Skull and Bones review: Too many cooks spoil the broth

Skull and Bones, to me, had the potential to be both a nostalgic trip to one of the best Assassin's Creed experiences of all time and the next sea-faring title benchmark that players will enjoy for years to come. Having spent some time setting sail and tasting the seawater in Ubisoft's latest offering, a feeling of disappointment has largely sunk in.

Skull and Bones spent a little more than half a decade in developmental hell, being shuttled between various Ubisoft studios. The opening sequence credits numerous of them one after another, enough to leave me wondering whether too many cooks would spoil the broth.

At launch, there's not just much to do in Skull and Bones. You step into the shoes of a nameless pirate who dares to make a name for themselves. The starting fight and engagement will get your blood pumping. After all, that's what Skull and Bones promises - swashbuckling pirates and roaring cannons on the high seas.

The skirmish ends in a shipwreck, with you beginning your journey in a small boat with two other occupants. As you progress, you will meet vendors offering fetch quests to help you progress. Captain Scurlock will hand you the main quests initially.

You are to complete missions, gather resources, fight naval battles, and grow your notoriety as you attempt to become a pirate overlord. The latter requires you to grow your infamy rank and ship rank. As your infamy grows, you also unlock better blueprints. Ship rank will improve depending on the arsenal and weapons fitted.

It soon breaks down into merely collecting and fetching resources for the next tier of weapons. This cycle continues incessantly throughout the regions, and the game forever pushes you to gain ranks through these means.

It is a grind that took