gossipify logo 1
Skull and bones | What went wrong in the game?
  • Movies & Series

Skull and bones | What went wrong in the game?

  • 12:15 AM

Basic and just plain bad mechanics set the tone for Skull & Bones, which took more than 10 years to release

A work produced over an entire decade can be an impressive feat. But in the gaming industry it’s the opposite. Changes in direction, delays in the release of information and, above all, postponements, are seen as negative signals and usually result in a product far below the acceptable level. Skull and bones is the most recent living proof of this effect.



Released February 16, after 11 years of development and at least six postponements announced, the title of Ubisoft Singapore was born from an interesting idea. Who plays Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag You may remember naval battles, introduced as a big new feature in a title that bridged two generations of platforms. Seeing this success, the idea of ​​creating a title based on this was born.

 

The effects of time are continually noticed. Skull and bones It starts from a good premise and also makes some interesting proposals for a 2014 game or even a maritime spin-off of the Assassin franchise. A decade later, however, the result is approximate, pardon the word, and makes the idea that a title of this type took so long to reach the shelves even more bizarre.

A game that is not what it seems

It’s impossible to know exactly what Skull and bones wants to be, in what is perhaps the most surprising reflection of its long and tortuous development cycle. The base, of course, takes us directly to a title about piracy and navigation, reminding us of the greats The Sea of ​​Thieves; The practice, however, is slightly different.




Skull & Bones wants to be a game of maritime exploration and combat, but all of its mechanics are unsatisfying and repetitive (Image: Disclosure/Ubisoft)

This is because, from the beginning, we realized that a large part of the idea of ​​the title is based on the search for supplies. Of course, we are talking about an apparently service game with an online focus, but during the first hours of the game we will do nothing but look for materials, return to base to improve our ship and then be able to do it again.

It’s an uninteresting cycle, especially when placed at the beginning of a game that, to combat the perception of rejection, received a free trial version. Ubisoft’s idea was for players to experiment Skull and bones and I purchased the title to continue the journey: a week after launch, unofficial information indicated the number of players less than one million worldwide.

As if the boring way to start the game wasn’t enough, the resource loot isn’t even interesting. While the player can descend on islands and cities that act as hubs for upgrades and purchasing supplies, exploration of the map occurs from within the boat itself, with a quick QTE appearing on screen and defining the amount of items collected.

The direct memory is not of a major game, as mentioned by Ubisoft during marketing, but of the so-called clicker for mobile phones, where the goal is to simply touch the screen. The successive button presses and meaningless navigation, in addition to being heavy and unresponsive, end up creating one of the worst experiences.

 

Let’s move on to the fighting, equally repetitive and the biggest victims of the controls. With his crew, the player controls the ship and also the shooting, but the truth is that he will always position himself next to his opponents and repeatedly press the trigger, hoping that the opponent’s life bar will reach the end before his.

Another promise goes down the drain here, as the low player population means seas of Skull and bones they are inhabited by bots. They are unlikely to bother you unless you attack them first, and after the first battle, the player will see that there is little incentive to do so given the cruelty of sea battles.



The naval combat that attracted so much attention in Assassin's Creed IV is but a shadow in Skull & Bones; just press the buttons without stopping and hope the enemy loses first (Image: Disclosure/Ubisoft)

To finish this tasteless meal, the mechanic of invading enemy ships appears. Who plays Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag You remember them as exciting moments culminating in the fight on the bridge, but none of that is here. The action, which ends maritime clashes, is based on throwing ropes with hooks that seem to have a random chance of snagging on the opponent’s boat.

If the roll is successful, you’ll see a quick cutscene indicating success, behind the UI indicating earnings and battle victory. Except, without swords, combat, much less any kind of control over the enemy ship, they too are another source of items.

An average game for 2014

The influences of a Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag they also appear in the graphic set of Skull and bones, but not in a positive way. Well, we have a game in our hands that would be very good PlayStation 3 and interesting at the beginning of the generation of PS4, which also applies to its mechanics, which we have already talked about. It’s a “shame” that we are in 2024.



Cosmetic items serve as progression milestones in Skull & Bones, but trust me, you'll hardly want to progress through the game (Image: Disclosure/Ubisoft)

Between extremely dated graphics and traditional bugs, we also have poorly modeled characters. The ships are interesting, as are the tons of cosmetics that appear as incentives for microtransactions and serve as progress indicators. Even in this case, however, there is nothing that impresses in the face of the incomplete simplicity of the game.

In another aspect among the many that we have already mentioned they seem surreal, see the images of the demo of the title which was available at E3 2018 makes the result even more inexplicable. Back then, although we were already plagued by delays and development problems, we could expect a beautiful and interesting title, which is not what arrived in our hands.

You can also go back to the above The Sea of ​​Thieves and remember it Skull and bones He couldn’t have come out at a worse time. The Rare title was released in 2018 and has since accumulated numerous expansions, as well as a loyal base of players enchanted by the mystical tone and good gameplay, especially in relation to the steering of the boat, which uses maps instead of virtual indicators, increasing the immersion and the possibility of discovering surprises along the way.

Six years later, including, the title is coming to PlayStation 5in a controversial decision to end exclusivity, of Microsoft, which caused discussion for weeks. In a scenario where pirated games are usually not released frequently, Skull and bones it ended up being released just as one of the genre’s best returned to the forefront of gamers’ attention.

Is Skull & Bones worth playing?

Skull and bones it could have been an interesting game 10 years ago, right after the release of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and in a time of simpler proposals. Today, with ugly graphics and simplistic gameplay, to say the least, it does not reach an acceptable level even if it is part of a theme that does not receive titles often.

 

Over a decade of production, many postponements and changes of direction have transformed the title into an insignificant ghost ship, which sails the seas of the videogame industry resonating with a period of glory that never existed. Very little remains of his main influence, while problems remain.

If you are very curious to know what led Ubisoft to invest tens of millions of dollars and more than a decade of development, prefer the test Skull and bones. The version gives you access to eight hours of free gameplay, more than enough to witness the titular tragedy.

Skull and bones is available in PC versions, PlayStation 5 AND Xbox Series. The production is by Ubisoft Singapore.

Trends on Canaltech:

Source: Terra

You may also like

Hot News

TRENDING NEWS

SUBSCRIBE

Join our community of like-minded individuals and never miss out on important news and updates again.

follow us

gossipify logo 1
gossipify logo 1