LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean

Posted 1 year ago By kingquagmire - David Collins

Well, Traveler’s Tales are at it again. After seeing the little plastic brick versions of Star wars, Batman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, what other franchises could the TT team have left to tap? How about Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean! What started out as a long-time favorite attraction at the Disney theme parks made the jump to to the big screen eight years ago and became an instant hit, thanks in large part to Johnny Depp’s performance as Jack Sparrow. So now that this series has been turned into a voiceless LEGO adventure, does it still hold enough of the films’ charm to keep fans happy?

One would expect LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean to cover all three parts of the original trilogy. Needless to say, it was pleasant surprise to find that the upcoming fourth film, On Stranger Tides, is also included. Each film is comprised of five standard playable areas plus a hidden sixth one. As with the rest of the LEGO titles, there’s also a central hub, in this case a seaport, that provides access to the various film chapters along with the the loads of unlockables. All the rest of the standard stuff from the previous Traveler’s Tales games are in play as well, from collecting studs to earning Gold Bricks and finding mini-kits.

As I said, each film is broken down into five chapters depicting the major scenes. Beginning with The Curse of the Black Pearl and going on through the unreleased On Stranger Tides, players will find themselves discovering what moonlight does to the crew of the Black Pearl, battle it out with the Kraken and Davey Jones aboard the Flying Dutchman, and even take to the afterlife in an effort to bring Jack Sparrow back to the land of the living. Expectedly, a lot of the smaller details are left out, but every big set piece is well represented here, along with just about every character, both major and minor.

Recreating the on-screen action is one thing, but to make this successful, Traveler’s Tales needed to find a way to bring the charm across to the player without the use of voice acting or even proper facial expressions (remember, there are limits to what a LEGO face can accomplish). It didn’t take long to discover that my concern was in vain. Not only does each character, along with the storytelling itself, maintain the trademarked tongue-in-cheek style the LEGO games have established over the years, but they also managed to instill the tiny plastic version of Jack Sparrow with some of Johnny Depp’s iconic performance. Even without uttering a word, the story is told in such a lighthearted manner that even the young-uns who didn’t care for the films should have a great time with this version.

Complementing the mute-tale, the presentation is both on par and exceeds the previous LEGO entries. The basic art style is the same colorful and LEGO-infused visuals we have seen before. Yet, it gets kicked up a notch by the Pirates setting. With set pieces that range from the deck of a pirate ship to the Caribbean islands filled with native tribes and drunken ports, it was a refreshing change from Hogwarts and Gotham City. Believe it or not, even the audio stood out. Although there was no voice work, the sweeping, swash-buckling theme from the film was brought over, further enhancing the high-seas adventure.

Conclusion

There was two things I took away from my time with LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean. One, it’s still a LEGO game. If the series of LEGO-based titles have worn thin on you, then there’s little here that will change your mind. Granted, the gameplay is certainly a bit more varied with this one in comparison to previous titles, which is another refreshing change. But even with that, it will still be a tough sell for those who have drained their LEGO cup already. Alternatively, because of how well TT Games adapted the films into their universe, and the afore-mentioned gameplay changes, LEGO Pirates became one of the most enjoyable of any in the series. Pirates and LEGO fans alike would be doing themselves a disservice by not jumping on board.