There are also different armour types, even cargo bags for more loot, all of which can be mixed and matched to better suit the task at hand. As the game goes on, you'll unlock new ship types - from the humble dhow through brigantines and beyond, with specialisations include cargo and navigation vessels - and a steadily expanding arsenal, including cannons, Greek fire, and explosive mortars. And it's a journey that, as presented, appears to follow a fairly straightforward loop: you establish a base, pick a quest (more of these are promised post-launch in classic live-service style), prepare your ship, then head out to sea for a bit of combat, before returning, ideally laden with treasure, to do it all over again and then again some more.Įach successful mission on the seas increases your notoriety (Skull and Bones' measure of progression), which in turn means more challenging jobs from NPCs and access to new crafting blueprints. Skull and Bones promises a journey that'll take players from humble beginnings as a shipwreck survivor washed ashore on some unknown island to the scourge of the seas, commanding an entire fleet upon the waves. Skull and Bones as it appeared back in 2017. Even scavenging for crafting resources - mining ore, felling trees, skinning wildlife - all seemingly happens while you're boat-bound, interacting with resource nodes conveniently dangling off island coastlines. Certainly, Skull and Bones goes against the grain of Rare's all-encompassing piratical sandbox in plenty of ways, including in its 'darker, grittier approach' to piracy, its more traditional vertical progression, its opt-in PvP, and its laser focus on sea combat, despite unfolding across an open-sea map pocked with landmasses.ĭon't expect to be digging up buried treasure or raiding long-lost tombs in Skull and Bones instead, land-based excursions are restricted to specific islands, where, functioning as a kind of base of operations and respawn point, you're able to purchase supplies - ship repair kits, ammo, and food to keep crew morale high and stave off mutiny - select missions, and prepare for the next bout of high seas of adventure. The immediate impression, based on Ubisoft's latest showing, would appear to be a yes, with Skull and Bones seemingly slotting comfortably into its own particular niche. So given Rare's sterling work, is there still room for Skull and Bones? There is, of course, one complication to Skull and Bones' grasp for piratical supremacy in 2022 Sea of Thieves - which, unlike Skull and Bones, actually made its planned 2018 launch - has now had an almost five-year head start delivering a steadily expanding blast of good old-fashioned pirate adventure. Watch on YouTube Skull and Bones - Worldwide Gameplay Reveal. Black Flag's seafaring was hugely enjoyable, and a more fleshed out version of that - even five years on - has ample appeal, especially if you're a sucker for a spot of swashbuckling like me. So how have things changed in all that time? Well, honestly, after having seen a near-release version in action during a recent press preview, it's hard to say.ĭespite Ubisoft at one point insisting development had been rebooted to accommodate a 'new vision' as it 'dreamt of something bigger' for the project, Skull and Bones 2022 looks an awful lot like Skull and Bones as presented in 2017 - offering, just as originally pitched, a combat-focused, almost exclusively ocean-bound online multiplayer twist on Black Flag's piratical core, albeit now with a seemingly greater emphasis on PvE.

Announced in 2017 as a sort of standalone Assassin's Creed Black Flag spin-off, it was to offer a primarily ocean-bound, combat-focused online multiplayer twist on that game's much-loved seafaring, as players battled to become the Golden Age of Piracy's most infamous buccaneer.įive years and many, many delays later, Skull and Bones is on the cusp of release, with a launch date now set for 8th November on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC. You probably don't need reminding that Skull and Bones has been a long time coming.

Ps4 skull and bones gameplay