Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End [X360]

>>Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End Review for Wii
>>Pirates of the Carribbean: At World's End Review for DS

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End is one of this year's ginormous summer blockbusters: It's got the recognizable stars, the mass-appeal story, and of course the video-game tie-in. But like most software of this ilk, the end product is at best a supplement to the film and at worst a rushed, mediocre game.

At World's End actually spans the last two entries in the Pirates trilogy. This means you'll start with last year's Dead Man's Chest, where Jack Sparrow goes from prisoner to battling Davy Jones while dragging Will Turner and Elizabeth Swan along for the dangerous ride. This eases into the third film (release date: May 25, 2007), with an unsavory union of villains and the search for the Pirate Lords. The game follows the plot of the movies quite closely -- obviously benefiting from being published by Disney, who's also behind the films.

Despite this close tie-in, the game doesn't help the storyline. Its cutscenes are stunningly beautiful, but are too short to really capture the emotion or flow of the tale. This trickles down to simple where-to-go gameplay problems as well, leaving you often confused with what's going on. Also, in order to make things fit more into video-game context, you'll be doing a lot more swashbuckling, shooting, and punching.

The cinematic Jack Sparrow tends to rely on cunning and luck to survive. In the At World's End the game, Captain Jack relies more on his cutlass. The button-mashy combat is plentiful, but laughably easy for anyone who's played this type of video game before, made challenging only by the fact that enemies respawn right behind you and seem to relish staying out of the camera's view. However, the variety of counters, weapons, and finishing moves (more brutal than the Teen rating would suggest) is welcome.

Adventure and platforming elements are injected into Pirates, with a modicum of success. Exploring the landscapes of the film is rewarding with multiple rewards and pick-ups, but plot progression is at a minimum. Often, you won't know why you're searching out key characters, and once you find them, there's often not even an explanatory cutscene. The game's jumping and climbing sequences are heavily influenced by Prince of Persia, but drastically simplified -- which isn't a bad thing.