Skull & Bones: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly - And The Utterly Incomprehensible - DF Tech Review

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Digital Foundry

Digital Foundry

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Some say this game has been in development for over a decade, so what have we got at the end of it? Is this truly 'quadruple-A' quality as Ubisoft says? Alex checks out Skull and Bones on all systems, documenting some fairly impressive performance and visual features - marred by terrible image quality at 60fps on consoles, plenty of bugs and a poor game design. Inspired by the naval sections of Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag, we go back to the 2013 release to see how Skull and Bones improves on it... and how it's actually worse.
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00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:43 The Good - Frame Rates and PC UX
00:04:05 The Good - Sky and Water Simulation
00:05:22 The Bad - Water Reflections
00:08:13 The Bad - Animations, Textures, and LOD
00:11:12 The Bad - Lighting, Particles and Post-Processing
00:13:00 The Ugly - Xbox Series X/S and PS5 Performance Mode Image Quality
00:16:25 The Ugly - Quality Mode Controls
00:17:50 The Incomprehensible - AAAA Game Design and Bugs
00:21:34 Video avast!

КОМЕНТАРІ: 1 400
@GENESIS_7
@GENESIS_7 2 місяці тому
"Your ship has stamina" 💀
@FelipedPaulaSantos
@FelipedPaulaSantos 2 місяці тому
Skull and Bones is a soulslike confirmed
@Lucas-gt8en
@Lucas-gt8en 2 місяці тому
@@FelipedPaulaSantosi hope they implement combat rolling ships
@wile123456
@wile123456 2 місяці тому
This game is a case study in incompetence and terrible game design
@l00t3R
@l00t3R 2 місяці тому
This ship has sailed already 😂
@PwnyPony
@PwnyPony 2 місяці тому
It is actually the crew that has stamina. You need to feed your crew to keep your stamina meter up. I don't know if you can actually get stamina upgrades like Alex is thinking you do as I have only played a few hours of the open Beta and could not be bothered to progress further as I just felt tired when I was playing it. Probably because of the forced TAA straining my eyes.
@blakestewart7200
@blakestewart7200 2 місяці тому
“You are not a pirate. You are a ship.” Incredible.
@mechwarrior13
@mechwarrior13 2 місяці тому
Forza Horizon but with ships. Cant believe they left out the pirate part...
@Cyberbrickmaster1986
@Cyberbrickmaster1986 2 місяці тому
Sea of Thieves has a lot more going on than this! And that's not an over exaggeration!
@jasonseery4885
@jasonseery4885 2 місяці тому
People need to learn that's these big hyped games end up crap and steal our money, stop buying them until you see reviews, gaming is dead
@blakestewart7200
@blakestewart7200 2 місяці тому
Skull and Bones: Fenix Rising@@LT-dn7mt
@blakestewart7200
@blakestewart7200 2 місяці тому
Pretty incredible that the response to AC: Black Flag being a hit was to spend 10 years and like a billion dollars on a fancier version of Sid Meier's Pirates instead.@@mechwarrior13
@qb3540
@qb3540 2 місяці тому
Quadruple A games: 4 times the lies 4 times the disappointment
@Gliese380
@Gliese380 2 місяці тому
16x the detail.
@astronotics531
@astronotics531 2 місяці тому
which lies? The game has always been shown to be centered around naval gameplay. There's a difference between what people want and what has been shown.
@icemaniceburg2390
@icemaniceburg2390 2 місяці тому
And still can't hold a candle to Black Flag. Passionate developers pre-2014, vs "I need to be included and represented" developer we have now.
@tr3v98
@tr3v98 2 місяці тому
4 broadside cannons....
@j.r.shartzer
@j.r.shartzer 2 місяці тому
Pac-Man is the only AAAA game because it has a disco song.
@Fuuntag
@Fuuntag 2 місяці тому
No Black Flags here only red ones.
@zedus4042
@zedus4042 2 місяці тому
lol a good one
@kkarlo777
@kkarlo777 2 місяці тому
love this hahaha
@MoniemJr
@MoniemJr 2 місяці тому
too good of a comment
@Fuuntag
@Fuuntag 2 місяці тому
@@MoniemJr thanks, I gave it a solid IGN 7/10.
@TheRedRaven_
@TheRedRaven_ 2 місяці тому
Nice.
@305SEGA305
@305SEGA305 2 місяці тому
The fact that you can't walk around the ship killed it for me 😆
@user-ds8rj2vc4v
@user-ds8rj2vc4v 2 місяці тому
The fact it was made by Ubisoft killed it instantly for me.
@remotecontrolaxe
@remotecontrolaxe 2 місяці тому
*can't walk around AS the ship Ftfy
@Izhen_UwU
@Izhen_UwU 2 місяці тому
AAAA GAME DESIGN 💀💀💀
@HMAcademia
@HMAcademia 2 місяці тому
Also, You can't just take your ship yo shore and get off like in black flag. You have a loading screen then You are on land. I played the beta up to that point and realized I wouldnt like the game. I only tried it because I loved black flag. I don't like any other Assassin's creed.
@Linkale_
@Linkale_ 2 місяці тому
When the video began I thought "so this is just like AC Odyssey's ship mechanics". By the end of the video I realised AC Odyssey's mechanics were actually better
@thebaffman4898
@thebaffman4898 2 місяці тому
"You're a ship, Harry." "I'm a what?"
@RickR69
@RickR69 2 місяці тому
A SHIP ARRY!
@AlfieWoodland
@AlfieWoodland 2 місяці тому
@@RickR69Harry openened his mouth to reply, but to his disbelief all that came out was the sound of a foghorn.
@hornick18
@hornick18 2 місяці тому
"AAAA" famous last words
@Mitch93636
@Mitch93636 2 місяці тому
Skull and Bones is a AAAA game.
@Gloamy17
@Gloamy17 2 місяці тому
Callisto Protocol was 'AAAA' too 😌 although that one turned out quite a bit better lol. Especially visually.
@fepethepenguin8287
@fepethepenguin8287 2 місяці тому
Ohhhhhhhhh i thought they said Quadriplegic game... wtf is AAAA game
@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu
@DaRkLoRd-rc5yu 2 місяці тому
Just makes me think it's a last ditch effort by the marketing team. Acting like they have nothing to lose. Maximum fake it til you make it/false confidence vibes.
@Fuuntag
@Fuuntag 2 місяці тому
@@DaRkLoRd-rc5yuStefan from marketing probably just had too much coke and vodka the night before saying this.
@reinaldopereira1268
@reinaldopereira1268 2 місяці тому
Your first AAAA analysis. I'm proud of you, guys. Really proud. Wow. What a time to be alive!
@Ghost-pb4ts
@Ghost-pb4ts 2 місяці тому
they include 10 more A's and their game would still be crap
@MKR3238
@MKR3238 2 місяці тому
the 2nd, Calisto Protocol had the "honor" of being the first AAAA game lol
@akydo7070
@akydo7070 2 місяці тому
@@MKR3238Microsoft's Perfect Dark Reboot was Suppose to be a AAAA game, Before it got shelved and pass off to another team , lol
@amanpradhan02
@amanpradhan02 2 місяці тому
​@@akydo7070That's false information. The Initiative is a small studio so they are working with crystal dynamics. They didn't shelve it or passed it off. The game is in full development right now. We can agree on the fact that no game should be called AAAA even if they are backed by a big publisher.
@FSAPOJake
@FSAPOJake 2 місяці тому
All Ubisoft had to do was make a game based on Black Flag's naval combat. That's it. I don't understand how Ubisoft could miss such a huge opportunity for a winning gameplay formula like that.
@StormsparkPegasus
@StormsparkPegasus 2 місяці тому
Because Ubisoft doesn't want to make games. They want to make pay to win "live services" that are based around a store, rather than a game.
@BrianWood74
@BrianWood74 2 місяці тому
At least keep the pirate part in the pirate game.
@Crashed131963
@Crashed131963 2 місяці тому
You can board a enemy ship and do melee combat . S&B could not even offer that in naval battle .
@awsomeboy360
@awsomeboy360 2 місяці тому
Ubisoft is more focus on lvie service.
@StormsparkPegasus
@StormsparkPegasus 2 місяці тому
@@awsomeboy360Yep, and as I've said very often, *live services are not games*. They're not designed to be games. They're designed to be stores. What appears to be a "game" is a bare minimum effort skinner box to drive traffic to the store which is the real focus.
@NiKS16
@NiKS16 2 місяці тому
"You are not a pirate, you are a ship"
@wehavetogoback369
@wehavetogoback369 2 місяці тому
"Press F to cut down tree from sea"
@buggart
@buggart 2 місяці тому
@@wehavetogoback369 Or to make it more braindead, you can set it to auto-harvest in the settings menu.
@magicmulder
@magicmulder 2 місяці тому
“You sunk my ship.” - “No, Luke, I AM YOUR SHIP.”
@oj2416
@oj2416 2 місяці тому
sheep of ubisoft.
@TrueBoricua
@TrueBoricua 2 місяці тому
Congratulations digital foundry on your first quadruple A game analysis
@1.N.Decent
@1.N.Decent 2 місяці тому
11:52 the dude running up on the ramp is hilarious 😂
@ruekurei88
@ruekurei88 2 місяці тому
Was looking for this comment....wtf was that fr tho. AAAA indeed.....
@kenmckell
@kenmckell 2 місяці тому
Walk like a pirate, I guess...? 🤷🏻‍♂🤷🏻‍♂
@paracuja
@paracuja 2 місяці тому
We have to get used to those AAAA animations - it's the future (of Ubisoft) 😂
@awdrifter3394
@awdrifter3394 2 місяці тому
AAAA animation right there.
@simonrockstream
@simonrockstream 2 місяці тому
AAAA
@NerdyWeaponXGames
@NerdyWeaponXGames 2 місяці тому
22:35 ah yes, pirates were famous for emoting like a twat.
@SuperKillJoy15
@SuperKillJoy15 2 місяці тому
I hate how fast the ships move, the slower and heavier ship movement from Black Flag made the ships have weight and presence in the water. These ships look like they have engines attached
@kngat3
@kngat3 2 місяці тому
It’s not a ship sim it’s a pirate game…
@pvsweetypie
@pvsweetypie 2 місяці тому
​@kngat3 So a game that is 100% ship navel combat, even if it's a bit arcadey, isn't a ship combat sim? And the same game, which has 0 melee combat on land or sea including boarding, is somehow a pirate game? I'm breaking down your comment in this manner to hopefully display to u how backwards your comment is.
@cube2fox
@cube2fox 2 місяці тому
In another thread people are complaining the game is too realistic (that the crew members have limited stamina), it should be more unrealistic to be more fun. Now you are saying the opposite, the game is too unrealistic. If the ships go fast, some people complain it's too unrealistic, if they go slow, some people will complain it's too tedious.
@RaveN_EDM
@RaveN_EDM 2 місяці тому
The ships move fast but still feel unresponsive and sluggish when it comes to controls. A slower ship would’ve likely hid those flaws.
@ThePreciseClimber
@ThePreciseClimber 2 місяці тому
Curious. I already thought Black Flag was too "arcade-y" compared to AC3's naval combat which felt heavier.
@RafaelSafo
@RafaelSafo 2 місяці тому
AC Black Flag with the sea shanties alone makes you FEEL like a pirate.
@115zombies935
@115zombies935 2 місяці тому
Ain’t no way they gave the ship a stamina meter 💀
@cmbjive
@cmbjive 2 місяці тому
I booted up ACIV Black Flag and marveled how well that game holds up ten years later. Then I look at Skull and Bones and wondered where all that time and money went. An utter disgrace.
@AdaaDK
@AdaaDK 2 місяці тому
spend on sallery´s for the top 1% exces, AND for the devs in the low income country that they outsourced the project too, they didnt go for quality but in stead wanted to save a buck, and it shows big time, this game deserves notthing but failure.
@crestofhonor2349
@crestofhonor2349 2 місяці тому
Went into it's absolute development hell of working and reworking the game that should have never released. That 10 year development is why it's so expensive because they could never decide on a single idea. The game should have been scrapped years ago and never should have came out. AC4 look old but even titles like AC Origins and AC Unity look much better in some areas than Skull & Bones
@NarutoUA
@NarutoUA 2 місяці тому
@@crestofhonor2349 Singapore government funded development so Ubisoft had to release something
@theinsfrijonds
@theinsfrijonds 2 місяці тому
DEI employees collecting a paycheck kind of like modern colleges/universities
@davem12dim17
@davem12dim17 2 місяці тому
I'm replaying rogue at the moment. That blows skull and bones out of the water. The naval combat in that is only a slight evolution from black flag, but it's superb Battle this afternoon in the middle of a snow storm was epic
@ab-hx8qe
@ab-hx8qe 2 місяці тому
“They did it better 10 years ago.” I feel is going to be a trend for 2024.
@seanmcbay
@seanmcbay 2 місяці тому
Feels like a trend for literally everything, not just video games.
@cldpt
@cldpt 2 місяці тому
In games, maybe. But media like Film is looking promising this year just like last year surprised us, and this year has some pearls incoming
@randybobandy9828
@randybobandy9828 2 місяці тому
​@@cldptno... Films have gone down hill too. There are far less good movies coming out each year then ever.
@Exotic-9780
@Exotic-9780 2 місяці тому
​@@cldptno everything is going downhill
@simonrockstream
@simonrockstream 2 місяці тому
you need help ​@@cldpt
@balaam_7087
@balaam_7087 2 місяці тому
Shout out to Alex for falling on his sword in volunteering to cover this.
@DessertMonkey
@DessertMonkey 2 місяці тому
This feels like a "too many cooks in the kitchen" situation, especially once you see how many studios worked on it.
@Frrk
@Frrk 2 місяці тому
Yeah, 11 studios I counted in the clip. They were probably passing this game around like a hot potato
@Deliveredmean42
@Deliveredmean42 2 місяці тому
You know, they didn't exactly told us if those studios they shown are actually the ones from different reboots of this project.
@Aarkwrite
@Aarkwrite 2 місяці тому
Too many cooks in the galley
@JJSideshowBob
@JJSideshowBob 2 місяці тому
Absolutely. Ubisoft leadership fell for the outsourcing trap and everything that goes with it, including organizational challenges and cultural barriers. They cheaped out and it cost them everything. I wonder when Tencent will pull the plug.
@cronodoug4501
@cronodoug4501 2 місяці тому
The only thing Skull and Bones did was make me want to play Black Flag, I never had that opportunity. 🤣
@HakanMB
@HakanMB 2 місяці тому
Too bad they havnt released a ”nextgen” patch for the game. Im also interested to play it, but doubt they will do it any time soon, it would compete against Skull & Bones.
@Ghost-pb4ts
@Ghost-pb4ts 2 місяці тому
pc, mods , rtgi, hdr there's your next gen patch@@HakanMB
@modermonkula
@modermonkula 2 місяці тому
Might pick up Black Flag, never played it
@randybobandy9828
@randybobandy9828 2 місяці тому
It's on sale on steam for $11 I'm going to buy it 😂
@robertwalker3357
@robertwalker3357 2 місяці тому
Slayer
@TechnoTurtle9974
@TechnoTurtle9974 2 місяці тому
Bro, just you wait until my ship isnt tired 💀
@OrionXIXI
@OrionXIXI 2 місяці тому
The best part is you shovel down food items to refill stamina quickly, so I guess your ship gets hungry too.
@Thedownliner2015
@Thedownliner2015 2 місяці тому
This game really feels like it was planning to be released as a mobile product because the way you collect stuff for your ship is ridiculous and would only ever pass muster on a mobile where you have to get the ship to the edge of an island then get the line into the green area 3 times. You can also tell they tacked on the movement getting out of the ship really late in the production as this is like a beginners level movement system.
@willi1397
@willi1397 2 місяці тому
I agree. Looks like a free to play mobile game with loot boxes and all that rubbish. I wouldn't download it for free.
@dungeonmaster8612
@dungeonmaster8612 2 місяці тому
720p in perfomance mode on high consoles what a shame
@115zombies935
@115zombies935 2 місяці тому
1080p and even 720p are getting more and more common on the current consoles. There were some games running 1080p near launch, but it seems to be more common now.
@TruTrae
@TruTrae 2 місяці тому
It's 720p upscaled to 1440p which can look passable in certain games but not all. This game's Image quality looks atrocious because of its dependence on quarter res particles and because FSR just doesn't work well with low res particles and water.
@115zombies935
@115zombies935 2 місяці тому
⁠@@TruTraeThe idea to use quarter res particles while the game is 720p shows an incredible level of incompetence from Ubisoft IMO. Those particles are being rendered at 180p, that’s beyond silly. N64 games were higher res.
@Lightsaglowllc
@Lightsaglowllc 2 місяці тому
The consoles are seriously underpowered. It’s no wonder Sony and Microsoft are looking to dump them much quicker than anticipated.
@JayRobert
@JayRobert 2 місяці тому
@@Lightsaglowllcexactly
@douglas215
@douglas215 2 місяці тому
Even Sid Meier's Pirates that had simple gameplay and let a lot of the things for imagination, has more gameplay mechanichs like ship boarding, sword figths, crew management, treasure hunt, prison breaking, dancing, trading and much more...
@clarkkentbr
@clarkkentbr 2 місяці тому
Sid Meier's Pirates is a masterpiece! Played it a heck of a lot growing up. Such a fun game.
@candycabngfl
@candycabngfl 2 місяці тому
Pretty much my thoughts as well. Loved that game on C64.
@SupertoastGT
@SupertoastGT 2 місяці тому
Upscaling used as a crutch. This is what we feared. No need for optimization right? 720p... Brilliant.
@dradis1
@dradis1 2 місяці тому
You entitled gamer! How dare you demand higher resolutions and a stable image!? Would you have the devs sacrifice their artistic vision for your unreasonable demands?! It’s 2024, 720p upscaled is fiiiiiiiine. /s
@TruTrae
@TruTrae 2 місяці тому
This game would've had trash image quality even if techniques like FSR and DLSS didn't exist.
@SixShots5
@SixShots5 2 місяці тому
720p on a 2024 game on the latest console gen is laughable, devs should be ashamed of themselves
@HarryS77
@HarryS77 2 місяці тому
Only AAAAA games get optimization.
@leoni7649
@leoni7649 2 місяці тому
540p on Series S. WTF. I would rather play OldSchool runescape on that resolution.. At least the game is good
@Scimarad
@Scimarad 2 місяці тому
I think all 4 of those 'A's stands for Arse.
@eldenringer6466
@eldenringer6466 2 місяці тому
Why do all the ships when hit with a cannon ball...explode in FIRE? In black flag they exploded wood splinters unless you hit oil with fire. This game doesn't make any sense :?
@kjc1000
@kjc1000 2 місяці тому
They're filled with gasoline, of course. 💁🏼
@MarkTheCat
@MarkTheCat 2 місяці тому
that’s a quadruple-A experience for ya
@oopsgaming7111
@oopsgaming7111 2 місяці тому
"You are not a pirate. You are a ship" This perfectly summed up this game and why it's a disaster.
@kupokinzyt
@kupokinzyt 2 місяці тому
So glad you guys have a video on this. I tried watching Nick 930's video and it's clear Ubisoft has slipped him a nice, crisp 5-dollar bill as he's currently deleting comments and hiding users from his channel calling him out from saying this game is a masterpiece and everything Black Flag was and more.
@randybobandy9828
@randybobandy9828 2 місяці тому
Nooooooo😢 nicks channel used to be good. I watched 5 minutes of that video and got bored but I didn't think he would praise it
@christophluger793
@christophluger793 2 місяці тому
No way. What a shame. Need to see it for myself.
@radioactivebitflip8873
@radioactivebitflip8873 2 місяці тому
The bleeping in the AC Black Flag dialogue for this video makes it feel funnier.
@itsd0nk
@itsd0nk 2 місяці тому
I can safely say that I HATE ssr reflections. They are truly the black eye of the past two generations of gaming. I’ll take basic cube maps, even poorly aligned ones, over ssr reflections. Used sparingly, it can add to the cube maps for dynamic objects like for the ships in this game or characters in other games.
@balaam_7087
@balaam_7087 2 місяці тому
SSR might as well be salt. A little bit sprinkled on your food can bring out the highlights, but just a pinch too much turns it into something totally inedible or induces vomiting.
@RockyRacoon5
@RockyRacoon5 2 місяці тому
Honestly Ray-traced reflections should be mandatory in 2024. SSR is by far the most distracting graphical setting, it has ruined the image quality of so many games :/
@markjacobs1086
@markjacobs1086 2 місяці тому
​@@RockyRacoon5 Just the fact that they didn't do planar reflections on this huge flat ocean that occupies the majority of the game is just really funny to me. It's even better when you realise the older version of the same engine did that more than 10 years ago. 😂 We really don't even need RT to pull this one off & make it look convincing.
@RockyRacoon5
@RockyRacoon5 2 місяці тому
@@markjacobs1086 It’s like everyone forgot of planar reflections, a decades old technique. Trully a shame.
@omgawesomeomg
@omgawesomeomg 2 місяці тому
SSR can look really good, it's just overused.
@Billy_the-cat
@Billy_the-cat 2 місяці тому
This truly one of the best AAAA game that has ever existed
@Demmrir
@Demmrir 2 місяці тому
Honestly, I think Star Citizen might actually be better. (SC has also claimed to be a AAAA game, and as it's costed over half a billion to develop so far, it deserves the title.)
@WickedWeavile
@WickedWeavile 2 місяці тому
It certainly is a game that exists. One of the games of all time, for sure.
@Ghost-pb4ts
@Ghost-pb4ts 2 місяці тому
game that exists let's see for how long will ubisoft pay for those live servers @@WickedWeavile
@diobrando1239
@diobrando1239 2 місяці тому
⁠​⁠​⁠@@Demmrirso because they put half billion dollars it deserves the AAAA title lmao makes no sense
@Billy_the-cat
@Billy_the-cat 2 місяці тому
@@Demmrir 🫡
@FrankMackeySpam
@FrankMackeySpam 2 місяці тому
Another point in Black Flag's favor is that you can actually play the game 10 years after its release. I imagine 10 years from now the Skull & Bones servers will be shut down and you won't even be able to play the game.
@missfortune9269
@missfortune9269 2 місяці тому
Man, those quadruple A quests really are something else.
@Kitsu_o7
@Kitsu_o7 2 місяці тому
22:28 Now that's proper pirate behavior 💀
@MilosCsrb
@MilosCsrb 2 місяці тому
god dammit
@mbsfaridi
@mbsfaridi 2 місяці тому
🤣
@michaelmonstar4276
@michaelmonstar4276 2 місяці тому
11:50 - Love the performance the motion-capture actor did there!
@KillYourInnerLoser
@KillYourInnerLoser Місяць тому
Hah! Thanks for pointing that out.
@xikaryo6735
@xikaryo6735 2 місяці тому
AAAA gaming right there
@Rem_NL
@Rem_NL 2 місяці тому
Ubisoft high on their own farts
@jinx20001
@jinx20001 2 місяці тому
this game man, its such a big step backwards for ubisoft and thats difficult to do considering where they were operating. i truly think the effort put into previous games was much higher and poor reception of those games must have led to layoffs and here we are. Going back to a game like watch dogs 2 is an eye opener on todays hardware, its a really nice looking game and plays really rather well.
@Swisshost
@Swisshost 2 місяці тому
Same as DICE studio, many veteran devs left after BF1. Result is, 2 failed BFs in a row.
@MegaLPlover
@MegaLPlover 2 місяці тому
the running animation looks like you're gliding around across the ground
@Jean-jk4zv
@Jean-jk4zv 2 місяці тому
Yes I hate that, it looks like ice skating
@djayjp
@djayjp 2 місяці тому
Those internal resolutions make zero sense.... 4k at 30fps and 720p at 60fps.... Like what the actual f...? Perf mode should be 1600p at worst.
@jordanr.4856
@jordanr.4856 2 місяці тому
This game just reeks of corporate bloat. You can almost feel the exorbitant amount of JIRA tickets they had open that went unaddressed for months and years. The unnecessary meetings, the weird oversight, the constant backtracking on plans and ideas; all the while paying for the privilege to be so inefficient. I am certain this game is "AAAA" in terms of production cost, but it looks AA in the final product. Helldivers II, Palworld, and Valheim make this game look flat out silly. I cannot wait for companies like Ubisoft and EA to make these mistakes one too many times so they can finally just go away and these devs can go work somewhere that actually lets them shine.
@tokinimo54
@tokinimo54 2 місяці тому
your boat mining rock and cut trees ...really blown my mind. They really tried hard not to let your character do basic stuffs on land like blackflag.
@Dick_Valparaiso
@Dick_Valparaiso 2 місяці тому
Glad you cleared up the video quality problems at the end. I thought my internet and/or computer was the culprit at first.😅
@darkauscus
@darkauscus 2 місяці тому
720p AAAA image quality lmao xD
@jimbeaux89
@jimbeaux89 2 місяці тому
This is a mobile game masquerading as a “AAAA” game 😂
@alexxxxxxxx
@alexxxxxxxx 2 місяці тому
This was one of your best Alex. Thank you for going above and beyond. Also thank you for respecting your audience and recognising that we have a great base knowledge (thanks to you in the first place) of technical expectations. We appreciate you. 💪
@o-parts
@o-parts 2 місяці тому
Thanks for taking one for the team, Alex. There's no way I'm spending money on this game.
@eduardharsch4150
@eduardharsch4150 2 місяці тому
xbox series s runs in 540p 💀
@mleolv426
@mleolv426 2 місяці тому
11.54 that guy getting to run up the steep platform is hilarious.
@Veon1
@Veon1 2 місяці тому
A few years from now, we will see a YT documentary with the insider story of how the fuck Skull & Bones happened, and it will be the only entertaining thing to come out of this whole debacle.
@hemogoblin69
@hemogoblin69 2 місяці тому
Silly comment. It's Ubisoft, what'd you expect
@JC-xq2qe
@JC-xq2qe 2 місяці тому
GVMERS video for sure
@roarsack503
@roarsack503 2 місяці тому
Wow. One of the most appealing and groundbreaking advancements with the naval system from AC3 to Black Flag was that you were able to leave your ship at any point and swim to land. This was further improved upon in Odyssey, where everything is truly seamless. The fact that they'd downgrade on one of the core aspects that sold the idea of a fully-fledged pirate experience to begin with, is mind-boggling.
@antarcticanman
@antarcticanman 2 місяці тому
Lol at 720p internel resolutions on the bigger consoles.
@adk4986
@adk4986 2 місяці тому
Actual joke. Im so sick of this console gen. The so called 4K 60FPS generation running games at 720p
@mmarshfairc3
@mmarshfairc3 2 місяці тому
@@adk4986no games I’ve played or am interested in run like that. It’s mainly crappy slop games that run like that, games that no one should be playing anyways.
@herr-a5460
@herr-a5460 2 місяці тому
To be fair, I think thats‘s the fault of the developers. The consoles have enough power to run games like TLOU and Horizon Forbidden West with decent graphics at 60fps. Badly optimized games have become a real problem recently.
@adk4986
@adk4986 2 місяці тому
@@herr-a5460 true, its worse than evet
@aprilmeowmeow
@aprilmeowmeow 2 місяці тому
​@adk4986 to be fair, most PCs that cost over double the price of current gen consoles cannot achieve this in most games.
@Darksjeik
@Darksjeik 2 місяці тому
I haven't played it but the way Alex describes it here, combined with the gameplay mechanics it strikes me as a mobile game ported to consoles. What a shame. A pirate game should be about adventure, swash buckling, torch lit caves and back alleys. Shady deals, double crosses and hidden treasures. It boggles the mind how this is what they came up with after a decade.
@itsuadman
@itsuadman 2 місяці тому
The RTXGI only applying to the ship is absolutely asinine. There's just no other words for it. Well, there are, but that's enough.
@Dorraj
@Dorraj 2 місяці тому
My favorite part is the RTGI only applies to the ship... The ship YOU CAN'T WALK AROUND ON You couldn't make this stuff up, it's like poetry
@itsuadman
@itsuadman 2 місяці тому
It almost makes you ponder what the point was including it. To say it has rtx? I wonder
@Lalesama1987
@Lalesama1987 2 місяці тому
Black Flag is such a master piece.
@ff_user
@ff_user 2 місяці тому
Right? I'm playing it right now.
@ThePreciseClimber
@ThePreciseClimber 2 місяці тому
@@jazzfan67 AC4 did polish some gameplay elements but, IMHO, in terms of actual content, it was a downgrade compared to AC3. AC3 had the Homestead missions, the search for Kidd's treasure, an open wilderness map, a reasonably small amount of naval combat and a smaller number of collectibles. AC4 had very little notable stuff outside of the main story. Basically just those 4 Templar hunts. The majority of the gameplay was grabbing loads of collectibles & grinding resources for ship upgrades. Both of which were nowhere near as bad in AC3. Completing AC4 was a lot more monotonous to me. Present Day was also pretty weak. At the very least, they could've made it third person so you could climb the outside of the building or something but nooooo.
@supersardonic1179
@supersardonic1179 2 місяці тому
Great game if you're not an Assassin's creed fan
@supersardonic1179
@supersardonic1179 2 місяці тому
@@ThePreciseClimberYou didn't enjoy that a game about Assassination and stealth was relegated mostly to naval combat and a few tiny islands?
@rock2k14
@rock2k14 2 місяці тому
How are some of those ships moving like 60mph 🤣
@christianlech1084
@christianlech1084 2 місяці тому
It was stated in an article years ago that the game had an issue of severe visionlessness during development and basically the only reason the game wasn't being cancelled was tax credits from the Singapore government. Not very surprised the game ended up as it did
@pagla07
@pagla07 2 місяці тому
Alex is probably one of nicest dudes on UKposts, but it’s genuinely hilarious to watch him tear into this game like this 😂
@Lolkork
@Lolkork 2 місяці тому
I kinda wonder if the performance mode is broken, since 720p 60 seems extremely low for a game that can run at 4k 30. Maybe its supposed to have DRS but is stuck at the minimum resolution at all times.
@DaGGyzo
@DaGGyzo 2 місяці тому
Your wind powered ship has...*checks notes*... "stamina"
@christophluger793
@christophluger793 2 місяці тому
Thank you for your service. Very brave and I hope you mentally recover from this experience.
@f1nkangel
@f1nkangel 2 місяці тому
Thanks Alex, wow, a complex pickle to pull apart - thanks for doing that with such brilliant analysis - I'm going to try it out and see how I do! Black Flag was one of my faves (100%) - so lets just see...
@IcedPTO
@IcedPTO 2 місяці тому
AC4's water reflections still look amazing to this day. It's pretty baffling they're not using a similar and improved solution 10 years later if they didn't want to go with RT.
@James-gj8rn
@James-gj8rn 2 місяці тому
I’d love to see a Tech Review on Like A Dragon Infinite Wealth
@riaz8783
@riaz8783 2 місяці тому
I mean it's pretty much the same as any other recent Dragon engine game. Doesn't make the gameplay less incredible, but the tech isn't that interesting.
@hunterh891
@hunterh891 2 місяці тому
Great job as always Alex and the DF crew!
@1337keef
@1337keef 2 місяці тому
11:48 Alex is talking about RTXGI but I can't even focus on that while that guy runs up that slope lol
@maxducoudray
@maxducoudray 2 місяці тому
Good job, Alex. Thanks for the painfully honest overview.
@winslowpippleton7157
@winslowpippleton7157 2 місяці тому
"You're not a pirate. you're a ship" Haha best sums this game up. See of Thieves all day
@Letheon.
@Letheon. 2 місяці тому
‘I think it’s built to disrespect player time’, this is the core problem with nearly every Ubisoft game in the past decade. They deliberately waste your time-making their games intentionally less fun than they should or could be-in order to sell you convenience through a store. Even in single player only titles.
@mukulnag1578
@mukulnag1578 2 місяці тому
You are the ship ... Is the line that i did not expect to here 😅😅😅
@bullittproof
@bullittproof 2 місяці тому
Those were some video game journalist throws at 3:57 😂
@thingsiplay
@thingsiplay 2 місяці тому
Quadruple A is what the game costed in the end, but its not a Quadruple game. Because they restarted from scratch I think 2 times, which would take one A away each time. The game is build as AA, but due to the restarting process it costed AAAA at the end.
@Crashed131963
@Crashed131963 2 місяці тому
How is this a AAAA game and Horizon Forbidden West is a AAA game is what I want to know .
@thingsiplay
@thingsiplay 2 місяці тому
@@Crashed131963 Because Skull & Bones is 10 years in development, restarting from scratch multiple times. That ballooned the cost (what Ubisoft calls it) to Quadruple A. And in my initial comment I tried to make the differentiation of a regular developed title to this special case. To explain how this came to be.
@Amiculi
@Amiculi 2 місяці тому
I remember when Champions of Norrath on PS2 in 2004 had wave particles like that with the same level of interaction...
@J-Pow
@J-Pow 2 місяці тому
Ubisoft was the first "quantity over quality" developer with the amount of people they'd hire for a single project, starting with the Assassin's Creed series.
@TomTom-kq2lr
@TomTom-kq2lr 2 місяці тому
You forgot to mention the funny character creation, where it's animated like your character is taking it up the *BEEP*.
@martinmp19
@martinmp19 2 місяці тому
We fail to realize that AAAA simply refers to how much money they spent making it lol
@mathieuhendey
@mathieuhendey 2 місяці тому
An Absolutely Absurd Amount
@bruskydu
@bruskydu 2 місяці тому
With nothing to show for😂
@evil_vein6072
@evil_vein6072 2 місяці тому
Its good to see the same landing bug 20:55 I faced playing the beta didn't get fix out in the full release lol
@BigHomieTyreese
@BigHomieTyreese 2 місяці тому
It's baffling that so many of these design decisions were not only accepted, but I imagine pushed and encouraged. Can't tell if this is a symptom of the culture we live in where companies are forced to validate and promote ideas that they know are terrible out of fear of retaliation, or if this is true incompetence and everything here looked "good" to them and ready to ship. *no pun intended
@randybobandy9828
@randybobandy9828 2 місяці тому
They have to promote ideas from people that have terrible ideas in order to be "inclusive and accepting"
@joergbock1976
@joergbock1976 2 місяці тому
AA Game, AAAA price tag. At least they gave us a few days open beta to see how bad it's gonna be. Kudos to Alex for showing the resilience to wade through this analysis!
@NeuroTheory
@NeuroTheory 2 місяці тому
The subtle infusion of venom every time Alex says "Quadruple A" is why I'm here.
@ChaseSchleich
@ChaseSchleich 2 місяці тому
I don't understand what all those studios did. I could see one studio handling the ship gameplay and another handling the land based, but there were like 8 studios listed, maybe more. What were they all doing? Did one studio just do trees and the other did cannonballs? There's nowhere near enough game here to require so many studios. That alone is a huge red flag.
@Deliveredmean42
@Deliveredmean42 2 місяці тому
Probably from different eras of the project before they got rebooted. Imagine that's why they are showing so many studios since they technically contributed in the project during each versions and resume said assets.
@killer1one1
@killer1one1 2 місяці тому
13:10 That is simply unbelievable. We truly, *truly* did not know how good we had it during the 360/PS3 era.
@tiffyfemboy
@tiffyfemboy Місяць тому
*The cannon balls.... explode???* They are made of full Iron! Not gunpowder! And no, if you hit an piece of wood with iron, its not gonna fuckin explode.
@blackomegax
@blackomegax 2 місяці тому
What blows my mind is comparing this to black flag on an RX6400. Where the RX6400 can do full native 1440p60 in black flag, coming out looking better than S&B on Series S (or on RX6400). Modern games have taken too many steps backwards in render res to accommodate increased asset quality
@tinyrogerts6449
@tinyrogerts6449 2 місяці тому
In summation, just play (or replay) Black Flag.
@JerryFlowersIII
@JerryFlowersIII 2 місяці тому
I was playing Assasin's Creed Liberation recently and I couldn't get over how great the Planar reflections in the game was. This is a lowly ol' Vita game and it has reflections that are basically perfect and don't break up because of a branch or camera position like SSR. The game isn't SUPER dynamic so they can get away with using planar but gosh it was nice to not have those artifacts for the 100th time. Edit: Right after I finish my comment Alex gets to the ACIV section and specifically mentions it's Planar Reflections. EXACTLY!
@ssabykoops
@ssabykoops 2 місяці тому
Alex = the soul of good games on all platforms , the patron saint of gaming .
@LukeBenMBay
@LukeBenMBay 2 місяці тому
I love how Alex tries (not) to go easy on that game! 🤣 Great video as always 👍
@landoishisname
@landoishisname 2 місяці тому
Surely the open ocean is an ideal place to use cubemaps
@the_kovic
@the_kovic 2 місяці тому
Escape from Monkey Island makes you feel more like a pirate than this game.
@FistOfFiori
@FistOfFiori 2 місяці тому
I like the point you make is that you're essentially playing a ship for all of the gameplay parts (basically stripping a whole bunch of what made Black Flag great), which just dispatches a fleshy avatar to get and hand in quests.
@christopherbaxter434
@christopherbaxter434 2 місяці тому
Releasing Alex on this game review, was like releasing the kraken on all pirate ships. If Starfield had a sibling, this would definitely be as little brother.
@CooChewGames
@CooChewGames 2 місяці тому
Is fascinating how ideas sometimes just don't translate into a fun or interesting game experience; though with years of development, finding this out at the end can be really hard to deal with.
@volatilelyle5170
@volatilelyle5170 2 місяці тому
I would love to see a DF video comparing this game to Black Flag
@JustSomeAussie1
@JustSomeAussie1 2 місяці тому
Well that's pretty much what this video is
@volatilelyle5170
@volatilelyle5170 2 місяці тому
@@JustSomeAussie1 Yeah, but a fully fledged video that compares all aspects of the games and put them side by side. Black flag was the perfect pirate game. They could have just modified the game, include multiplayer and updated the graphics. Would have been far cheaper and way more fun
@ClarkWasHere1
@ClarkWasHere1 2 місяці тому
I feel bad for the devs who have to put up with the publisher and marketing's claims of Quadruple A
@Rew123
@Rew123 2 місяці тому
Yes because the devs did such an amazing job on this game?
@Lightsaglowllc
@Lightsaglowllc 2 місяці тому
Tbh, the devs in Singapore were part of the issue. Clear there wasn’t much talent on that team thus why Ubisoft had to get help from a dozen other studios to ship the game.
@dhgmrz17
@dhgmrz17 2 місяці тому
Even as a AAA game this would be considered underwhelming. Heck, it would still be pushing it as a AA game, based on other AA games that have released previously.
@ObamaTheHedgehog
@ObamaTheHedgehog 2 місяці тому
​@Rew123 they knew the game was ass but the CEO still goes out an calls it AAAA, set the devs up to be laughed at.
@Deliveredmean42
@Deliveredmean42 2 місяці тому
Tho its that really the reason? We don't know exactly what each of said studio did in this "game". If anything it could be anything like listing the name since they work on in during each reboot.@@Lightsaglowllc
@WickedRibbon
@WickedRibbon 2 місяці тому
Someone needs to do a massive postmortem on Skull and Bones. How and why did it take 10 years to end up with THIS??
@VanSanProductions
@VanSanProductions 2 місяці тому
the just needed to take black flag, and make it multiplayer. i don't know how they failed so bad.
@MadsonOnTheWeb
@MadsonOnTheWeb 2 місяці тому
The water reflection is Ark levels of reflections
@guily6669
@guily6669 2 місяці тому
I had crazy heavy stuttering in the settlements but greatefully while playing in the ship is butter smooth. Its likely to be my CPU I7 8700K at 4.7ghz all cores and anyway I had the game pretty much maxed out at 1080P. But when the stuttering is going on both my GPU and CPU usage drops to low values...
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