Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow review

The only real differences between the two, however, are that Jack throws explosive "grog bombs" and Will tosses hatchets - which also factor into their special attacks.

Basic action aside, all the elements of a good game are present: your attacks are varied and upgradeable, you can destroy or toss around chunks of scenery (usually to the detriment of your enemies) and the action moves fast.

The trouble is that Legend of Jack Sparrow doesn't do any of these things particularly well. And after a while, the action gets really repetitive and boring, as tough-but-dumb enemies keep swarming out in the same predictable patterns (swordsmen charge forward while gunners or archers hang back and shoot). Your computer-controlled sidekick is even worse, and is almost as likely to stand around staring at you or getting stuck on a wall as he is to actually fight. (But at least he can't ever be killed while the computer's in control.)

This stuff might be easier to overlook if the game didn't try to compensate by always making you restart a level once you've run out of lives - which your characters share, even in the two-player co-op mode. Did you use up your lives fighting a mid-level boss, only to be cut down by some puny lackey much later in the stage? Tough. Get ready to do the whole thing over again. And you'll have to re-watch all the cinemas, too.

1. Number of lives remaining - shared by both characters
2. Johnny Depp's face
3. One of the most entertaining liars in the history of video games
4. Cool lighting effect
5. Evil Chinese warrior (probably imaginary)
6. Destructible Buddha statue with coins inside for some reason
7. Big clay warriors who can't be harmed, but must be pushed laboriously into the water around the room
8. Your life meter, which can only rarely be refilled