Skull and Bones is out on November 8th and I want more grog! Much more grog!

Skull and Bones has resurfaced after years in the developing Bermuda Triangle and is crammed to the masthead with game systems designed to simulate the life of a privateer. November 8th was chosen as the deadline, one day before God of War Ragnarök. I’ll admit I wasn’t sure what to make of this after the preview presentation the press was allowed to see last week. One thing is already certain for me: Skull and Bones is not just an anti-Sea-of-Thieves in appearance.

But I don’t mean that Ubisoft’s privateer quasi-MMO would necessarily be more realistic. Of course, the optics are decidedly more grounded (apart from some island formations in this fantasy Indian Ocean that are downright impossible statically), more authentically lit and its pirates more naturally sized. People who don’t like the Sea of ​​Thieves comic style should be very happy. But overall, at first glance, Skull & Bones seems insanely mechanical and less intent on immersion in the fantasy of being a pirate yourself.

The MMO is visually impressive in this pirate simulator, which can also be played purely as (co-op) PvE. Skull and Bones rolls out its game rules openly in front of the gamer at all times with many, many HUD elements and displays as well as visible limits lying over the game environment, for example if you have to stay close to a fortress that has to be taken. You don’t forget for a second that you are experiencing a system-loving fighting, collecting and crafting video game here and sometimes look more at the visual aids than at anything else. I have to say that atmospherically yanked me out and a little crushed by the buccaneer romance that the press images evoked and still evoke. At least, as far as I can tell after a video presentation.

Maybe that’s because you can individualize your pirates in insanely small parts, but actually only control them in the settlements themselves. As soon as you enter your ship (also highly customizable), you merge with the barge and are no longer allowed to move freely. To keep an eye out for enemies, you’ll cycle through the various stations on your ship until you’re looking over the shoulder of a sailor in the masthead (which I really liked the aggressive roar of the wind in my ears), rather than climbing up there yourself.

And that’s just how it goes: When you get resources, you sail up to coastal palm trees and order the crew to cut them down. If you are boarded or if you are boarded or if you attack a fortress, you do not fight yourself. Your crew will do this for you, or fight your way through various phases of the confrontation along a success bar at the top of the screen until it comes to one of two ends. Of course, you influence the course of events, simply through the composition of your crew, but also by using your ship’s armament well, for example by firing at defense systems and sensitive infrastructure. But it all still seems a bit “hands-off” and indirect, while I almost got seasick myself when there were waves on Rare’s “Sea of ​​Thieves”. Skull and Bones, on the other hand, seems less keen to sell you its waters as a real world.

This is probably the part of the article where I should say that at the same time, Skull & Bones gives no indication that any of this is badly done or unfun – I just can’t comment on that after a presentation. It’s just a question, does what Skull and Bones wants to be sound like fun to you? Are you bothered by games in which you look more at the ads than at the world, or do you love these aids and the systemic unraveling of what is happening on the screen? Do you like that you kind of play the ship when it goes to sea, or would you rather be more directly involved with your character?

These are the questions that everyone has to answer for themselves when choosing their personal pirate simulator. For now, I’m under the impression that Skull and Bones is a game that thought its way out of development hell. One that has been made seaworthy again via mechanics and systems to find its way back into the safe waters of the public. I’d prefer it to have had a sip or two of grog along the way and listened to its gut a little.

But this is still Ubisoft. We’ve seen this company ramp up its live service games with major updates after a slow start. It would be nice to have Skull and Bones, because the “Anti-Sea-of-Thieves” is true in another respect: Not everyone likes their pirates as silly and playful as Rare does, and not everyone wants to have to carry their treasure chests themselves. Some just want to be captain and let others do the dirty work. There is more than enough space for such a game in the segment of virtual buccaneers. Whether Skull and Bones can be this game will only be clarified after a play date.