Caribbean Legend is yet another pirate game this 2024. Is it any better than Skull and Bones? Read our review to see what it did well, what it didn’t do well, and if it’s worth your time and money.
Caribbean Legend Review Overview
Caribbean Legend Pros & Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
 Intriguing Story Nostalgic If You Played Sea Dogs |
Outdated Everything So Easy To Get Lost Worst Combat I’ve Ever Experienced |
Caribbean Legend Overall Score - 36/100
Caribbean Legend feels like a game straight out of the 2000s. It looks terrible, its gameplay is clunky and buggy, and it features the worst combat I’ve ever experienced in a game. There’s very little guidance, so you’ll have to wander around the poorly designed maps while scratching your head and wondering what in Davy Jones’ locker you have to do next. The story is pretty good, but it’s told through a bazillion dialogue boxes, which I doubt you’ll have the patience to read through.
Caribbean Legend Story - 6/10
The story is actually very intriguing. It’s unique and is more than just a come-up story about gradually becoming a famous pirate. However, its execution is very flawed, and the only story exposition you get is through conversations. A lot of the conversations you have with NPCs are completely meaningless, and you’re often swamped with so many useless text boxes that you’d want to stop reading and skip them entirely, leading you to probably skip the rich story dialogues as well. A good story, but only if you have the patience to read through every dialogue box, which usually won’t be the case.
Caribbean Legend Gameplay - 4/10
Caribbean Legend is home to the absolute worst combat I’ve ever experienced in a game. Everything feels super outdated and clunky, and it’s so easy to completely lose your sense of direction. Character and camera movement are so bad that it’ll get you feeling nauseous after just a couple of hours.
Caribbean Legend Visuals - 2/10
The game looks terrible, especially in 2024’s modern age of gaming. Graphics look straight out of the 2000s, and so do the animations, character models, environments, interface, and everything else.
Caribbean Legend Audio - 4/10
You’ll get occasional voice lines from NPCs, but not all the time. The dialogue boxes that actually matter aren’t voiced at all. The soundtrack is alright but starts to get on your nerves after a while, especially since you’d already be frustrated trying to figure out what to do next.
Caribbean Legend Value for Money - 2/10
If this were the 2000s, then maybe this would be worth your money. We’re way past the 2000s, and the game is definitely not worth it, even if you’re a big fan of pirates.
Caribbean Legend Review | I’d Rather Walk The Plank
I played and reviewed Skull and Bones a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was a lackluster pirate experience. I played Caribbean Legend this time around, and, boy, is this worse. It’s a terrible pirate game that feels like it was made 20 years ago. While there are more things to do on foot in this game compared to Skull and Bones, that’s pretty much the only thing it does better, and that’s not a big accomplishment at all considering how Skull and Bones isn’t even a good game.
You’ll start off by creating your character. You’ll be choosing from three captains that you could play as, but only one of them has a story mode. I chose the guy with the story, Charles de Maure, a French nobleman who sets out to the Caribbean to find his lost brother. You’ll then choose an archetype, which determines what your starting stats are, along with some bonuses. I went with the Athlete for strong physicals and fast stamina recovery.
I then went on to explore the town I started in to look for my lost brother. You’ll be able to converse with almost everyone you run into, but most of them are pretty useless. I soon found out that my brother was thrown in prison over stealing charges, which he claims isn’t true. He then tells you that you two have to restore power to the family name, and you’ll have to make money for a ship. You’ll then be on your way to board your brother’s ship he already paid a down payment on, but you’ll need to come up with the rest.
From there, the game starts to feel truly terrible. The graphics are horrid, the movement as well, and everything feels uber outdated. There’s an NPC that shows you around and guides you through the things you need to know, but literally all of the information is shared through dialogue boxes. There’s no real comprehensive tutorial. You just read through dialogue box after dialogue box, which I found to be rather overwhelming and outright confusing. You’ll eventually grow tired of having to read through all of these, which means you’re very likely to skip scanning through the dialogue.
After talking to the guide NPC, I was left completely lost with no sense of direction at all. I knew I had to get my boat and get money, but there weren’t any indicators to show where I needed to be, or a map to serve as a visual aid on where places of interest are. For hours I explored the settlement around me, entering all the establishments I could find and talking to everyone I encountered, but to no avail. This is a problem that could’ve been easily avoided if only the game was a bit more informative on what to do, or at least if it had a map that I could access from the get-go.
The combat in this game is the worst I have ever experienced. I’m not exaggerating. Armed combat involves attacking, blocking, and parrying, with a stamina bar that depletes with every attack. The CPU is always blocking, which means you could only really attack them when they’re attacking as well, as that’s when they stop blocking. You’ll take turns trying to cut each other down, and then when you’re both out of stamina, it turns into a staring contest as neither of you can throw an attack. It’s a terrible combat system that has no place in today’s world of gaming.
Exploration at sea doesn’t feel rewarding either. Sailing feels bland, and so does the exploration. You’ll mostly board your ship to fetch items, treasures, resources, and battle other ships, much like in Skull and Bones. However, at least Skull and Bones looks great, and the naval combat is really fun as well. The same cannot be said for this game.
Pros of Caribbean Legend
| Things Caribbean Legend Got Right |
|---|
|
Intriguing Story Nostalgic If You Played Sea Dogs |
Intriguing Story
The story is pretty intriguing, and the dialogue is rich when you’re talking to NPCs about important things about the story. The main characters seem to be three-dimensional and the story isn’t as basic as the typical "rise through the ranks" type of story. It’s a pretty entertaining story, but it could’ve been delivered better. You’re swamped with beefy dialogue boxes to the point where it feels like you’re reading a novel. It’s very easy to grow impatient and to skip the dialogue boxes just so you can continue with the game.
Nostalgic If You Played Sea Dogs
The game is based on Sea Dogs, a pirate game series from the 2000s. As such, players who enjoyed that game will undoubtedly take a nostalgic trip back in time when they get their hands on this. I personally didn’t play Sea Dogs, but when I looked it up, the main hub looks exactly like the one in Caribbean Legend, but with a few minor graphical upgrades.
Cons of Caribbean Legend
| Things That Caribbean Legend Can Improve |
|---|
|
Outdated Everything So Easy To Get Lost Worst Combat I’ve Ever Experienced |
Outdated Everything
Playing this game feels like playing a game from the 2000s. It’s graphically bad, it’s clunky to play, and literally everything about it feels bad or straight-up outdated. The story had promise, but the way it was told, which was through tons of beefy dialogue boxes, felt like a chore to read through. Even the save system is outdated. Autosave only works when you set sail, and you’d have to manually save your game state when on land. My game crashed when a desktop notification popped up, and I lost about an hour of progress since I didn’t manually save.
So Easy To Get Lost
There’s no guidance in this game. There aren’t any waypoints, objective markers, the quest system sucks, and you have to find the map. Right after the tutorial, I was completely lost with no sense of direction at all. All the information you need is hidden, scattered through the hundred million dialogue boxes, which you probably skipped through or didn’t pay much attention to. A map would’ve been of so much help, or at least a more informative UI with quest logs listing your objectives.
Worst Combat I’ve Ever Experienced
The armed combat in this game is the absolute worst I’ve ever had the misfortune of experiencing. It’s so terrible. You take turns hacking your sword at each other. Since the AI is always blocking, you’d have to attack right when they attack. You’ll both lose stamina eventually, so you’d just be staring at each other waiting for the other to attack.
Is Caribbean Legend Worth It?
Not at all
Caribbean Legend is a terrible game that I highly recommend you don’t touch at all. It looks bad, it feels clunky, and you’ll have to read through so many dialogue boxes. The story is pretty good, but good luck trying to process all the information in all those beefy dialogue boxes thrown at you. The combat is outright horrid in this game. Don’t get this game. The only case I could make for this is if you played Sea Dogs and want to play a remaster. If not, trust me, and don’t go anywhere near this game.
Caribbean Legend Overview & Premise
Caribbean Legend puts you in the shoes of Charles de Maure, a French nobleman who, despite his laziness and womanizing habits, is a capable person who is driven to bring glory to his family name. You venture forth into the Caribbean looking for your lost brother. From there, your pirate journey begins.
Caribbean Legend FAQ
What themes does Caribbean Legend tackle?
Caribbean Legend delves into the Golden Age of Piracy, along with the bad things that came with a bad time. Other than piracy, stealing, and killing, themes of racism, slavery, sexism, and more are explored in the game.
Is Caribbean Legend based on Sea Dogs?
Yes, Caribbean Legend is a remaster of Sea Dogs: To Each His Own.
Game8 Reviews
Caribbean Legend Product Information
 |
|
| Title | CARIBBEAN LEGEND |
|---|---|
| Release Date | February 16, 2024 |
| Developer | BlackMark Studio |
| Publisher | BlackMark Studio, Valkyrie Initiative |
| Supported Platforms | PC |
| Genre | RPG |
| Number of Players | 1 |
| ESRB Rating | RP |
| Official Website | Caribbean Legend Website |
