After spending countless hours sailing the high seas in recent months thanks to the release of Sea of Thieves, Ubisoft's Skull & Bones looks both familiar and entirely like its own thing. Visually, it's realistic Assassin's Creed style presentation looks vastly different, even when it features similar ship customisation in the form of sails, mast heads, and more. As it's got more than Sea of Thieves.

Like cannons, and ship wheels.

In terms of ship combat the difference can be summed up in a single word - arcade. Cannons and ship fire and boarding in Skull & Bones is fast, quick to pull off, and focused on keeping the action moving. Also, docking looks to be a 'hold down X' affair. And players will be in control of their own ships and crew.



It does look fantastic though, from the wonderful lighting and ramshackle look of the pirate hideouts to the Assassin's Creed like impact of ships battling it out. Also, the mechanic of finding NPC ships and routes to loot is a solid one, as is being able to team up and turn on other players in an instant.

Releasing in 2019, we're truly living in the Golden Age of Piracy.