Ubisoft’s latest venture into the pirate-themed action-adventure genre, Skull and Bones, seems to be hitting some rough waters – according to closed beta testers. The recently concluded second closed beta has left fans less than impressed, with social media buzzing with complaints about the game that was anticipated to be a ‘Black Flag 2.0’ experience.
The closed beta was an exclusive opportunity, extended only to specific content creators, invited players, and lucky Twitch viewers with drops enabled. That said, even if you got an invite, you only had a short six-hour window to explore the Indian Ocean in-game.
However, many players didn’t make it past the first hour, finding the gameplay a bit too repetitive.
One player, Achilleasa, took to the r/gaming subreddit to share their experience, racking up over 11K upvotes. “It’s like watching boring cutscenes, chatting with NPCs, and doing fetch quests. Feels more like a walking simulator,” they explained.
The top comments echoed the sentiment, with players expressing their disappointment and even coining a new nickname for the game: “Skull & Bored.” The consensus is that Ubisoft missed the mark in capturing what fans loved about Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag. Many players think the company should have invested in a proper sequel instead.
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However, if you sort the comments by ‘Controversial’ rather than ‘Top,’ you’ll find a minority who enjoyed the game, relishing their few hours of virtual piracy with friends. To those hopeful few, my advice is to keep the faith for the full release and not let the negative reviews overshadow the potential for improvement!
Skull and Bones is set to release on February 16, 2024, unless there are more delays. Here’s hoping Ubisoft takes the feedback from the closed beta to heart and delivers a gaming experience that lives up to the high expectations set by Black Flag.