We haven't had a Pirates of the Caribbean game on console or PC since 2011 and that is, quite frankly, unforgivable. Pirate games have boomed over the last several years, so why can't Disney seem to get a decent Pirates of the Caribbean game to us? If games like Assassin's Creed Black Flag or Sea of Thieves have taught us anything, it's that people find pirates cool and want to be one.
Seriously, plundering British warships and embarrassing naval officers in silly wigs should be high on anyone's list of desires. So why have we not had a new Pirates of the Caribbean game in four years?
I really love pirates. Far too much, probably. My stepdad told me he was a pirate when I was growing up and I was in awe. Turns out he was actually in the Merchant Navy, but that sounds way less cool to a five-year-old. Even though they're called a navy, they have nothing to do with the military, they're just UK trade vessels, which is fortunate as it means I can still look up to my pirate stepdad without the heavy cloud of military imperialism hanging over the stories.
The stories of adventure are what always appealed to me. Traveling to different places, meeting new people, vanquishing your foes in epic battles around whirlpools or over rogue waves, relaxing on the beach and drinking rum - bliss. Obviously, the reality of being a pirate is pretty vicious. Scurvy, sea-sickness, splinters, and rope burn are all things no one wants to deal with in real life, so can Disney hurry up and let me live out my ultimate pirate fantasy in a video game please?
Remakes and remasters are so prevalent that it feels like new games are taking a back seat. While waiting for a new pirate game, I've replayed Black Flag loads of times. It completely revitalized my love for the Assassin's Creed franchise. It was a breath of fresh air breathed into the rotting corpse of a stagnant series. I love the ship combat, the underwater diving, the plundering, the tattoos, all of it. Sea of Thieves is a more stylized take, but it also offers great gameplay moments like ghost ships and krakens. Skull & Bones had my attention for a while, but it's been delayed so many times I'm not holding my breath for anything special.
Disney has so much untapped potential for a next-gen Pirates of the Caribbean game, it's maddening that they won't capitalize on it. I don't want a movie tie-in or a game about Jack Sparrow, I want a compelling narrative set in the world of the films but from a different character's perspective. It would be amazing to play as Davy Jones and captain the Flying Dutchman, hand-selecting a crew of the damned. We could play as him before he became the ferryman for the dead, back when he was in love with Calypso. Throughout the course of the game, he could slowly transform into the monstrous being we know him as. A campaign of heartache and tragic longing would suit a pirate game perfectly.
The game could even forgo the characters of the film entirely and focus on a new story. Imagine playing as an actual resident of the Caribbean resisting the British and other colonial forces. You could lead a revolution and command a small pirate navy that takes down an empire, the true spirit of pirate freedom. Not sure Disney would go for something like that, but it would make a damn good game.
Disney currently owns just about everything, so it's shitty of them to sit on great franchises while they drip feed us highly curated content. I want them to do what they've done with Star Wars and pay a studio to make a new pirate game. Until then, I'll just twiddle my thumbs and wait for Skull and Bones to be released, or I may replay Black Flag again.