Skull and Bones is a textbook definition of why Live Service games fail. Instead of creating a rich game full of content that will remain relevant for years, developers simply make a single-player game, force players to endlessly repeat monotonous missions while asking for money for cosmetics and battle passes. Apart from playing as a pirate ship, Skull and Bones is just another Live Service game that promises a lot but fails to deliver results.
From a rich single-player game to a poor live-service game In 2013, Ubisoft released Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag. Besides the classic Assassin’s Creed game, Ubisoft made arguably the best pirate game of the seventh generation. Of course, we all wanted more, and Ubisoft promised to deliver. But… it’s not enough to just give us a sequel like that. Since we love those ships and pirates so much, it’s not enough to just buy a new pirate game. No, no, no, it’s no longer trendy to pay just once. The new pirate adventure should be a Live Service, meaning that throughout its lifespan, it regularly milks players for both the initial price and a large amount of microtransactions as well as battle passes (which will come when a new season starts).
The game’s development took seven long years with many announcements and release cancellations. And during that time, we saw a bunch of live-service games come out and almost overnight fail. In other words, many of us had already written off Skull and Bones long before it was released. The saddest part is that we were right. Play as a ship While in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag, we played as a man who commands a ship, in Skull and Bones, we play as a ship. Yes, when you dock at a port or island, you technically can use your character to walk around, but all of this could have been just a menu. You play as a ship, and that’s it.
As in any live-service game, your goal is to improve your stats. You do this by sailing the seas, shooting other ships, and collecting their loot, which you can sell or use to make your ship even stronger. Almost every task requires you to sink a certain number of ships or reach a certain location and maybe deliver an item.
While doing all this, you earn pirate reputation. Only when you collect enough reputation points do you unlock conditions to upgrade your ship. You can upgrade the bow (front of the ship), weapons (cannons), furniture, cosmetics, or get a whole new ship. It’s not that important whether you take specific cannons or types of ships; the main number matters. If your ship is level 5, you can easily sink any other ship that is a lower level. Also, a level 6 ship will be more than enough to sink you.
Let’s not lie, naval battles are well done I would be lying if I said that naval battles are bad. They’re great. The way you command the ship, fire cannons, the wind that gives you speed, everything is well thought out. When two ships of the same level clash, Skull and Bones really shines. However, as soon as one ship is a lower or higher level, there are no more conflicts because the higher level almost always wins.
When sailing to a certain destination, you have three speeds available. Half sail (slow), full sail (normal speed), super fast sail (fastest speed that drains your stamina). This last one is very controversial (especially in PvP battles) because it can be easily abused. If you have food on board, you can just feed your crew and constantly go at the fastest speed without stopping.
As for weapons, you have quite a selection. From regular cannonballs to those that destroy sails, and even rocket launchers. Actually, you have ammunition that can heal friendly ships. Nothing nicer than being hit by healing bombs, right? But, realistically, when everything works as it should, naval battles in Skull and Bones are really fun.
Oh, yes, the game also has multiplayer Live service games are, by definition, multiplayer games. This is done to extend the game’s lifespan; for players to work together on boss fights and raid battles. Of course, it’s also important to show off how beautiful your ship is, especially since on the ship, you have a premium pirate cat that you bought for €5.
The problem is… there’s no need to play with other players. You can do 90% of the content in the game solo. Of course, you’ll probably have more fun if you have a friendly ship or two sailing with you, but it’s really not necessary. In the endgame, you have several boss fights that you need to do in a group, and that’s where the problems arise. Namely, there is already a meta build for ships in the game, and if you don’t have that meta build, you can’t effectively participate in some activities.
This is most significant for PvP battles. While sailing, you may come across a legendary treasure map. The first player to find this map becomes the target for all other players who decide to participate. This is absolutely the worst part of the game. The game suggests that you should be at least level five before participating in these battles. The first time I entered a PvP event, I was recommended level five. I grabbed the map and was surprised that I didn’t see any other players. I needed to take it to the other end of the map (where enemies with level 10 ships were located). I sailed slowly and carefully, and just as I was about to hand over the map, one player with a level 11 ship appeared right at the island where I was supposed to hand over the map and sank my ship with two shots and took the map. A catastrophic experience. In PvP, either you have the fastest ship that arrives quickly, or you just set up an ambush for the opponent at the destination where the map is to be handed over.
The biggest problem is that the game is boring Everything I’ve said about Skull and Bones so far doesn’t sound very good, but I would forgive the game if it were at least fun. The problem is that it’s not. Skull and Bones becomes boring after an hour of gameplay. After just a few missions, I had already seen everything the game offers.
Although sailing with a ship is fun, the way you progress is slow and monotonous. Instead of choosing what type of ship I want and which cannons will work most effectively, the game just tells me to improve my stats. This wouldn’t be so tedious if Skull and Bones didn’t constantly send me to other locations to pick up an item or unlock new blueprints for making new parts. It gets really boring.
The story in the game is almost non-existent and only serves to limit some mechanics until you finish certain missions. Worst of all, you’re so stuck with your ship. The pirate’s life is not just on the ship’s deck. Pirates swordfight, search for treasure, shoot guns, and get drunk on grog. In Skull and Bones, you only sail. You can’t even get off the ship to chop wood or explore some shipwrecked ruins (instead, it’s like a mini-game when you approach such a location). The saddest thing is that you could do all these other activities in Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag. To make matters worse, we already have a standard for a good pirate Live Service game. Although not perfect; Sea of Thieves offers you a complete pirate experience and that with a lot of humor. Besides interesting naval battles, Skull and Bones has nothing.
