Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow review

Time was, when game developers got hold of a movie license, they'd rewrite the plot with impunity (which is how we got Keanu fighting a 40-foot Tom Waits in Bram Stoker's Dracula). But today’s game-buying audiences are a little more sophisticated. So how do you pad out a Pirates of the Caribbean hack-and-slasher with stuff like Chinese sorceresses and Vikings made of ice?

Simple: you have a liar tell the story.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow begins with its title character and his straight-man sidekick, Will Turner, captured while raiding a Spanish fort. As they're waiting to be hanged, Jack tries to stall the execution by telling a highly fictionalized version of the first movie's events (which you'll then play through). It’s actually a pretty clever plot device, allowing for all sorts of deviation as Jack starts telling stories to the characters in his story.

It's all genuinely funny and fairly well-acted, which is kind of a shame, because most players likely won't have the patience to wade through the game in order to see it all.

Legend of Jack Sparrow starts out as an acceptably fun slash-'em-up, with players solving simple puzzles, opening treasure chests and slicing their way through hordes of pirates, Spanish soldiers and other assorted thugs and monsters. You'll play as both Captain Jack and Will, switching between them on the fly while the computer controls the other character.