LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game Review (9/10)

It never ceases to amaze me that no matter which franchise it touches, the LEGO series manages to make the most of what it’s got and often proves the best tie-in video game for fans to get. This has happened with Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Batman and now Pirates of the Caribbean- truly, this is the best playable representation of the swashbuckling saga and is deserved of both its names. Johnny Depp’s somewhat insane swagger is brought to life perfectly in brick form, and what can be said immediately is that the visuals and animations have had an absolute overhaul sure to please those who have played since the first LEGO Star Wars released back in 2005 (yes, really, it’s been seven years!). Better yet, the gameplay- while still accessible- is much more advanced and as a result compelling, never straying so far as to push away the younger target audience but consistently intelligent and innovative. Of course, as soon as I mention innovation the one gripe that plagues every game based on the beloved building blocks rears its head again; the naysayers will still be able to point out that you know what exactly to expect when you buy this, and yet with great new sections including cannon battles, moonlight curses and spyglass viewing there’s also enough to justify this outing too. Where LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean predictably stumbles most is in its adaptation of the four movies: too often, cut-scenes drag on for far longer than they should, haphazardly throwing in storyboards for flashbacks and frequently lasting for two or three minutes in the many sections of the tepid Dead Man’s Chest and At World’s End where story took precedence over action. Worse still, at times in the second and third chapters the game seems to tread water (forgive the pun), lengthening out action sections to make up for the plot overdoses that frequently occur. Thankfully, this isn’t the case with The Curse of the Black Pearl or On Stranger Tides, but more than ever you will need to have watched the films to understand what’s going on and some of the hilarious parodies within. There are also points where the camera gets a little bit unwieldy and the jump distance mechanic is noticeably in need of refinement, marring an otherwise flawless engine, and as per usual there's a nagging sense that for the next entry there's going to need to be some real innovation to keep the franchise steady. That said, for fans of LEGO and/or Pirates of the Caribbean, this is a near-perfect love letter that’s far more of a hidden treasure than it is fool’s gold!