E3 2017 saw the announcement of Ubisoft Singapore’s upcoming game Skull and Bones. Though the game has been delayed a few times, the developer is still hard at work creating and fine-turning its vision for the game. Gameplay that’s been revealed so far introduced prospective players to a multiplayer mode that focuses on naval combat coupled with stunning graphics. However, many fans realized that, from what was previewed, Skull and Bones could be a very one-note game.
All hope is not lost for this upcoming release, as a statement from Ubisoft Singapore back in September shed a bit of insight into the development process of the game. The developer stated that a “new vision” emerged for Skull and Bones, causing the developer to recruit fresh eyes for the project and reimagining a few different aspects of the game. While delays can sometimes negatively affect the outcome of a game, Skull and Bones’ delay may work to its advantage to help the game deliver on its promise of a pirate’s life.
From Skull and Bones’ somewhat lackluster gameplay reveal, potential players learned a few different things about the game as it was then. The player character, a pirate captain, is customizable, as well as the ship. Beyond cosmetics, there were different types of ships available with different skill sets to fit whatever the player was trying to accomplish when they went out to sea. There wasn’t much revealed about the single-player campaign, and Skull and Bones seemed to have a heavy focus on multiplayer gameplay.
All of that in itself seemed exciting, especially because the game was beautifully rendered, but graphics can only save a game so much. It was later revealed that the game would be played solely from the ship, meaning players couldn’t leave their vessel, even to raid other ships. Overall, it seemed the game was turning into a “Call of Duty with ships,” rather than an accurate depiction of the swashbuckling adventures that come with piracy. Exploration and a keen focus on collecting and spending gold are all inherent parts of a pirate’s life, which Skull and Bones seemed to forget entirely.
Ubisoft Singapore helped in the development of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag, the inspiration behind Skull and Bones, so it’s not too optimistic to say the developer can still deliver on its pirate adventure promise. Black Flag’s naval battle mechanics were pretty good for its time, so fine-tuning and enhancing this gameplay was a good start when Skull and Bones was first revealed. However, piracy is about so much more than simply sailing ships and getting into combat.
Exploration of both the land and sea is one of the first changes the game should implement as part of this vision, as it’ll allow players to experience the duality of a pirate’s life—one that’s lived on both sea and land. Having a well-thought-out, in-depth single-player campaign will also go a long way as well. Previously, the developer said that the game would be full of memorable pirate characters, but this was understandably hard to envision when the player spends the entire game ship-locked. It would be nice to see the promise of an intriguing, fun narrative campaign be fulfilled as well.
Entertainment media is entitled to change the historical accuracy of things when it suits the narrative being told, but it doesn’t seem right that Skull and Bones advertised “no honor among thieves” in its 2018 E3 gameplay reveal when pirates did abide by a code. These codes tended to vary from captain to captain, and while it’s true pirates do tend to look out for themselves first, if they entered an alliance with other pirate ships (as the gameplay trailer depicted), it seems unrealistic to turn on one another immediately, at least from a single-player narrative standpoint. Multiplayer, on the other hand, should probably be a free-for-all.
There’s been no update on Skull and Bones since September 2020, but the game isn’t down and out yet. Hopefully, this “new vision” will pull together these pirate staples, and more, to give players a well-rounded game that really captures the adventure of a pirate’s life.
Skull and Bones is currently in development for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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