Skull Jones

Skull & Bones isn't the disaster we feared, nor is it the definitive take on the genre we hoped it could be given all the money and time that's been pumped into it. Ubisoft has served up reliably decent naval combat, trading and exploration here, but it's marred by a lack of overall direction, by far too many bland early hours, and by endgame fun that requires a whole lot of plodding to reach. If you love the pirate life you will find enough here to keep you entertained, it all looks and feels suitably good, but it's gonna need more content and reasons to stick at it before it earns a more hea...

All of the fun customisation and combat in Skull & Bones is catastrophically let down by the mundane gameplay loop. What is a blessing and a curse for almost all games in this live service genre. Skull and Bones has the potential to be, but certainly isn’t yet, a great game.

I imagine if you have a group of friends you game with – and a bottle of rum to keep the sailing from putting you to sleep – you’ll find some fun in Skull & Bones, as the naval battles can get pretty intense. For those that enjoy grindy live service experiences like The Division and Destiny 2, there are definitely worse games to whittle away the hours in than Skull & Bones; that said, I recommend seeing what kind of updates over the next year that Ubisoft puts out before investing both your time and money into this ramshackle pirate adventure.

Skull & Bones exists in the space between GaaS and MMO-lite at launch. There’s fun to be had, as long as you recognize that this is a looter shooter more than a pirate game.

I feel conflicted even typing that, because like many that may have been looking forward to the idea of an expanded Black Flag-like game, so much of this game is designed to be completely different to it’s original inspiration. And yet, despite my genuine hatred of most grindy games, I’ve relished building the next big thing, taking on the next big challenge, and teaming up with friends.

Skull And Bones has great naval combat but far too little else to recommend it, with a weak story and gameplay systems that amount to nothing but endless busywork.