Summer is in full swing now, with movies like Superman Returns, Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man’s Chest, Monster House, Miami Vice and… well… and more out now. Basically, however, Pirates is ruling the box office as we speak.

Regardless of our present feelings towards the Disney and their mouse, it cannot be denied that Pirates 2 is doing well in the box office these days. What with it raking in about 200 million (more or less) in two weeks, and (thus) holding the top seat in the box office for same two weeks, we are looking at the present ruling movie of the summer (what with all those other summer movies underachieving as they did).

So after reviewing Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man’s Chest for the PSP you probably would have thought that I would have been pirate-d out after that little fiasco… and yet here I (but it will not be my last brush with the open seas, seeing how I have a review of Suikoden IV coming soon).
Ok, let’s get to this game, after all it’s already got a brownie point for actually having Johnny Depp reprise his role as Captain Jack Sparrow for the game… nobody else showed up, mind you, not even Orlando Bloom (which is a shame since the game is sorta like a buddy game) but I guess having one star power point (Depp) is better than nothing.

Once again it goes without saying that, well, if you haven’t been contributing to Disney’s kitty by being one of the 200 million dollars or so that went to the Bank of Walt via theatrical box offices, and you haven’t been making investments in Walt Inc by tossing down money for Pirates tie-in merchandise including M&Ms, Pirates cereal, and whatever else they could slap the Pirates images on or been eating Pirate food over at “MickeyDs” (McDonalds) then you probably have seen the flock of video games coming out, and it all (once again) started with a level in a game that was not Pirates of the Caribbean : Kingdom Hearts II.

Remember Kingdom Hearts II’s Pirates of the Caribbean level? That was nicely animated if I do say so myself, and it was kind of fun too… but it also prepared you for a new wave of Pirates games (which is probably one of the reasons why Kingdom Hearts II was delayed from it’s original 2005 release date).
Pirates here (really here now that I’m reviewing the PS2 outing), Pirates there, (Xbox and probably Xbox360 -- should be since the latest from GTA makers Rockstar Games on the 360 is… what… Table Tennis?!? Are you (bleep)ing kidding me?!?), Pirates on the GBA (whee?), Pirates one the Nintendo DS… and, yes, Pirates on the PSP (which was the basis of my previous Pirates review).

In Pirates of the Caribbean : Legend of Jack Sparrow you don’t take the die hard must adapt the movie or

die approach, instead you touch upon the movies in a rather round about (kinda whimsical) way as you find Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow) and Will Turner (not Orlando Bloom in this game… which I don’t mind since he DID pull voice duty as Legolas in several Lord of the Rings games from my recollection of it), are about to be hanged -- if not for the quick talking Sparrow which sets up the stage for many many levels of flashbacks (including, if you can believe it, a few flashbacks within flashbacks) as you play through the misadventures of Captain Jack Sparrow and his “Servant” Will Turner (who often complains about how things are not factual, or how events are not the way Jack says they are, or how (in the trip to Chinese territory for instance) he was never there to begin with… suck it up, you who are not Orlando Bloom, suck it up) or his… uh… Keira Knightly‘s Elizabeth, only without Keira Knightly which is a bit of a shame since while Elizabeth is lovely (and lovelier as a playable character despite the fact she is “borrowing“ all of Will‘s upgrades and stats), her voice actress is… well… not so lovely.

Once you get into this game you realize that it is a whole different beast from the PSP version, and by that I mean in a GOOD way. Yes, oh yes, Legend is far more worth your time to play than Dead Man’s Chest.
- This time you WILL ACTUALLY PLAY AS Captain Jack Sparrow and NOT as The Dread Pirate Arthur (and once again yes, I don’t mean the Clive Owen King Arthur from that Jerry Bruckheimer fiasco some years ago as I do the even older visage of the not so funny drunken fop Arthur, played by Dudley Moore in two movies). This time out Captain Jack moves, acts, and truly lives up to the character from the movies… no wonder since they did actually splurge to get Johnny Depp to pull voice acting duties for this game!

- Captain Sparrow is a lifetime troublemaker and all about rascal… and not a devote AA member in need of an AA support group… I.e. you’ll find your movements smooth and flowing, and not stumbly and drunken like the PSP version (no keggers for the good Captain, even so far as taking his healing from medical pirate chests (which provides some strategy seeing how you have to share these few healing chests with your partner character which most of the time is Will Turner)).

- And yes, no ill will of bad platforming aspect to go through in this game. It’s pure hack and slash goodness, which (in this case) is a welcome change from the pace of the PSP version.

- Combat is fluidic, well done, and your skills are upgradable with both new weapons and skills (which you purchase via the gold you hoard during gameplay).

And while you can (like the PSP version) do it with one button simplicity (the X button serves you well), there is more than enough learnable (and upgradable) skills that you can mix it up if you feel like it (and do some awesome moves if you feel like being artistic in your killing -- or you face shielded enemies or enemies that block with their weapons which require the stronger attack (square button) to shatter their shields/defenses before you can finish them)). Oh, and did I mention the skills upgrading to make your moves stronger? That is another touch up from the PSP version which didn’t have that joyous goodness to unleash.

- I didn’t see any real puzzles in this game, but I’m having too much fun with the hack and slash pirate bashing and treasure snatching to worry about that. There is a findable element in locating the many scattered pieces of a treasure map (which opens up “unlockable content” which I hope is as good as it sounds), but for the most part you don‘t face any puzzles in this game to overcome. It‘s all fighting.
You do have the blow the obstacles up with powderkegs from the PSP version “puzzles” in this one (Jack‘s your man for blowing things up), add that to things like hacking ropes to drop drawbridges or stuff to help you progress (Will/Elizabeth are your go-tos for this one), knocking down high up enemies, burning stuff and more and that aspect is improved on in this version of the PSP version.

- Oh, and no more jumping over crazy ravines anymore. Hooray. I hated that from the PSP version.

- Johnny Depp is in this game, but that doesn’t mean the rest of the talent are slacking. The game overall has a nice balanced voice acting talent that makes it sound good as it plays, another kudos… except maybe for the Chinese empress wannabe lady, her voice was unnerving… and Elizabeth’s is… well, I was expecting different I guess so it’s my bad on that one.

- Yah, this time out (thanks to Johnny Depp) there is real wit to the humor, which is a nice change from the witless banter of the bad Captain from the PSP version. Also, with the whole “buddy system” (where you can change off between playing as Captain Sparrow and whoever he’s teamed up with) there’s room for buddy humor wit on more than one occasion (nice).
I wish, however, that the game offered a two player co-op mode (which this game doesn’t seem to have though I could be wrong about that… I just didn‘t see one while playing).

Oh, and you don’t have to worry too much about hoarding gold because you’ll find that the gold count you have counts towards EACH of your twosome! That means there doesn’t have to be any splitting of the booty during gameplay, making it easier to rack up those

skill upgrades as you play (for which there are quite a few, with new skills unlocking as you play through the locales of the game).
This also means you’ll get your upgrades all done in a quicker manner, another plus.

- If there are any problems it’s that the game is a tad easy (yet packing some challenge and fun that you won’t become bored of it), and you have to work HARD in order to unlock the unlockable content (which is actually a plus since it gives you plenty of reason to play on).

All in all? Of the two this is your better choice for your Pirates of the Caribbean fix without question.
And, with that being said, let’s break it down.

Pirates of the Breakdown the PS2 Variant 2nd
What’s Hot?
It has just about everything you should want in a quick and easy movie to game adaptation.
Lots of levels, abit of combat variety, nicely done animation/voice acting/music, and an overall game that is solid to play and solid to own. If you need a Pirates fix this should be it for you.

What’s Not?
But even perfection has a few flaws in it. The game is short, even with all it’s content. There is not enough Elizabeth (Keira Knightly) and she (Keira Knightly) didn’t appear in the game for voice acting duties.
Orlando Bloom really should have been in this game, but I don’t mind that since he did pull valuable service in some of the LOTR games. Otherwise the game is more solid than broken, unlike the PSP version.

Moments to Remember?
A few precious as stolen gold levels just to kick butt with Elizabeth (Keira Knightly) as your tagteam partner? Booyah! I play as her whenever possible… which sounds abit weird now that I reflect on what I just said. Anyway that and all the Odd Couple moments of the game (including the occasional abandonment issues Orlando Bloom‘s character should have with Johnny Depp…) rule this game. Oh, guess that means Depp is Jack Klugman to Orlando Bloom’s Tony Randall in this game.

What to Ignore?
I’d like to ignore how totally awful that “hot” crazy freaky Chinese “empress” chick sounds. If there was one dud voice in this game it was her’s. That and Elizabeth didn’t live up to voice acting expectations.

Overall?
Given the choice? You should be spending your money on a game that at least is the better of the two if you absolutely MUST have a Pirates game for the year. That being the case, you should find more joy in playing Pirates of the Caribbean : Legend of Jack Sparrow for the PS2 than you will find playing Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man’s Chest for the PSP.
Of course, ideally, rental is the option since you should finish the game in the week rental time and all that. Still, if you must own a Pirates of the Caribbean game this is at least a better choice.