When you have a magic cow, you milk it for all it’s worth. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed has been an udder gold mine, and the brand will be brought to your iPhone and iPad on December 5th for $4.99.
Assassin’s Creed Pirates is a naval combat game. You take a ship, build it, crew it, and blow holes in other ships. No assassins here. Just some nice Caribbean sun and pirates trying to send you to Davy Jones’ Locker.
There’s weather, too, which on the trailer looks more annoying than challenging. The game looks straight-forward, and similar to other iPhone and iPad action games, which rely on the dexterity of your swiping-ness and wrist rhythm, if that makes sense.
As far as Naval simulations go, I prefer the battles where ramming is part of the strategy. Total War: Rome 2 for instance. Or a game about the Korean turtle ship, or Geobukseon, would be more interesting because it had both ramming capability and cannons. Admiral Yi Sun-shin used these turtle ships to military brilliance. In one battle, his 13 ships defeated a fleet of over 300. He caught the Japanese fleet in a narrow strait, drew them out one by one with a bait ship and sank them as they chased the rabbit. He often used turtle ships to ram and create havoc, while his other ships blasted the enemy with their cannons. This type of coordination and teamwork could be interesting in a multiplayer format.
Assassin’s Creed Pirates appear to be basically a cannon duel, and doesn’t include anything more sophisticated like boarding. In any case, it looks like a fun way to kill time at the office.