Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned First Look

It's a pirate's life for us as we get a behind-the-scenes look at Propaganda's upcoming pirate action role-playing game--yo ho!

It's no secret that movie-based video games are generally a letdown, so we should point out that Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned is a game that is set in the world of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies--which were based on the theme-park ride--but it has no ties to the movies themselves. The events actually take place before the trilogy, and the backstory is amazingly rich, considering the idea came from a theme-park attraction where animatronics show pirates sacking a seaport. Propaganda Games, the studio behind Turok and the upcoming Tron, gave us a tour of its studio to show us its progress and vision for Armada of the Damned.

Welcome to Tortuga.

Propaganda is Disney's action role-playing game team, so it is focused on making this an authentic, open-world experience for pirate fans, as well as RPG fans. The Caribbean is yours to explore as you play as Captain Sterling, a young pirate who is given a second chance at life to seek revenge, along with fame and fortune. We were given an outline of the story, so if you're worried about spoilers then you should skip ahead to the next paragraph. It's a character-driven story that centers on Sterling, a man who spent his childhood dreaming about taking part in many heroic adventures at sea. When he is old enough to set off into the world, he is sorely disappointed by the fact that pirates are not the brotherhood that he dreamed of but a band of brigands and desperate thieves who only look out for themselves. On his maiden voyage, his ship is attacked by the ruthless Spanish Admiral Maldonado and Sterling is tossed overboard to head toward Davey Jones's locker. Without giving too much of the overarching story away, he is saved and wakes up on a beach with newfound powers.

At some point in the game, you must make an important choice where you decide whether or not you want to take the legendary route to fulfill your destiny or the dreaded route. Alex Peters, the game director, emphasized that choice is a key element to the RPG experience; you can play how you want and your actions come with consequences. As a legendary pirate, you'll play the role of a dashing, womanizing swashbuckler, like Jack Sparrow from the movies where women will swoon and men will want to have a drink with you. If you prefer to take the dreaded route, the tone of the game will be darker and heavier where people tremble at the sight of you. Similar to games like Fable and Fallout, how you approach quests will determine how people will react to you and affect what quests are made available. If you decide to follow the legendary route, you don't have to play nice either. On the flip side, you could be a dreaded pirate with a heart of gold. Regardless of whom you play as, the story will remain the same, but how it unfolds will be quite different. We were told that everything you do will have an impact on the world, as well as your appearance and combat technique.

To illustrate the difference between the two paths, we were shown two video clips that consisted of storyboards and dialogue to get an idea of what to expect. The example was a scene where Sterling must steel a wheel from the Spanish admiral who is hosting a party at his fortress. As a dreaded pirate, Sterling overhears the admiral speaking with another lord, asking for a donation. When the two leave the admiral's chambers, Sterling crashes the party, burns the place down, and walks out with the wheel. However, as the legendary Sterling, you enter the party disguised as a lord and get summoned into Maldonado's chambers. There's more dialogue and playful banter so that it's much more lighthearted and funny. Your exit is just as dramatic, but instead of destroying the entire place, you deftly steal the wheel, humiliate the Spanish admiral, and make a grand escape while the crowd looks on in awe. The outcome is still the same, but the approach is very different.

Explore the many islands that you'll come across in the Caribbean.

Your appearance, as well as your combat skills, will also vary depending on what path you choose. We were shown a little bit of gameplay to highlight the differences between a legendary and dreaded Sterling. As a legendary pirate, you'll move more quickly, execute some fancy footwork, and slash fluidly with your dual swords. You also have a pistol that you can whip out for a ranged attack and special abilities like burning pitch, where you toss a bottle of rum in the air and fire at it to do splash damage. Because you're quick, you'll propel yourself toward enemies, but if you're playing as a dreaded pirate, you'll draw the enemies toward you. Not only do you move a bit more slowly and deliberately as a dreaded pirate, but you're also much more intimidating because you're armed with a giant anchor that you can twirl around with deadly ease to stab and take out anyone within range. Your supernatural powers come into play more here because you can use water to hurl your enemies into the air.