Once upon a time, there was a legendary online game that released and became extremely popular after the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean films. With the outstanding reaction to the movies, the online game presented by Disney as well, stayed popular until way past its time. Eventually, in a devastating choice, the online game was taken offline in 2007 due to unknown reasons other than the movies had been out to the public for a long time. At that time, I was absolutely devastated after pouring hours in to creating my own character and playing the in the massive open world that I had enjoyed so much in the Pirates of the Caribbean Online game.
Here’s the best part, there’s another game to satisfy my craving to be a pirate, own my own territory and battle others that try to take me out. This mobile game, released in May of 2017, is none other than Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War. For a mobile platform, this pirates adventure has gotten a lot more traction than I had originally thought, plus I was a little salty that Disney Interactive Studios was again, trying to pull me back in to a game that wasn’t the one that was put down all that time ago.
PotC:TOW gives players complete control over how they run their territory with assistance from popular characters from the movies such as Captain Jack Sparrow. With tutorials to guide you as well, and a new on screen game guide, there is hope for future pirates. From the start, the game can be overwhelming. There is a lot to learn about how pirate currency works and how to maintain a territory (your island). Once your lumber, food and silver is all in order and buildings are up and running, players can choose to go the seas alone or become part of an alliance.
Along the journey of becoming the biggest and baddest pirate to rule the seas, there are many new characters to meet such as technicians. They require gifts in order to reach a higher level, but will assist in battle when necessary. For players that like more of a battle royal style, there is also a Caribbean takeover and a Tortuga Brawl. As the game goes on, fortresses get harder to level up and defending your territory can become a constant hassle. So far, this is just the basics of the game. There is so much more to learn when it comes to gaining experience and crafting items to assist your crew. For a mobile game, it’s probably one of the most time consuming I’ve seen so far. Literally, I haven’t even scratched the surface of what all of my inventory items do or how to use them yet, and that’s possibly why I can’t put it down.
We all think of pirates as the enemies of the seas and just generally nasty characters, but how does this game work with children? Some families have voiced their opinion that PotC:TOW should be avoided because of the cost of in game additions (they won’t keep you from playing in any way) and because of the pirate battles. It is said that the battles, especially higher levels attacking your fortress, is a show of bullying. I don’t personally see it this way because this is what the game is all about, but maybe take these things in to consideration before getting the game for yourself or your family.
With all of the different things to do in the game and the time it takes to invest in order to keep your territory functioning, Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War is indeed worth the effort. Resource management is a must, battles help alliances and yourself and there is just so much to learn which makes the game constantly playable. I think Disney did a great job creating a version of Pirates that is handheld first of all, and allows me to follow my team by seeing all of my characters. There is a lot of interaction with everything on the player’s territory. Although there is so much going on in the game and there is a lot of time that has to be invested, the game is great and I’m going to continue to play until I figure it all out because that’s what makes the game fun.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War Available on the IOS store and Android
