In 2013, Ubisoft started developing an expansion for Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, hoping to extend the life of its best-received game (as of 2024). During development, this DLC expansion transformed into the standalone pirate simulator Skull and Bones. After six major delays, Skull and Bones finally set sail more than ten years after development began. Ubisoft delivers a solid maritime combat simulator with excellent controls but little else to flesh out the experience beyond a year of planned content.
Skull and Bones plunges you into the action (both literally and figuratively), placing you at the helm of a fast and powerful ship in the Indian Ocean, armed with weaponry comparable to the small fleet you face. Your objective in the opening sequence is to take down the flagship, easily identified by the lavish decorations on its side hulls. After a few well-aimed cannon shots at the exposed ship skeleton (weak spots highlighted in red), the flagship sinks, but so do you, as the story forces your ship to capsize.
First and foremost, Skull and Bones has a story that is virtually nonexistent. Beyond the non-player characters (NPCs) showing you the ropes—side characters oddly exuberant with a childlike wonder for piracy—and two mission-givers, Captain John Spurlock and an almost-pirate-like Admiral Rahma, the inhabitants of the Indian Ocean islands are unremarkable. Especially the two mission-givers, who are essentially ungrateful Grand Theft Auto mission-givers with a hint of charisma and even less creativity in their missions.
“Every interaction with NPCs in Skull and Bones is filled with tedium.”
After your initial souped-up ship is totaled, your next objective is to build your own ship with the help of the smallest lender ship imaginable, called a Dhow. You can throw the flimsiest of spears off the edge to impale local wildlife. But it’s not just ships you’ll need to contend with in Skull and Bones; sharks can attack the Dhow, and even larger creatures can pose a threat when you have larger ships.
The variety of enemies adds a layer of depth to combat, but it boils down to the same thing: sail out of the enemy’s range, shoot the enemy’s weak spots, rinse, and repeat. Starting as a Dhow showcases the size difference of ships (especially to more seasoned seafarers), as I was sailing along at 5 knots, another “Skull and Bones” player sailed by with a ship that could swallow eight of my war canoes.
Once you get into the main gameplay loop, where you sail and engage in combat with other seafaring vessels, Skull and Bones is at its best. Even sailing in the spear-equipped Dhow is strong in design. This should come as no surprise to those who have played Assassin’s Creed III or IV; Ubisoft has excelled in maritime combat in those games, and this title gets the ‘feel’ right. The environment’s waves crash into a ship’s hull with weight, and when the weather turns severe, Ubisoft captures the urgent feel of the hostile ocean impeccably.
Cannon battles at sea are loads of fun. When you engage with other vessels, there’s a constant feeling of suspense. Cannonballs cannot be fired automatically, or even semi-automatically, so early ship duels are often settled by those who can aim and maneuver better. A few early-game battles were settled by those who reloaded faster, in my experience, and Skull and Bones does a good job of offering new weaponry at a developmental pace.
As you get better and master the game’s systems, it’s almost as if Skull and Bones knows you can handle more controls, a bigger vessel, and more gameplay elements. As you level up, the game allows you to use more of its systems at a rate that feels right. A solid gameplay development structure that holds strong until the endgame.
Most live service games (Skull and Bones is either a live service game or the Bojack Horseman equivalent of three kids in a trench coat) strongly emphasize the endgame content. As mentioned before, Ubisoft has outlined a year of content for the future for their “quadruple-A” experience. But that leaves players who have exhausted the core gameplay loop stranded at sea.
“Once you get into the main gameplay loop, where you sail and engage in combat with other seafaring vessels, Skull and Bones is at its best.”
There’s just not enough variety in the main gameplay loop to keep captains interested in reaching the endgame (for now). The endgame is admittedly where the real difficulty lies, with stronger gameplay systems that require cooperation. Diablo IV (another live service game) has this same problem, except it has a strong storyline that compels the player to reach the end at least once. Skull and Bones doesn’t have this payoff.
This is the problem that continues to plague Skull and Bones. Despite being delayed six times, the game somehow still feels rushed. There’s a segment with a notorious pirate called Rassler early in the game, who, when you meet him, is already dead at the table with daggers in his back. This character was hyped up by the first settlement, with background characters suggesting he is ‘mean and ruthless.’ However, meeting him already dead at the table undermines any buildup.
Every interaction with NPCs in Skull and Bones is filled with tedium. You’re allowed to traverse small areas on foot, which lets you buy goods, trade with local shops, and pick up some fetch quests from job boards. These on-foot gameplay segments are miserable. Often, activating certain NPCs won’t work to the point of having to reset the game.
Sometimes, janky radar quest objectives will show up even though they are 2.5 km away, and other times the radar will work as intended and highlight the ‘anchor’ icon to show you need to board your ship to go to the objective. This creates a messy confusion of ‘Do I look around this area for my objective, or is it on the ship?’ This problem is further exacerbated by icon issues when you board your ship; the objective can now appear in the settlement you just left, requiring you to endure another loading screen to return to the settlement. This is frustrating, flawed UI mechanics and just a bad time.
Skull and Bones is at its best when you’re at sea. Shooting down adversary ships, engaging in plundering local towns, and just shooting stuff down feels good. The way your ship slams against wave congestion on the sea and how you can activate sea shanties while steering through a storm embodies what I’d imagine being a pirate feels like. Ubisoft also cleverly included the ability to see from the ship’s crow’s nest or behind the ship’s helm, boosting immersion. When Skull and Bones is a war game, an RPSea with friends to loot and crush fleets of ships, it’s a great time, and I’ll sign up for a mission with friends at any time.
The main issues with Skull and Bones arise when you compare it to its single-player inspiration, Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Skull and Bones is to Assassin’s Creed IV as Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is to the Batman Arkham series. It has noticeable dips in gameplay enjoyment to serve as a live service game. Ubisoft may have aimed for an experience like Black Flag, but Skull and Bones plays more like a never-ending looter-shooter title instead of a bona fide pirate experience.
“Skull and Bones” functions well enough, though, and the endgame does start to pick up, but it requires too much time investment to get there. Tedious game systems plague the experience, such as only being able to change captain equipment at one vendor, ship equipment at another vendor, and equipping the ship’s equipment at another menu. NPC interactions are just a means to drive the game forward.
Skull and Bones features truly strong naval combat that is genuinely fun to play. But dealing with the rest of the experience, from the almost automated-seeming NPC interactions to the tedious menus, and the time investment necessary to get to ‘the good stuff,’ it could be an experience worth missing, especially considering the premium price tag attached to what feels like a live service game. Skull and Bones has finally launched, but fans may be better off satisfying their fully-fledged pirate experience itch with Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag for a fraction of the cost. Outside of the most die-hard pirates, Skull and Bones may be better left to the gallows until it improves.
