Stepping Stones: Cross-Platform Games (Just like Johnny)

Admit it. How many of us actually have the same game on two or more platforms? Unfortunately, I have to stick my hand up here.

It's many because of Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Being the incredible Johnny Depp fan that I am (no less than twenty-two movies in my possession, thank you very much), I dove straight in, choosing to ignore the intolerable stunt Bethesda pulled with that, er, very bad offering from the first film. So I got the PS2 version of At World's End first, because that is my favourite platform.

Much, much better.

Gone is the incredibly stupid physics engine (one would have thought that clothes move differently when you walk rather than running), the terrible environment generator and stupid AI that ran your companion. Now, it's all up to you and yes, you DO have to fight as Will and Elizabeth. There is NO choice now.

With the care and love that obviously went into this from Eurocom Entertainment Software, the game stomped all over it's shoddy predecessor (which pains me to say that. Not even Johnny Depp's voice acting could save that hideous abomination).

But lo, what's this? A different game for the Wii and DS? By jove, what a tremendous idea! By utilising the active component of the Wii and the DS, Nintendo breathed new life into the tired genre, allowing for some excellent swordplay by the game-player, hacking and slashing at the television... just like Johnny would have! There were some pretty harsh criticisms about the sword (particularly this one at http://au.gamespot.com/ps2/action/piratesofthecaribbean3/tech_info.html?tag=stats;techinfo), but on the whole, it was a good premise and definitely warranted further exploration.

What interests me is that the standard fighting game cops little attack for abominable environments or characters, yet just because it's a tie-in game, At World's End was hit out as being a bad game. Is it because we all had expectations of fencing like Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom? If that's the case, may I suggest a stint in the local fencing class, not an afternoon on your game console.

But this is about cross-platforming. The difference between the Playstation and the Wii games were obvious, but appealed to different users. Me? I'll be sticking to my Playstation. Give me button-mashing over swinging my arms around like a madwoman anyday.