Set #2856456 LEGO Disney Pirates of the Caribbean The Video Game for Wii: This review will mark my 399th review for Brickset, according to the Review count, this means expect something special in my next review for #400. And now that, that's out of the way let us discuss this game.

This title from Traveler's Tales and LEGO and Disney Interactive is a mixed bag, on the one hand it is an excellent looking video game version showcasing the LEGO Brand humor with Pirates of the Caribbean as a setting. All four films are featured here, and there are a lot of playable characters (some of which are probably missing from other versions of the game), there is also a lot to see, do and collect throughout the title. Unfortunately it is also somewhat depressing as the title shows off a lot of the world of LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean that will never see the light of day in official LEGO sets, which could lead some to feelings of despair.

The character roster features a host of Mini-Figures that will never see the light of day, unless by some sheer miracle LEGO decides to revist this Theme in physical form when the fifth film comes out in 2015 (According to the latest Disney Pirates reports.) Lord Cutler Becket, Governor Swan and many versions of the characters that are not available in the current (now hard to find) discontinued sets of the Pirates brand are here. And they're exploring a world of LEGO that will also be missing. (Some characters like Tia Dalma and Commodore Norrington are very important to the story and they also don't get physical representation.)

However I'm getting a bit long winded. The features of this game are fairly standard for LEGO titles, you experience the films in a family friendly environment, complete with LEGO brand humor and slight differences from the source material as most Pirates films were rated PG-13 if I recall correctly. So there are a large number of scenes that have been omitted or modified in the cut scenes.

The hub world is Port Royal, from the docks you can select to play in either of the four films, each Stage has five Worlds or Chapters, and each of these has a number of things to do. There's the typical Story Mode playthrough, in which you play through the story. Then there's the ever popular Free Play, in which you can take a whole bunch of characters into the level and just muck about. Each level awards you Gold Bricks (Much like LEGO Star Wars The Complete Saga did.) to get these bricks you must complete a level in Story Mode, attain enough Studs to reach True Pirate status, collect the 10 Mini-Kit pieces (represented by Ships in Bottles) and use Jack's Compass to find 8 hidden objects throughout the sections of the level.

Unlike other LEGO games you do not find the Red Bricks (represented by Red Caps) in the actual stages, instead you travel around Port Royal (Once you have enough Gold Bricks to open those sections up, or the right character with the right ability) and solve puzzles to get the unlockable Cheats. (Or Extras.) A lot of the costs for these things have gone down compared to much older LEGO titles, instead of collecting very high numbers of studs to unlock them this game (and indeed many of the newer games) have simplified and drastically reduced the number of studs required to get the good extras.

Other features include a new method of swapping your characters, just hold down the character select button (as indicated in the instructions) and you can bring up the entire list to choose from. Later games in the series seem to have upgraded the number of custom characters you can actually create, now there are around ten or so characters you can customize out of the existing LEGO Mini-Figures you've unlocked, with the parts and all. I find this number a bit too high honestly as I find myself not really making any custom characters in the newer games like I did previously. With so much to choose from, and yet a limited number of color choices and character abilities to select the custom character feature I feel still has a long way to go in these games to achieve a truly open-ended level of game play. (Instead of selecting through the pieces manually I think it might be more helpful to include a pull-up menu fuction with a list of available parts and colors to choose from, something that doesn't rely solely on flicking through the entire selection wheel to get to the right color and piece you want to use. Custom facial prints would also go a long way to improving the custom character feature of these games, as just changing the costume doesn't change the fact that it's Jack Sparrow's face on a different Mini-Figs body.)

Overall though I feel that this game is slowly becoming a step in the right direction, it features a lot of fun things to do with the children in your life and it is also great fun for older LEGO Collectors who enjoy the Collectibles and Achievements of the games. My experience with the title did not involve any known LEGO Game glitches, not once did it freeze up on me forcing a complete system reboot, and none of the levels were unplayable. The closest moment of frustration came when one of the puzzles wasn't loading correctly, forcing me to exit and re-enter the stage to fix the problem. I also might be a little biased due to the fact the LEGO Pirates as a whole has been a favorite of mine since I was little, and I got this game during Boxing Week for the low, low price of 10$, which makes it's value a bit skewed price wise.

If you're a fan of the LEGO Games from Travelers Tale's this is another solid outing, it might not be as long to play through as some of the heftier titles, considering there are only four movies to make into the game instead of Six like with Star Wars, or 7 for Harry Potter, but it is still a highly enjoyable game with a lot to do and shows how the LEGO Game franchise has begun to evolve over time. Recommended, especially if you can find it on discount.

I am a huge fan of Legos, a huge fan of Pirates of the Caribbean, and love video games. So when this game came out, I was practically on my knees begging to get it for Christams. I have to say it didn't meet all of my expectations, but I'm still satisfied with it.

Good Stuff (aka pros)

Covering everything in this game would take up a whole book, which brings me to one of the great things about it. This video-game is very detailed. Every minifigure has its own unique fighting style, behaviour, and weapons. If you buy the game, try just setting down the remote and waiting a bit. Each character does something different. Smashed plants bob up and down, broken pieces can be kicked, ships sway at a steady pace, minifigures have realistic movements - very detailed.

Lego Pirates is full of fun and jokes. Unless you have no sense of humor, I guarentee Lego's overall silliness will give you a laugh or two (such as dancing to disco Pirates of the Caribbean music!). Plenty of fun devices and sections of levels make goofing off in two player fun. Two people can make Davy Jones reck the turtle races, Barbossa fire cannonballs at mermaids, Blackbeard go down a water slide with his daughter; inviting a friend to play the game is great.

Also, you can switch to any minifig at anytime, even in levels! The base is rather big, but that just adds to all the things to do.

Bad Stuff (aka cons)

Do you fear death? - Davy Jones

Well guess what? You don't have to in this video-game! Enemies are a piece of cake and fighting is way too easy. The game is just way too easy. Twenty levels isn't much, and collecting coins is pointless because... its too easy! Those purple jewels don't tempt me at all.

Glitches infest the game. The final level freezes on free-play, their are chrome glitches, customizing your own characters on two player jams, their are facial glitches, background minifigures look fake and even float, movement jams loading on two player. Glitches are a large problem, although maybe the game is so detailed it just runs my Wii into the ground.

The game also doesn't follow the movies very well at all, although maybe this is good for those who haven't seen the movies. That way it won't spoil anything.

Summary

Despite the cons, this game is still a lot of fun. I recommend it for any Lego-lover, but if you're a Pirates of the Caribbean fan this is a must buy. Nice job Lego.