Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (Sony Playstation 3, 2007)

The first half of the game follows the events of Dead Man's Chest, specifically Captain Jack Sparrow's attempt to recover the heart of Davy Jones to avoid becoming a member of his crew, and it culminates with Jack's encounter with the Kraken. The second portion of the game sees Sparrow and his not-so-merry band of misfits joining together to take on Lord Beckett and retrieve the heart of Davy Jones once and for all. Even if you've seen the second film, the story is quite difficult to follow since it's told by way of a mishmash of well produced, yet disjointed, cutscenes. You'll recognize several scenarios and locations from the movies, but there are many things you'll do that aren't in the movies.
There's only one button used to swing your sword, so all you do is run up to enemies and mash that button until they turn their back and you finish them with a final slash. Enemies literally appear out of thin air and put up little resistance as you pound the attack button. Occasionally, you'll come across a tougher character that can only be killed with a special move. As you kill a bunch of lower-level baddies, your attack meter fills, and eventually you'll be able to perform a cool-looking finishing move. You can punch enemies, and when you don't have a sword handy, you can kick them, though you're rarely forced to result to fisticuffs.
Most of your time in At World's End is spent as Jack Sparrow, though you'll also get to play as Elizabeth, Will, and a few other characters. Sometimes you'll even get to fight as all three at the same time, switching from character to character by pressing the D pad. These are the worst parts of the game because characters you aren't controlling don't do much in the way of defending themselves. This means you're constantly switching characters trying (often futilely) to keep them alive. There are plenty of checkpoints in the game, but for some reason when these three-person battles come up, you're forced to start with the same amount of health every time, which is a big problem if you came limping into battle with a limited amount of life left. The rest of the game is quite easy, so dying shouldn't be much of a problem.
The characters all look like their movie counterparts. Jack's drunken stupor is a bit overdone, and he's not as flamboyant as he is in the films, but that's just nit-picking because the likeness is uncanny. The animation is quite good, particularly when you're just running around and jumping, but there isn't enough variety to the fighting moves. Each character plays and attacks the same way, so you'll see the same few attacks over and over. The sword fighting is surprisingly violent, especially when you consider there's no blood. It's anyone's guess as to why it's OK for a T-rated game to show someone getting stabbed in the chest and the blade going all the way through the person's body, but it's not OK to show any blood around the wound. The locations in the game look very nice as well, and the camera will zoom in to make sure you notice, often at the expense of the gameplay. The Black Pearl and Flying Dutchman look just as you'd expect--you'll notice detailed rigging, rusty metal bars in holding cells, and detailed timber on the decks. Since nearly the entire game takes place on or near water, it's important that the water looks good, and it does.
When it's all said and done, At World's End is a very by-the-books approach to a movie-based game.

If you love the Pirates of Carribean movie and the disney carribean series, you would love this game. This game contains full of adventure and action. Great Graphics with a new story line. Play the game and watch the new movie, Will entertain you for hours. Enjoyable last movie and excellent game. Recommended for all ages.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is a respectful game to the Playstaion 3 system. I was impressed by the visuals and detail into the game. The game has a lot of climbing, dueling, just like the movie. However there are some unique features I haven’t seen in a game before, such as rolling a barrel and shooting it…making it explode. That’s sometimes fun to do. However I rented on a Friday and I finished the game on the Sunday. Therefore I recommend you rent the game. Because, once you finish the game there isn’t much to do. You can reply levels and play a simple multiplayer. Overall I liked the game, but I would not buy it.

Positive
- Great Graphics
- Good Detail
- Good for all ages

Negative
- After you finish the game, not much to do.

(Reviewed on June 11, 2007)

UPDATED REVIEW.... LOTS OF FUN, TONS OF FIGHTING, MASTERING THE SWORD, SWASHBUCKLING, AND ALL THE MOVES. YOU WILL HOWEVER HAVE TO KILL WHAT APPEARS TO BE THE SAME IDENTICAL RED COAT THOUSANDS OF TIMES! THEN YOU PROCEED TO DUELING COMPETITIONS, CLIMBING ON RIGGING, ON MOUNTAIN CLIFFS, BUILDINGS, ETC. THROWING GRENADES, BLOWING UP KEGS OF DYNAMITE, SAVING THE GIRL, SWINGING ACROSS STREETS, AND MORE FUN THAN A BARREL OF MONKEYS! GOOD MOVEMENT THRU THE LEVELS. GREAT GRAPHICS AND SOUND. A VERY GOOD GAME. MULTIPLAYER FUNCTION, GET TO THE FORTRESS LEVEL TO UNLOCK. DUELING AND OTHER GAMES ON THIS MODE. THE GAME ISNT EASY, BUT NOT TOO HARD EITHER. YOU HAVE TO GAIN VARIOUS ITEMS AND SOULS. YOU CAN REPEAT LEVELS, WITH THE HIGHEST SCORE BEING WHAT IS KEPT. A MUST HAVE GAME !!!!!

This game would be fine for the younger movie fan, but older kids & adults will get bored with the lack of free-play. It is one of those games where you plod along and follow the script and do what you are told. The fighting is basically rock-paper-scissors you pick an action & hope it wins over the other persons selection.

In short if you consider yourself or the person you are buying this for a "Gamer" don't get it. You can rent it and finish the game in a day. If it is for a beginning player, the get it. For the price this is a fun game for the PS3, a new player will have fun working their way thru the game.

If my review helps you make your buying or not buying decision please rate the review. It lets me know what people are looking for in a review. Thanks!