Ubisoft's long-delayed hacking simulator Skull and bones, It was finally released on February 16. However, despite promising plenty of features in the run-up to launch, it seems like the high seas adventure game has crashed on the rocks when it comes to user reviews.
Skull and bones It currently suffers from an average user score of 2.9 on Metacritic, based on over 300 user ratings at the time of writing. Many of these reviews make unfavorable comparisons with Assassins Creed 4 black flag. Launched in 2013, Black Flag you had played as The Welsh pirate Edward Kenway involved a lot of cloak and dagger, naval battles and hiding places. Instead, Skull and bonesfocuses more on naval battles, with players sending crews to board enemy ships rather than doing so themselves.
Negative reviews focus on issues with pacing and a narrow focus on game design. “Paintingly slow and boring,” said one user, while another complained: “It's worse than it looks. You can't get on a ship, you can't swim, sea battles are all the same. There's no ending.” .
Metacritic's 12 reviews as of this writing are more favorable, coming in at an average of 64, which the site calls “mixed.” These were somewhat more favorable than user reviews, with PC Gamer, our sister site, saying: “Combining rewarding, moody ship-to-ship combat with superficial live-service trappings, Skull and bones “it's great within the claustrophobic parameters of what market forces allow it to be.”
Skull and bones had a notoriously troubled development, having received multiple delays since its announcement in 2017. Since then, the title has changed in numerous ways, with revisions to the setting, branding, and scope of its gameplay.
The swashbuckling game is currently available on PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC via the Ubisoft store.
Looking for an alternative? Try our lists of best single player games and best story games.
