Ubisoft has posted a 30-minute gameplay devstream to YouTube of the upcoming action-adventure title Skull and Bones, an MMO-style open world pirate game expected to launch sometime this year.
The gameplay video stars Senior Community Developer Alexis Cretton and Narrative Director Joel Janisse as they cooperatively take on a mission in the game. Following a tweet promising more content to be featured online before release, this video presumably begins the "array of exciting" material that is to come.
Throughout the video, Cretton and Janisse discuss the game's primary objective, which is to rise in infamy from pirate outcast to pirate kingpin. Janisse also sheds some light on the game's overarching story, a historic fiction of trade wars on the high seas. Each plays as their own pirate crew, with a captain and several ships at their disposal. Like all MMOs, Skull and Bones will allow you to interact with other live players, which can be useful in completing certain tasks.
Spoilers For Gameplay Video Ahead
The task shown in the video is a particular quest called an "investigation." Among the other activities to engage in while playing, investigations can be useful in building a player's reputation. You'll have to follow clues that may or may not reveal more information about the pirate world of Skull and Bones. Navigation to the waypoints is handled quickly, and no map seems to be needed when there is a giant beam of light to guide you to the next clue.
For this quest, the investigation begins with a plea from an African queen. Interfering with a battle for a crown goes against a pirate's prime directive, but chasing down a bounty to collect a reward (and maybe some treasure) is always fair game. Unfortunately, after four clues, this investigation turns up as a dud for treasure, but a win for rewards. The primary focus of this particular playthrough is to show the audience just one of many missions, quests, and things to do in Skull and Bones. The developers also discuss a few notable characters whose names will show up from time to time.
With so many delays to the game's official release since it was announced, this is an attention grabber to showcase how much more you can do in the game. The graphics and visuals look to be top-notch, especially when customizing a ship's sails or artillery. One massive expense going into this game can be attributed to the inclusion of a voiceover cast, as there are four different narrators for each clue in the investigation. When this game does come out, it is bringing a lot of content with it.
Skull and Bones will be available on Playstation 5, XBox Series X|S, Amazon Luna, Epic Games, and Ubisoft Connect when it releases at an unannounced date later this year.