During the presentation of the Skull and Bones gameplay from Ubisoft Singapore, a lot of information was heard. The game will release on November 8 for $70 on consoles and $60 on PC, with free content available upon launch. A standalone gameplay video was also released featuring Senior Game Director Ryan Barnard. It shows the combat on the ship, the progression system and ship settings. Check it out below.
Although there are 12 ships in the game, players start with the smallest one, the Dhow. Classified as a hunter-gatherer ship, it will teach you how to gather resources and hunt wild animals. Over time, you will begin to create more advanced ships, as well as new weapons and armor. Of course, even on Dhow it is possible to fight other players on PvP servers, even if it comes down to “spear fights”.
Ship upgrades are pretty fast, and over time you’ll come across different types of ships that serve their own unique purposes. “We want ships to have things that they do best, we call them kind of player tools. So it’s not necessarily an upgrade to a specific ship, and then that’s all you use for the rest of the game.” .
No, I’m sure that players will become attached to certain types of playstyles and ships that they like the most. But there will always be the right tool for the job, and perhaps another ship they want to create and customize in their arsenal to perform certain activities and certain types of piracy in the game.
For example, completing a mission to smuggle a lot of stolen goods (described as one of the easy missions) will be easier with a cargo ship.” While players can use anything for most activities, there will always be “the best choice for what you’re trying to achieve.”
Combat is described as “very fast paced” with some depth. Along with the choice of different weapons, you also have the “fury” that your crew generates. She heads for crew-on-crew attacks and boarding, which is the only way to get all the loot. Ships also have weak points – “large outlined red targets”, which, when destroyed, deal high damage and cause various side effects (for example, a fire).
As for the types of weapons, blunt guns that tear the sails and cause flooding are an example. Depending on the equipment, you can either get bonus damage against one type of enemy or another, or deal normal damage, or even less damage. Again, while you can hit any target with any charge, you will have “better, more effective charges” depending on the situation.
And, if the battle goes against you, you can always run to a safe place, although it will be more difficult to hide from other players there. Some activities, such as robbery, really emphasize the need for escape. “In some types of robbery, the point may be to just snatch and grab. So you get all you can while you can.” If the ship is destroyed, a wreck remains with some of your materials. They can be returned in the lair or at the outpost.
But if you’re brave enough to go to the wreck, you can “get all your materials back, and it’ll only cost you a little time. And you’ll remake your ship and keep going.” Moreover, if you want to move from a PvP-only server to a PvE-only server, no progress will be lost. You can switch back and forth without any problems. Interestingly, there are “advantages” of playing on riskier PvP servers, but they have not been described.
Skull and Bones will be released on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Google Stadia and Amazon Luna.
