Gamer Tuesday
May 17, 2011
Pap the Disney Gamer's Higlights:
Pirates Week Special: LEGO Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Video Game
Developed by: Traveler's Tales
System: Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360,
PSP, 3DS, DS
In just a few short years, Disney's
Pirates of the Caribbean went from being a very popular
theme park attraction to a worldwide phenomenon, all
thanks to the release of 2003's "Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl," directed by
Gore Verbinski and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Thanks
to a story rich in pirate lore mixed with the amazing
Academy Award nominated talents of Jonny Depp as Captain
Jack Sparrow, a haunting musical score and amazing
special effects, the film went on to become one of the
biggest surprises of the summer, leading to three
additional movies ("Dead Man's Chest," "At World's End,"
and "On Stranger Tides," which premieres this Friday in
theaters nationwide and in 3D) and a presence in
Disney's already expanded world of magic, fairies, and
princesses. So it comes as no surprise that in order to
capitalize on the popularity of the film series, as well
as hype up the release of the new movie, Disney
interactive has teamed up with Traveler's Tales in order
to bring us LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean.

But before I begin to talk about the
game, let's go back to 2005. The LEGO company came up
with an unique idea: they decided to make video games
based off of their famous licensed block sets. These
sets are known for being based off of a famous
franchise, letting children (and adults, of course)
build their own vehicles and sets from the series. The
first film franchise to receive this LEGO video game
treatment? Star Wars. Starting with the prequel films
(as a way to commemorate the release of "Star Wars:
Revenge of the Sith" and the culmination of the prequel
trilogy), the tongue in cheek humor combines with the
fascinating lore of the Star Wars franchise made the
game one of the most interesting releases of that year.
It was so successful critically and commercially that a
sequel, LEGO Star Wars II (which chronicled the original
trilogy), was released the following year.

Soon enough, they decided to turn other
film franchises into LEGO video games. Indiana Jones,
Batman, and Harry Potter soon joined the ranks of the
LEGO elite. As I stated at the start of the article,
with all the hype surrounding "Pirates of the Caribbean:
On Stranger Tides," it was now the Pirates franchise's
turn to be LEGO-fied.
For those not in the know, the gameplay
behind the LEGO series is very simple. They are
platforming adventure games with a strong emphasis on
puzzle solving and co-op mechanics. That means that you
will be trying to solve an environmental puzzle while
battling other baddies in order to complete the level
and move onto the next segment. A second player can join
in at any time allowing each player to help each other
out in the completion of puzzles and collecting items.
LEGO Pirates retains these mechanics,
adding to it some enhancements based off of the mythos
of the Pirates series. For example, as Captain Jack
Sparrow you can use his compass in order to find hidden
objects. There are many other playable characters as
well including Will Turner, Elizabeth Swan, Captain
Barbossa, and many, MANY more (each of which has their
own unique skills). This is important as the levels
often have places that some characters can't reach or
puzzles they can't solve on their own, but if players
come back to the level with another character and use
his or her special skill, another part of the level is
discovered. This inspires the player to go back and
replay the levels in order to obtain all of the
collectibles. But really, it's just fun to play as many
of the characters. Heck, you can even play as the famous
guard dog that holds the key from both the ride and
films!
The gameplay design is
one that is very easy to understand and enjoy while
still retaining a moderate level of challenge that
everyone from hardcore gamers to young fans can
fully grasp and enjoy. Your character doesn't die,
but you will lose a good chunk of you have
collected.

Speaking of which, one
of the biggest ideas behind the game is the
collection of items. All of the levels in LEGO
Pirates are filled with lots of goodies and objects
to find. Everything is added towards your score, so
that's why not dying is important: if you do, you
will lose a great deal of the stuff you worked so
hard to obtain.
Knowing where the LEGO
series originated from, it uses the concept of
building stuff as a gameplay mechanic. Often you
will run onto various LEGO blocks lying on the
floor. If you stand right besides them, you can put
them together in order to solve a puzzle or move
forward. It is a very neat idea that celebrates the
toy franchise's mission towards imagination through
creation.
But
easily the biggest appeal of the
LEGO series is how it is all an
affectionate parody that pays
tribute to the film it is based
on. What that means is that the
LEGO games will often loyally
follow the plot of the movies
right down to the smallest
detail, all while spoofing some
of its quirks and nuisances.
LEGO Pirates follows the plot of
all four movies, recreating each
chapter from beginning to end.
For example, Jack Sparrow's
famous introduction from "Curse
of the Black Pearl" has been presented here,
but in a very amusing LEGO way. In the movie, Jack
salutes hanging corpses, indicating to the audience
that this is a very dangerous, cruel world of
piracy. In the game, however, not only are these
pirates alive and well, they are very happy and wave
back to Jack.

Even some of the darker
scenes, like Jack's charge into the Kraken at the
end of "Dead
Man's Chest" as it swallows the ship, is
spoofed upon by having Jack run in with a toothbrush
and brush the Kraken's teeth. While it may seem that
the LEGO games are insulting the film franchise they
base their games on, it is all done in good fun. In
fact, it does a fantastic job of celebrating the
film franchise.
This is done through
various means. One of the most compelling is the
music. Rather than creating new melodies for the
games, the developers actually use the film's
original score by
Hans
Zimmer and places it on top of the game. So
not only do you have a story that follows the plot
of the film series well, it does so by incorporating
the iconic score as well. The very famous and iconic
"You are a pirate" melody is present and placed upon
many of the action sequences.
The characters are
presented as LEGO men, and even though they don't
speak, the grunts and pantomime capture the emotion
of the scenes very well, while being very cute and
charming to boot.
LEGO
Jack
Sparrow, in particular, is very loyal to
Johnny Depp's portrayal of the character, right down
to the little swagger in his walk and reluctance to
cooperate on various scenes. Even his grunts sound
like they were done by Mr. Depp himself!

So that's why despite
there being over ten games in the LEGO video game
series (not counting original LEGO titles) with very
little change in mechanics in between releases they
have been very successful with players and critics:
anyone, regardless of level of skill, can play this
game and have a fun time by either themselves or
with a friend or family member. Add to this a grand
feeling of nostalgia caused by the presence of a
great film series and it's no wonder that the
LEGO
games keep on selling.
I am happy to report
that LEGO Pirates is not an exception to the rule.
The fun and excitement of the film series is
perfectly captured in LEGO while injecting a great
dose of humor and silliness. Even if you have played
the previous games in the series I recommend you to
check out this game.

Return to Gamer Tuesday