I played the game for the first time right after its official announcement at E3 that year. It was during that era when “Skull & Bones” was a spin-off of the popular naval combat of “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag.” At that time, it was still using the emblematic ‘&’ symbol in its title treatment, which was one of the ten million changes made when it emerged from dry dock.
On that day, our group had fewer players, and it was filled by Huw-Jes Reese, the former director of Ubisoft Singapore, a person later ousted from the company due to allegations of toxic work culture. Then it felt somewhat similar to other multiplayer titles of Ubisoft, like “For Honor” – a highly specialized multiplayer game that could either pay off or not.
After that, I never saw the game again. I used to be regularly present at Ubisoft’s Sydney offices for previews those days. It never made its way back onto the preview calendar before my departure to Kotaku AU in 2021.
And then, last night, the “Skull & Bones” open beta went live, and finally, I got a chance to play it again.
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Navigating the Seas: A Familiar Yet Exciting Experience in Skull & Bones Beta
Ready, Aim, Fire The beta opens with a very familiar feeling of naval combat. It reminisces AC4: Black Flag in just the same way 2017’s creation did, and it’s good to see that some part of that original vision has been retained. Navigation, like AC4, is very light-touch. Pulling the bow left or right causes the vessel to leap with such velocity that it will surely topple real-life sailors off the deck. Some of these ships, equipped with Jairos from NASA, will challenge space travelers, but that’s not to say that Skull & Bones aims for realism. It’s a fantasy of pirate life, and behaving with ships in a video-gamey way fits right in.
I was surprised to find that naval traversal still feels much the same as in Black Flag. You tap A or X to drop sails, and your ship will handle it differently based on its size and class. You also reel in loot from shipwrecks in the same way – tapping A/X to hoist it alongside and immediately tapping again to pull the plundered cargo aboard. It’s the most familiar aspect of the beta for me. It doesn’t feel like much has changed since Black Flag, on reflection. Given how much more modern experience feels like a part of the experience, it looks a bit different.
Pulling L2 trigger lets you aim your ship’s cannons from port to starboard in one sweep. By lining up with the trajectory of the shot, or by firing your guns straight into the stern of your adversary, you get big juicy hit markers indicating serious damage. In order to slow them down and damage their towers, you may also shoot him. 1,500 hours of Sea of Thieves has conditioned me to try to arc my shots, but you don’t really need to. Just line them up and fire when ready.
Overboard, from Ship to Shore Getting off your ship, at least in this early beta build, is a matter of holding B/Circle to reach an island and disembark. The game fades to black quickly upon loading, and your character appears on a jetty near a rally post that you can use to return to your ship. It’s a subtle acceptance that there’s a difference between naval gear and the open-world RPG machinery built around it. It’s not like the Sea of Thieves, where the entire world is shared and unbridled. You can’t go to any island and can’t see around without that small black screen.
“Exploring the MMO Elements and Dynamic Gameplay in Skull & Bones Beta
What surprised me in the beta was that the full MMO experience was already running. There were several other ships around the starting area, with other players running around in search of NPCs, while I tried to talk to them. Although I could be emotionally moved by seeing these other pirates, I couldn’t do anything more to interact with them. I hope the full game will provide some additional clarity on this (and, it seems it will, from talking to some fellow journalists who are sitting for recent previews).Oh shoot, that’s English!
Alright, as I said, the demo starts with a naval sequence where you, as the pirate captain, navigate through British blockade. Until you get proficient in it, the game is content with letting you outmaneuver small British skiffs, but there’s not much time for entering a large, sturdy British flagship. Keep fighting for too long, or threaten to take down that big ship, and the British will call in another 20 things to shut you down for good.
Left with a sad little dinghy to go around, the beta connects you with what happened to your crew and your supplies being pulled by you. Some surviving folks seem happy to see you. Your brief absence has already brought up some small-time hagglers and aspiring leaders.
Skull & Bones Beta Review: Navigating the Waters of MMO Elements and Gameplay Dynamics
The initial part of the beta feels quite like your standard MMO fare. ‘Go to point A, pick something up, bring it back, put it in.’ Here, the skulls and bones started feeling familiar in a different way. There are a lot of classic Ubisoft open-world formulas here, and it reveals about its long and troubled development. It feels like the safest route for Ubisoft Singapore to adopt the Assassin’s Creed RPG model to release and make some money. When a production has gone through hell like this, it’s hard to blame Ubisoft Singapore.
However, adding live service MMO elements raises a lot of questions in front of me. When I assess the activity at the end of the month, I’ll go back this topic once more.
Beta Conclusion Based on what I’ve seen here, will Skull & Bones pull me away from Sea of Thieves for a long time? Maybe not. Nevertheless, the games are very distinct. Skull & Bones is much more scripted and linear. Its RPG and progression system are more traditional compared to SoT’s MMO-like progression system. The beta also lacks any interesting player interactions so far, which is the exact opposite of SoT, a game that truly wants players to collide in the world.
I think in some ways, Skull & Bones makes the game for PVE enthusiasts who are clamoring for Sea of Thieves. In the end, you can hunt for treasure on faithless islands and race to build your own ship. I’ll play it more over the weekend. If you want to take part in the open beta, it runs on the desktop, the Xbox, and Sony and finds on Monday, the 12th, at 10 a.m. You can continue your progress when the full game launches at the end of the month. See you on the high seas.