I still haven’t left the starting area in Skull and Bones, but it’s a relief to know that as and when I do, I’ll have some big molluscs to bombard alongside those boring galleons. Ubisoft’s open world Jolly Rogerer forges bravely on with another season of updates, Eye of the Beast, despite Ubisoft recently jettisoning a bunch of games and studios in their efforts to buoy up the share price. Yes, this is the same Skull and Bones that has 320 in-game players on Steam as of writing, and a worryingly Biblical user review average of 66.60%.
Eye of the Beast’s star is the Kraken, risen with its unnumber’d and enormous polypi to engage players in multiple phase combat. “Outsmart its whirlpools, ink blasts, and toxic fog to claim victory and rich rewards,” urges the game’s Steam page. You may fare better against ol’ Krakdown McGee if you “take command of the mighty Corvette, a powerhouse support ship built to shift the tide of battle.” It’s a new large-class vessel equipped with a flagbearer perk that boosts crew damage and recovery. To mark the game’s anniversary, they’re also bringing back The Founding Event, which is an opportunity to complete some anniversary challenges and get your hands on a Frigate.
I used to loathe the very thought of Skull and Bones, a live service qAAAAgmire that looks like Sea Of Thieves with a fraction of the charm. Then I played the prologue and was strangely beguiled. I still think fondly of that opening last chance lagoon, with its sunset shipwreck and scattered islets full of marooned, drunken corsairs. I don’t want to get too melodramatic at 9.30 in the morning, but if I die of sudden-onset scurvy today and wake up in the Skull and Bones tutorial area, I will have few regrets. I will go play the cannon-firing minigame and spend eternity carousing by the campfire. Beautiful.
I also think fondly of Skull and Bones because right now, Ubisoft is essentially Yves Guillemot and Tencent drinking D’Amalfi Limoncello Supreme in an emerald-studded crow’s nest above a living life raft consisting of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry and Rainbow Six developers. I’m automatically rooting for any underperforming project that has survived the cull. Picture Skull and Bones clinging grimly to the mast, biting any shareholders who come near. As with the similarly unsinkable Beyond Good and Evil 2, I’m sure there are mundane financial reasons for the game’s on-going existence. I wonder if it’s got something to do with Ubisoft’s old deal with the Singaporean government. Or maybe it’s just that it squarely fits their professed current focus on live service open world projects.