Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End review (PlayStation 3)

Buried here somewhere there is a good game, occasionally the fog clears and gives you a brief glimpse before the terrible gameplay and design mistakes block the view once again. You probably didn't expect Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End to be of high quality – move tie-ins rarely make for great gaming, but there's enough promise on show here at times to make you wonder for what could have been.

The game begins with Jack Sparrow escaping from prison, this ostensibly tutorial level shows you the ropes and lets you get used to the controls. This also gives you a chance to see many of the mistakes made in the gameplay mechanics and make you wonder if it's worth continuing.

Turn the other cheek

Almost right away we're introduced to the fighting mechanic. There's some depth here, you can sword slash, punch and grab opponents. An indicator shows when you can perform a flashy counter move too – but the fighting is so easy and so poorly designed that it becomes a chore almost immediately.

A couple of sword swipes and an enemy is ready for despatch, needing one more hit to shuffle them off this mortal coil. To signal this they turn their back on Jack, it looks rather odd to say the least, it's like they just give up and let you hit them. Think Obi-Wan versus Vader.

Combo problems

Some opponents require a little more to end their life. Once you've filled your sword fighting bar a little new moves are available via button combinations. I didn't find this too difficult in the Xbox 360 demo, but here in the full PS3 version the button combinations often flash onto the screen for such a short period of time it's often impossible to make use of them.

Daggers, explosive barrels and flintlock pistols add to the offensive options, but implementation, in particular locking on to enemies and aiming is so badly implemented that using them seems a chore. I found myself wasting most of my flintlock shots.

Dragon's Lair

Major enemies take the form of boss battles introduced with cutscenes. The combat takes the form of one-on-one sword combat where you block based on on-screen indicators and counter attack. There's something about this approach that almost works, but in distracting your view away from the combatants to these indicators it removes the immersion. I tended to feel like I was playing an extremely unresponsive rhythm game that what should have been an exciting combat sequence.

The first part of the game fleshes out some of the plot of the second movie in the trilogy and we follow and guide the adventures of Captain Jack until his meeting with the Kraken. From that point on we join the events of the third movie and the pirates' war with the East India Trading company. Along the way you'll play as Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan and others – sometimes having to awkwardly switch between them as the useless AI tries to keep the ones you're not controlling alive.

Terrific production values

Considering that the real actors weren't involved, the voice acting is actually pretty good. Whoever is playing Jack does a particular good job for most of the time, though there are times where the actors suddenly don't sound like their intended character.

The overall presentation is very good indeed. The varyous levels, from dark fantasy sequences to the brightly lit Caribbean towns do look very good. A terrific job has been done in recreating the characters – without going for a photo-realistic approach that would have pushed the visuals into uncanny valley. Sadly the visuals in this version don't quite match those of the Xbox 360 – with the animation being more choppy and some of the special effects being weaker. It can be a visual treat – but looks better on the 360 and PC.

Dull design

It's a shame that such a good looking game has been spoiled by poor level design, control choices and times where the gameplay doesn't seem to work properly. There are far many times when context-sensitive buttons don't appear, you're tasked with mundane tasks backtracking through linear levels or a you're expect to perform some complex Tomb Raider style acrobatics without Lara's flowing athleticism.

The real problem in the level design and control scheme is that many times you're called on to perform some elaborate move such as sword climbing a wall by leaping left and right. The controls never seem intuitive and you'll be glad that on these occasions the game tells you what to do. But that's a problem in itself – the game has been made so easy that often you're following instructions to the point where the whole of At World's End feels like a very long tutorial.

Think of the children

Kids are bound to appreciate a game that they can complete and walks them through what they need to get done. But the film makers have dragged the franchise away from the colourful and engaging first movie to a dark fantasy world that really doesn't suit it – a world less likely to appeal to younger viewers. And here in game form the PEGI ratings board doesn't feel children should take part at all.

Despite the lack of blood it can be a rather violent game and I felt rather uneasy putting Royal Marines to the sword - it hardly follows the spirit of the first movie. PEGI has rated Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as for ages 16 and above - so its unsuitable for the children the gameplay has been dumbed down to accommodate.

There are many signs the developer tried hard, the production values are superb, despite the lack of major cast voices. This isn't enough to salvage a game that feels like it has been designed by committee, each afraid to veto the concepts of others leaving something that could have been great but is ultimately a bit of a mess. Not a surprise given the direction the movies have gone in.

This isn't the worst movie game you'll play at the moment. There are plenty of times when you'll find yourself mildly engaged and it's certainly not shoddy and unfinished like the Spider-Man 3 game – but ultimately I can't recommend this Pirates of the Caribbean game. By no means a complete disaster, but by no means worth spending money on.