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7.0

Skull and Bones Review - IGN

This seafaring RPG has a great foundation, despite feeling like a live-service first draft.

RaidenBlack440d ago

7/10 ain't that bad ... pretty decent actually

thorstein440d ago

That's what I give it.

It's fun. They're is a lot more to do than I thought. I enjoy taking down ships, but I'd like some sword fighting and actual boarding.

MeatyUrologist440d ago

You mention there is a lot to do, but without swordfighting, boarding, exploration, on foot sections etc, what IS there to do? Most reviews I have read state it is basically just a boring, repetitive looter shooter but played through the eyes of a boat. I'm genuinely curious what variety of things you are referring to that are enjoyable, because I am itching for a pirate game, but this so far looks really unappealing.

thorstein440d ago

There are stories to explore, missions to go on. Many of the characters give you missions.

I've only opened the main mission with captain Spurlock and the Black Market storyline.

Most of the time, you're being a pirate attacking ships and fortified positions.

I live coming upon a battle and joining in with the other players.

You create a character and there are towns to go through/ explore. Finding more materials and the like.

Looter.. well, you can get supplies and crafting material. But you don't find exotic guns, those must be built by the blacksmith.

I think there's a trial.

I get that it's not for everyone. I get that some people don't like Ubisoft.

I'm constantly on the lookout to upgrade things and gain infamy. The idea is to become the kingpin.

You are free to follow your own story and you're not shoehorned into a story. I went 10 hours without progressing the main story. Then when I did, I was OP, but that didn't make it less fun.

SyntheticForm440d ago

All they had to do was take the foundational principles set by AC: Black Flag and improve upon them.

The problem is that the game is solely focused on ship-to-ship combat and completely abandons the third-person melee combat of AC: Black Flag, which was a huge part of the fun after you boarded a ship.

I know this is its own new game, but to abandon the very successful ideas of the game that inspired it is a letdown.

You said there's more to do than you thought, so I may try it just to see what you're talking about.

Ninver440d ago

You're right a 7/10 ain't bad. It's my "try worthy" score.

GamerRN440d ago

Tried it during the beta... 15 minutes later, deleted it

Ninver439d ago

Can't really judge a game based on it's beta. Demo's I understand but not betas.

seanpitt23440d ago

11 years and 100s of millions in development expect at least an 8

thorstein440d ago (Edited 440d ago )

100s of millions?

You got the receipts? Because, for the past 20 years game publishers haven't shown the receipts for any game's production.

Sure, there are journos making spurious claims about cost, a leaked document said Horizon Forbidden West was 220 million. The cost hasn't been confirmed.

Other than that, not one company has stated. "Yeah we spent this much, here's the receipts."

So I highly doubt you know how much it cost.

But I'm happy to admit I'm wrong if you show the receipts.

Jin_Sakai440d ago

“100s of millions?”

It’s definitely up there.

“The project reportedly cost Ubisoft more than $120 million.“

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/...

thorstein439d ago

@Jin that is a Wikipedia article linking a kotaku article claiming 120 million with no source whatsoever.

I just want to see some receipts.

@storm You can get off your ship all the time. The main towns have entire areas populated with NPCs and stories/ missions.

Some deserted islands you get to wander around and turn into fast travel. They're not as robust as I'd like. But one good feature is the cache where you basically can transfer cargo to your warehouse.

It prevents backtracking just to empty your hull.

StormSnooper439d ago (Edited 439d ago )

If it’s anything like black flag it should be great.

BUT one of the things that made black flag amazing was that sense of freedom it gave you, and a big part of that was that you could get off the ship and explore, then hop onto your ship. Made you feel like a real pirate. An explorer, adventurer.

This game lacks that. Because you can’t get off the ship. I wonder how well it does what black flag could make you feel.

Can anyone fill me/us in?

thorstein439d ago

Oops. See my reply above.

You can get off your ship. I thought I was responding to you.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 439d ago
-Foxtrot440d ago

7/10 is being generous

Are people scared of Ubisoft or something

“Shit, won’t get that exclusive coverage in the future if I say bad stuff”

GamerRN440d ago

I would give it a 5 or 6, personally... By far their worst game that I've played in a while

senorfartcushion440d ago

They're afraid to be blacklisted.

IGN rarely give a AAA game less than a 7

FinalFantasyFanatic440d ago

It's sad that the average is 7/10 instead of 5/10.

-Foxtrot439d ago

Only reason they dumped on Suicide Squad was probably because they weren’t afraid of Warner Brothers

A big publisher like Ubisoft…different story

FPS_D3TH440d ago (Edited 440d ago )

This games about to walk the plank 3 months after launch

Ubisoft should highly consider removing all of its upper management

Profchaos440d ago

They are determined to make a live service game with legs after seeing everyone else do it. It'll be their downfall

JackBNimble439d ago (Edited 439d ago )

A live service won't be their downfall, plenty of gamers will play a live service, a shitty game will be their downfall.

I was interested until I realized you character is basically stuck to the ship, I don't want that. They should have made it similar to sea of thieves.
Maybe I'll on a psn sale for $10 but I ain't paying anymore then that .

thorstein439d ago (Edited 439d ago )

@Jack

You're not the only person stating that your "stuck to your ship." Where did you hear that?

There are towns with traders, craftsman, ship builders, carpenters, a black market.

There are deserted islands that you can leave your ship, drop cargo, pick up missions.

Do I wish those islands had more to do other than serve as a fast travel, cargo dump, mission point? Yes!!!

But you can get off your ship.

No there is no sword fighting. Boarding is a cut scene.

Profchaos440d ago

Better than expected clearly no AAAA titles though

Silly Mammo440d ago (Edited 440d ago )

Should have just remade Sid Meier's Pirates! with the Black Flag engine. Sea battles, boarding and capturing forts. Add ship/crew management, goods trading and romance and it would have been a classic.

TheColbertinator440d ago

Pirates! is a tragic tale of "Great game but nobody wants to build upon it anymore".

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320°

Most Disappointing Game of 2024

VGChartz's Mark Nielsen: "In a year that was to a large extent carried by the game developers of Japan (and to some extent China), western games can rejoice that there was at least one category they managed to dominate: that of Most Disappointing. Sometimes disappointment comes from high expectations met with something middling, other times it comes from middling expectations met with something terrible. This year managed to deliver a bit of both, so either way there was enough disappointment to go around."

Read Full Story >>
vgchartz.com
thorstein104d ago (Edited 104d ago )

Why not mention the 19,000 Steam games of which 80% weren't good enough to merit "success" on the platform?

104d ago
104d ago Replies(2)
RaidenBlack104d ago

You gotta be effing kidding me with that logic.

coolbeans104d ago

Because the very *definition* of disappointment requires one has some kind of expectation for it. Concord was hoping to find its own niche in the crowded 'hero shooter' market, with ~8 years of development, $100 million+ funding, and marketable talent behind it, and went belly up in 2 lousy weeks. That's historical for a live-service game.

thorstein104d ago

It's become a drinking game at this point. Disappointing games? It's the same games in every article with a similar title. Does no one have an original thought anymore?

RaidenBlack104d ago

@thorstein
**It's the same games in every article with a similar title.**
Because it's the same year? The games that got launched is a constant fact for everyone. And if the game was universally disappointing, then obviously everyone would echo the same thing.
Do you want for originality some writer would write up that instead of Concord and Outlaws, Silent Hills 2 was the most disappointing game, right? Coz, that'd be considered a click-bait article then.
And emphasis on the word "disappointing" games, not general bad games.

LordoftheCritics104d ago

Veilguard was easily the most disappointing game of the year.
Highest expectation with Highest disappointment

Concord was just the biggest failure.
In fact it was not very disappointing.
Almost as expected.

DivineHand125104d ago

@LordoftheCritics I disagree about Vailguard being the most disappointing game of the year. Going into the launch of that game, 90% of the comments I was seeing from this community were negative. Many also wanted the game to fail.

In my opinion, for a game to be disappointing, it would mean the game was highly anticipated for success going into the launch of the game only to bomb in the reviews and fail commercially.

I would say Hellblade 2 claims this title. I haven't played any of the games in the series as yet, however, the hate that game received was on another level. I am not sure if it was fanboys that felt threatened by it being the best-looking console game on the market or if the criticisms about it being a boring game were valid. I haven't played these walking games before so put it off since it doesn't seem to be my cup of tea.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 104d ago
anast104d ago

Those 19,000 games have 80%. Dragon age is sitting at 70%, Star wars is at 75% and falling, Lego Horizon adventures is at 56%, Skull and Bones 65% and Concord was DOA. This would mean these games didn't even crack the top 19,000.

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60°

Skull And Bones Reveals Season 3 Updates

This sounds like a great update. Today, Ubisoft announced the launch of Skull and Bones’ third season, “Into the Dragon’s Wake” in which players will face the formidable fleets of Li Tian Ning and Commander Zhang.

40°

Skull and Bones - Seasons & PvP update | Ubisoft Forward

Get an early look at Season 2 and Season 3 highlights, including our fresh PvP mode!

Clash against new threats - from the eccentric Hubac Twins to a colossal megalodon stalking the seas. With Ship Upgrades, Fleet Management, new game modes, and a brand-new ship, expand your pirate empire!