Pirate Game ‘Skull and Bones’ Finally Here but Is It Any Good? [Review]

It’s been a while since we talked about Skull and Bones back in 2018 when it was shown at the E3. At that time, they had already made enough progress in the development that they thought they could release the game in 2019, but it’s 2024 now, and it just got released last week. It’s unclear what happened during the development and why it was delayed so heavily, but today, we are going to have a look at the game as it is available today in the release version. Is Skull and Bones worth buying?

Skull and Bones review

It’s fair to say I was looking forward to the release even though I wasn’t certain if it would ever appear. I was very impressed with the gameplay that Ubisoft introduced in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and how they offered a very enjoyable pirate gameplay as part of a game of the Assassin’s Creed series. Later parts of the franchise would also present the players with similar experiences as seen in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and the later Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, even though the ship and the pirating aspect did not have a considerable focus in those titles.

Big hopes for pirate gamers

The next big hope for gamers who liked the sea-faring and pirating gameplay of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag was Sea of Thieves, even though not developed by Ubisoft. I understand it has its fanbase, and I don’t want to talk it down, but for me, it was not what I was looking for in an open-world pirate game. So how about Skull and Bones? It feels a bit as if Sea of Thieves would have been done with a Ubisoft engine and all the mechanics that Ubisoft fans enjoy. It’s not as gritty as a regular Ubisoft game, but it’s also not as stylized “cartoony” as Sea of Thieves could have been considered. I would have been okay with more realism and grime, but the way they did it works for me, and it doesn’t feel too stylized.

Looking at the technical aspects of it, as of now, there are still a good amount of bugs and issues, ranging from performance issues to system crashes and the infamous MAGPIE-00001701 error that basically makes logging into the title a game of chance. The Ubisoft support has never replied to tickets concerning that from us, but since it affects the experience heavily, I hope they fix this soon. Until then, expect up to a half hour of trying and trying and trying to get into the game when you start or after the game crashes. After a decade of development and a fair amount of tests and beta events, there is no excuse for things like that in my books, especially having a total radio silence and not acknowledging the issue.

If you manage to log in after a while, the game is good fun; there’s no doubt about that. The start feels relatively easy, and the difficulty grows later on, so it should suit even people who are not veteran gamers to find their way into the game without being too challenged by other players or quests in their first hours of the game. You get a ship, customize it, customize even your captain avatar, change the loadout of the vessel, and do many things that are fun and enjoyable. Even those who don’t love being a pirate could still progress in the game with trade and savaging, but if you don’t like privateering, why play a pirate game? So, prepare for a battle on the open seas in PVP and PVE.

Graphics and sound

The graphics are fine but not that impressive, to be honest, which is also not that surprising for a game with such a long development cycle. The visuals appear to be the same quality as in the trailer and game preview in 2018, though. I am not complaining here, but it’s worth noting. They did, however, try their best to get a great sound atmosphere into the gameplay, and whether it’s the chatter of your crew, the battle sounds, or the shanties sung, I feel immersed by the aural sensation, so that’s also fair to mention. By the way, they used a new recording of the shanties, and while they kept some of the songs you might remember from Black Flag, they also added some others in other languages, and despite the degree of realism, also included a fair amount of females in your pirate crew that are also singing the shanties along with males.

Talking about realism leads us to the following aspects of this review article. The game is not an arcade game, but it’s also a far cry (excuse the pun) from a realistic or historically correct pirate game. In that regard, many gameplay mechanics don’t make sense, but if you can ignore that, you’ll be okay. If you are looking for a high degree of realism or historical correctness, then this might not be your best bet. If you take it for what it is, however, I think it’s enjoyable. Just note, however, that it’s an online-only title, so you will not be able to play if you’re not connected to an Internet or multiplayer service with your PC or console.

Lack of story

Skull and Bones has a sort of narrative, more like a primary quest line that helps you progress, but it lacks a serious story campaign. They tried not to make it too naked and give you some characters and a logical starting scenario to begin your journey, but it quickly becomes a game without a story, which, again, is fine if you are just looking to play freely. You can, of course, accept some quests and pursue your own goals, like getting better gear for yourself or your ship or getting a bigger ship altogether, but it will be very unlike an Assassin’s Creed title. I think they should have also provided you with a better option to hire and manage members of your crew, similar to the fashion in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, because right now they are just there, and you don’t know their names and they are more than random NPCs that are with you all the time except for the outfit of the whole crew, you can’t do anything with them – another opportunity missed.

Beyond the lack of story, something else I noticed over many hours of playing is that many activities feel increasingly repetitive, and the same kind of quests could appear daily along the lines of “find resource X and bring it to location Y.” Of course, these are just sidequests at best but it gets boring quickly. And your relationships with the factions feel like they don’t matter at all as you can go all-out on war with someone and one minute later be their best friend again. Unfortunately, there is no aspect of diplomacy, and that’s another opportunity missed. At some point, you might just ignore all the quests and jobs and just sail in the open world and do what you feel like doing. Talking about the open world, just how big is the map in Skull and Bones?

The size of the Skull and Bones map

Okay, this is a little sad, but in my opinion, the map in Skull in Bones is painfully small. You could argue that the overall measurement in miles or kilometers might seem a lot, but we are talking about a pirate game that focuses mainly on sailing the seas. So naturally, most of the area will be just water accompanied by a few islands and other landmasses. Beyond that, you can’t just exit your ship and explore islands.

There are only a very few docks in some places that allow you to exit your ship, and even then, it’s a very limited exploration, and mostly outposts feel canned out of a template. In comparison to the huge world of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, the size of the Skull and Bones map today and its restrictions feel like a joke. The way the map is currently restricted in some areas suggests that perhaps a DLC or later season would unlock an additional area of the map, but I can’t consider that in a review of the release version of the game.

So, is Skull and Bones worth it?

I think that if we look at all the facts and what Ubisoft is trying to sell in their marketing, they are not lying about anything. It’s a fun game; you can have a blast playing alone or with your friends, but there are certain restrictions in terms of scope, size, and quality. Without a doubt, it can give you many hours of gameplay, but I doubt that they can keep their players on the game, as should be the case for an online-only title. Beyond that, I have to say that while I understand that a decade of development time must be accounted for somehow, it is not right to let the games pay for the trouble and delays that could have occurred on the production side of things.

Is this the result of ten years of work from an international team spanning offices around the globe? A price of 80 EUR, or roughly converted to 86 USD, is not an adequate price tag for a game like Skull and Bones. I agree it’s fun, but given what it is, I would say that half that price would be more reasonable. I paid for it myself and didn’t get a press key from Ubisoft, so this is my feeling about that price as a regular gamer and consumer. The price is really the point that pulls down the rating of the game in my books. If you already have the Ubisoft subscription service or can get Skull and Bones in a sales event later on, this is fine, but the regular price at launch was too much, considering the value of the product and service.

YouTube: Skull and Bones – Gameplay Deep Dive Trailer

Photo credit: All images shown are owned by Ubisoft and were made available as part of a press portal.