengaging. This point is important because it highlights a disconnect between the game's theme and its actual gameplay.
- The game lacks depth, content, and engaging gameplay mechanics beyond naval combat. Reviewers criticize the repetitive nature of quests, the absence of ship boarding and melee combat, and the limited exploration options. This results in a shallow and unfulfilling pirate experience.
- The game is plagued with numerous bugs, glitches, crashes, freezes, and server issues that severely impact gameplay and progression. Many reviewers describe the game as unplayable due to these technical problems, with some even requesting refunds. This point is highly important due to its frequency and impact on the player experience.
- Many reviewers express disappointment that the game fails to live up to the standards set by Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. They cite the absence of key features like ship boarding, melee combat, and meaningful land exploration as major shortcomings. This point is important because it highlights a significant unmet expectation.
- The game suffers from repetitive quests, activities, and a grindy progression system. Reviewers find themselves performing the same tasks repeatedly, leading to boredom and frustration. This point is important because it affects the long-term enjoyment and replayability of the game.
Gameplay:
- The core gameplay revolves around ship-based combat and exploration, reminiscent of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag but often described as more arcade-like. Players customize and upgrade their ships, manage resources, and engage in naval battles, with limited on-foot activities. The focus is on ship handling, weapon customization, and strategic combat, with the ship essentially acting as the player's main character.
- Naval combat involves various weapon types like cannons, mortars, and torpedoes, each with unique attributes and strategic uses. Aiming is often simplified with auto-targeting or arcade-style mechanics. Players manage ship speed, attack angles, and ammunition while considering factors like wind direction and reload times.
- The game is primarily PVE-focused, with optional PVP modes that are not heavily utilized by the community. Cooperative missions are available, and players can team up for events and challenges. The game allows players to toggle PVP on or off, enabling them to choose whether to engage in player-versus-player combat.
- The endgame involves building and managing a pirate smuggling empire, often referred to as 'Helm,' by establishing factories and trade routes. Players gather resources, produce illicit goods, and sell them to NPCs to generate silver and trade for items. This system is essential for unlocking the best weapons and armor.
- The game features a variety of quests, including main story quests, side quests, contracts, and bounty missions, but many reviewers find them generic and repetitive, often involving fetch quests or simple combat objectives. Exploration, while present, is often uninspired, with limited interaction and immersion.
Performance:
- Players are experiencing long and frequent loading times, sometimes even during simple actions like character customization or talking to NPCs. This can disrupt the flow of gameplay and lead to frustration.
- Some players have reported issues with the game's audio, including lag, freezing, and poor sound quality. These problems can negatively impact the overall gaming experience.
- The game's implementation of DLSS is causing visual issues for some players. However, the presence of DLSS allows the game to run on less powerful hardware.
Recommendations:
- A vast majority of reviews suggest the game is only worth buying at a significant discount (60% or more), typically around $20-$30. The full price is considered too high for the content and quality offered. Some reviewers explicitly state they would not have enjoyed the game if they had paid full price.
- Many reviewers recommend the game to players who enjoy naval combat, ship customization, and the pirate theme. Some suggest it's best enjoyed with friends, while others appreciate the potential for future content and improvements. Some reviewers highlight the game's unique aspects compared to other pirate games.
- Many reviewers compare the game unfavorably to Assassin's Creed: Black Flag and Sea of Thieves, citing superior content, gameplay, and overall experience in those titles. Some suggest playing those games instead, while others recommend approaching Skull and Bones as a separate entity. Some reviewers note that Skull and Bones focuses more on ship combat than exploration.
- These points are general positive sentiments without specific details. Some reviewers express addiction to the game or consider it awesome. These reviews lack specific details about gameplay or mechanics.
- Several reviewers suggest trying the game yourself and forming your own opinion, rather than relying solely on reviews or online commentary. They recommend utilizing the trial version or refund options to assess personal enjoyment. Some reviewers note that the game may not appeal to everyone.
Miscellaneous:
- The game's marketing and perception are heavily influenced by Ubisoft's handling of expectations and monetization. Reviewers feel the 'AAAA' claim was unjustified and that the game is not on par with titles like Black Flag or Sea of Thieves. Some find the monetization excessive, while others believe the negative reception is partly due to Ubisoft's management and marketing.
- Many reviewers feel the game is not living up to the hype, but some suggest the negative criticism is excessive and potentially influenced by review bombing. Some acknowledge the game's flaws but encourage players to form their own opinions, while others express concern that negative sentiment will prevent others from trying it.
- The game is set in the 17th-century Indian Ocean during the golden age of piracy and colonial plundering. It draws inspiration from Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and historical figures like Malahayati, focusing on building a pirate empire.
- The game features battle passes and other modern live service practices. Many cosmetics are accessible for free via the season pass, with some cool items available even without the premium pass.
- The game requires a constant internet connection, as it is an online-only title. This is a core design element that affects all aspects of gameplay.
