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

This game Does a very poor job of living up to what was a pretty decent film. The gameplay is repetetive and all to easy to become bored with, action sequences don't really begin to aproach the epic spectacles I remember from the cinema and the graphics are no where near the next gen levels set by other consoles. Unfortunately for me this game like a lot of other movie game titles these days seems to be cobbled together to chuck out just before cinema launch to take advandage of advertising and make as much money without any effort on the part of the software developers.

It could have been so good, a pirate game with a wiimote and one of the most likeable characters to come at us with a sword from disney ever. One thing the game does quite a good job at is capturing some of the comedy from the film series and creating a world which at least has the same feel as the caribbean that you'll see in the cinema.

Plot:
The passage of play in this game stays pretty close to the films throughout with no oppertunity of any non-linear gameplay. the first part follows events of the second film " dead mans chest " and the second part follows the third film of the series. It is essentially mission ,cutsceen, mission, cutseen, mission, actionsequence, mission, cutsceen.

Gameplay:
The gameplay is weak and unimaginative which is a shame as there is always a lot of scope to use the wiimote especially in a sword orientated game like this and here it becomes apparant that no extra effort has been put into the wii version of this game other than up//down waves and side to side motions to perform the 3 basic light heavy and close attack options or combos made up of combinations of each. As well as the sword you can use some guns grenades and knives you find in some areas, but they do not offer much other than a differently ineffective way to kill the bad AI enemys you will encounter in small groups as you progress through the levels. Missions too are poor as objectives can seem vague at times leading to confusion frustratingly as it is such a simple game.

Graphics/Visuals:
The graphics are dissapointing to say the least, i know the Wii is not a powerhouse like the ps3 or xbox360 and i love it none the less however i would expect something a little bit better than this. The level is no higher than ps2 and the water is particularly horrible in my opinion, where in wii sports golf it is even good. The textures in the game are average i'd say and a redeming quality could be the animation during attacks from jack sparrow but they get a bit boring after a while.

Sound:
The most redeaming factor is the voicetrack for this game with apperances from all the cast which is to be expected from a film / game adaptation these days and the background music takes from the jonty themes in the films aswell.

Playability:
This is a very enjoyable game for the first 10 to 15 minutes mainly because you get to play as the awesome jack sparrow in tortuga etc. as well as a few other protagonists from the film. However the fact that you find yourself doing not a lot more than buttom mashing and running around quickly deflates any good feelings from the general piracy you may have had in mind earlier. Also the fact that the game progresses in a linear fashion from a to b to c with no deviation reduces its playability to almost once through only and the back to the shop to part exchange for anything else there.