The game playing elements where Jack Sparrow the Black Pearl can be customized

The game playing elements where Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl can be customized.

A basic level is set up with a cutscene, and then you're given your objective. From there, you'll run around, fighting seemingly endless hordes of enemies who appear from out of the ground or just simply appear. You'll be trapped in an area by an invisible wall until you defeat the enemies.

The game incorporates role playing elements where Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl can be customized. Pirates Caribbean War Battle is played on land and sea, on land the player must defeat enemies, search for treasure or for comrades, items, rumors and boat enhancements can be bought from towns. When on sea the player must travel from one island to another to play through the story or to explore the world. Sea battles can take place when the Black Pearl is steered towards other boats, during these battles the cannons are fired to damage the opposing ship and once when it has been sufficiently damaged, it's possible to board the burning ship and plunder it for food, grog and even treasures

It has all the necessary elements, including combat, puzzles, upgrades and various enemy types. And while each element works well within the context of the game, none of them feels refined. Combat, for instance, should make up the most fluid and stable element yet it's downright clunky and rough. Problem is, Pirates Caribbean War Battle shoots for those multi-person battles made famous by the movies, but the engine in place is ill-suited for the task. Combat only seems to work well when Jack is up against two, maybe three people, but the game constantly uses more than five.

And it's not the traditional swordfight, either, which isn't much of a problem but takes some getting used to. Here's how it works: instead of combining sword thrusts with blocks and parries dynamically, like in most sword fighting, you need to pay attention to a button icon floating above an opponent's head. This icon tells you what button to press at any given time. You need to hit X, X, X, then square a few times to defeat one type of enemy, while another will require a few taps of the square button first, followed by a few of the X button. The system works fine for the most part, though it's still not as exciting as it could be.