Free Games

Pirates of the Caribbean from Bethesda Softworks and Russian developer Akella actually has little to do with either the upcoming feature film or the popular Disney amusement park ride of the same name. But considering the spotty track record of both movie-licensed and Disney-licensed games, maybe that's a good thing. Pirates is actually very similar to Akella's previous effort, Sea Dogs, a 3-year-old PC game that featured open-ended role-playing elements, ship-to-ship combat, swashbuckling, trading, and more. Pirates has all these same elements, giving it a free-form sort of feel that's reminiscent in some ways of Bethesda's own The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. Some technical issues and a somewhat steep learning curve may unfortunately get in the way of your enjoyment of either the Xbox or PC version of the game, and despite the generally impressive visuals, you'll need to use your imagination to fill in a few blanks as you play. But if that's OK with you, you'll find that Pirates of the Caribbean offers a refreshing and entertaining experience that successfully evokes a sense of what it might have been like to live a life of danger and adventure on the high seas.