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Skull and Bones was Ubisoft's attempt to build on the ultimate pirate fantasy setting it had created with 2013's Assassin's Creed: Black Flag. The initial cinematic E3 reveal trailer in 2017 showed huge war ships clashing on the unforgiving Indian Ocean to stunning effect. The accompanying gameplay presentation only increased hype around the project, with some players believing they were getting an expanded version of the much-lauded naval combat in AC Black Flag.

After an incredibly difficult development cycle, Skull and Bones was finally released in February 2024, almost 7 years since it was revealed. By this time, expectations were understandably enormous. With that long to work on the game, Ubisoft surely had to blow us all away with the finished product, right? RIGHT?

In what was a massive disappointment, the entire project failed miserably to live up to the hype. Critics blasted an almost non-existent story, repetitive gameplay and all-round mundane nature. The bulk of the gameplay was spent controlling ships, with sparse opportunity to actually experience pirate life. The actual naval combat was decent, as expected, but there was precious little other meat on the bones here, and fans found it hard not to feel like they'd been short-changed.