phungus's Full Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest for Gam...
History has shown that video games based on movies are notoriously bad. However, Pirate of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is an exception to that rule because this is a great game. Too bad it borrows very heavily from Sid Meier’s classic Pirates! game. Some elements of this game were so directly copied that I’m surprised a lawsuit has not yet been filed.
This game follows the movie’s story quite well. In fact, you’ll get to explore a lot of areas not shown in the film. For example, the movie introduces Jack Sparrow’s character as he’s running away from an island with a small drawing of a key. In this game, you actually have to fight your way through that island before you get to your ship. I think the movie would have been a lot better had it shown some of that action in the opening sequence.
The object of this game is much like the movie in that you go from place to place trying to get closer to Davy Jones and to find his treasure chest. You will sail your pirate ship from port to port finding treasure and getting information to lead you to this goal. This is where the game plays just like Pirates! with an overhead map of the cities and even the way you pilot the ship. Also like what you do in Pirates!, you can go to different towns and buy or sell goods, get info from the local tavern, or have your ship upgraded or repaired.
You will play this game on both land and sea. On land, this game is just like most other platform games, but it’s very fun and challenging. If you find the right pieces of treasure, it will unlock some special moves for your character. These moves are needed in later levels to get past some areas, so you better make sure to collect them all. Some of the treasure chests require a little backtracking to reach, so take your time going through the levels.
The platforming sessions of this game make up about ¾ of the gameplay, and mostly involve you running around killing British troops and fighting the local wildlife. You’ll also find bushes you can kick down to reveal treasure, or you can climb some vines toward hidden items. In addition to your trusty sword, you’ll also pick up items like bombs or knives that can be thrown. These can greatly help you pick off enemy soldiers that are guarding those hard to reach areas.
While at sea, you can engage in naval combat. This part of the game was also lifted directly from Pirates!. Your ship and another are put into a small arena and you circle around each other trying to line up a shot from either your port or starboard side cannons. The goal is to weaken the enemy ship enough to ram into it, then rush on board and loot the treasure. Once you board the ship, it’s another platform level. The naval combat is pretty fun, especially once you get farther in the game and are able to buy upgrades for your ship’s attack and defense capabilities.
For a GBA game, the graphics in this one are excellent. It features many still shots taken directly from the movie, and in between levels it basically tells the story told in the film. If you haven’t yet seen the movie, this game would spoil it for you. During the platform parts, I found the animation to have a lot of detail and several frames were used for every task. When you let Jack Sparrow stand still, he’ll hold his arms out and wobble just like Johnny Depp plays him in the movie.
The sound effects are also nicely done and help you play the game. When a cougar attacks, you’ll hear it roar. When birds fly overhead they will squawk at you before attacking. You’ll also hear soldiers firing their muskets off screen. Pretty much every action done by your character or an enemy unit in the game is accompanied by some kind of sound effect. There isn’t a lot of lame music blasting while you play, and I liked that very much.
Besides just being flat-out fun, one of the best features of this game is how often you can save. Whenever you land on an island and go through the platform parts, you may have several levels to complete. You can save in between each level, thus allowing you to slowly work your way through this game without having to replay any large parts more than once. I think that’s great.
In short, the Game Boy Advance movie adaptation of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest is excellent. It has great gameplay, graphics, and sound. The only downside to it is that it blatantly rips off some elements of the game Pirates!, but at least it borrowed from the good parts.
This game is BRAND NEW and SEALED.It comes in the original box and is complete. This game is compatible with Gameboy Advance, Gameboy Advance SP, and ...More at eBay
Players take on the role of one of three characters (Jack Sparrow, Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann) to fight their way through 19 levels Use 17 differ...More at Amazon Marketplace
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