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Skull and Bones officially releases on all major platforms today. I know, right?! That's like StarCraft: Ghost actually being released. Or Beyond Good & Evil 2. Or Duke Nukem Forev... OK, bad example.
Still, Ubisoft's near-mythical pirate adventure (better writers than I might even go as far as to call it the company's "white whale"), which has seemingly been in development since the Carter Administration, finally sees the light of day this week. In fact, it's already come up for air for some folks who have had the patience to not cancel their pre-orders.
Early reviews have been... surprisingly not terrible. We haven't played it beyond the recent open beta yet. Still, reactions to the game have been more Venom and less Morbius or Madame Web. So, you know, hope prevails.
Note: This list is subjective and solely reflects the opinions of the writer
Skull and Bones isn't the first of its kind
As is well known, Skull and Bones was inspired by the more pirate-y parts of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. And, let's be honest, those were the best parts of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. However, there have been plenty of pirate-themed video games over the years, and a lot of them are pretty good.
So, because this is kind of what we do around here, we picked five other pretty kick-ass pirate games to share with you. There's been a lot over the decades, so we kept it to games that are still reasonably playable today. So, no having to go to an antique store and buy an old Amiga computer or anything.
And, yeah, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag isn't on here. Because, duh.
1) Sea of Thieves (ongoing)
Like No Man's Sky and Cyberpunk 2077 before it, Rare's Sea of Thieves is an amazing game that had a seriously rocky launch.
(As a side note: Look, we like a video game redemption story as much as anyone, but... come on, game industry. Knock it off. Still, can Skull and Bones not join that list?)
Released in 2018 and part of Xbox's burgeoning Game Pass offerings, SoT was an ambitious concept that didn't have a lot of substance. Thankfully, like the games mentioned earlier, Rare didn't cut and run on their swashbuckling adventure. Now, it's one of the most popular multiplayer games on the service.
One particularly great element of Sea of Thieves is that it builds upon the popular idea of pirates. It's not historically accurate. It's not even Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean-accurate. It's more like Disney's Blackbeard's Ghost-accurate. You'll be just as busy fighting skeletons and zombies as you will be fighting the Royal Navy.
2) Return to Monkey Island (2022)
Much like Sea of Thieves, the Monkey Island games are a fun, romanticized look at classic pirate stories. The original LucasArts adventure, The Secret of Monkey Island, was not only a landmark in pirate-themed games but adventure titles in general.
Before 2022's Return, the last Monkey Island game came out in the early 2000s, and it was a remake of the first game. Return wasn't just a, er, return to form, but the first actual "real" entry to the series. And a really good one, at that.
Return to Monkey Island is actually a sequel to Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. It would take forever to explain how, other than to say that Return explains away that game's ridiculous (but awesome) ending while also leading into this sequel.
Anyway, Return to Monkey Island is on everything from current consoles to, I dunno, your toaster. Go play it. It's fun, when you're done playing Skull and Bones.
3) Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987, 2004)
If the name Sid Meier sounds familiar to you, you either coincidentally went to high school with some guy with the same name, or you've played one of the Civilization games. Or, you've played Sid Meier's Pirates! Maybe you went to high school with the Sid Meier who created the Civilization games; I dunno. Life is weird sometimes.
Anyhoo, Pirates! (exclamation point and all) is a classic game that, while fun, also explores the banality of being a pirate. Rather than focusing on the sword fighting and cannon blasting and general "having fun as a pirate"-ness, the Sid Meier games put a little more emphasis on the minutia of swashbuckling, such as making sure your crew has enough rum so they don't mutiny and murder you.
And if that doesn't sound entertaining to you, you're clearly in the minority - considering how games involving farming and driving a bus sell copies in the millions. But if you're in the Venn diagram of those fans and Skull and Bones fans, this is perfect for you.
4) Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion (2018)
If you're not familiar with Adventure Time, you'd be forgiven for thinking it's a kids' show. It doesn't sell itself as such, but it certainly looks like one. And that impression carries over to the show itself. Which is not fair to the series or the games based on it.
Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion is an RPG set in the post-apocalyptic world of the show. Except that this post-apocalyptic world, the Land of Ooo, has been flooded. So, Jake the Dog and Finn the Human clamber aboard a boat to sail the flood waters to find out what happened.
It's not a particularly difficult game - again, it's a licensed game based on an animated TV show. However, it's also based on an animated TV show with a fascinating world and a deep and robust lore. And while Adventure Time: Pirates of the Enchiridion doesn't go as in-depth into that world as one would like, it's still a really fun game.
Now... let's talk about Zelda. And pirates.
5) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Remember when The Wind Waker was first announced? You might not - it was a while ago. When the Nintendo Gamecube was announced at SpaceWorld 2000, a tech demo featuring a duel between Link and Gannon was one of the presentation highlights.
This is why so many fans went online to express how butthurt they were that the next Legend of Zelda game would have a cel-shaded graphic style. "But we want a realistic Zelda game!" these fans would cry, not quite realizing how silly that sounded.
However, when Wind Waker finally came out, those dummies were silenced by how awesome and fun the game actually was. Plus, exploring an ocean world years before Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Skull and Bones came out? How dope was that?
Incredibly dope, that's how dope.
So, what are your favorite pirate video games? Have you played Skull and Bones yet? Get to the comments section and tell us.
