LEGO® Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game

So, if you have played one Lego game you have kind of played them all. Know that going into this game. If you enjoy the style, or this is your first Lego game, you will probably enjoy Pirates a ton. It's from the period before Lego used voice acting, so it's full of silly, charming and frankly adorable cut scenes using only mime. The levels are pretty large, with several sections in each one, and if you played a Lego game before you know the game is bursting with secrets and extras and plenty of bonus content if you just can't get enough Jack Sparrow. So it's a great Lego game, and because it's a PC Lego game, it is pretty unstable. The GoG version is much better than the terrible Steam port which is essentially unplayable, but the very first level especially is still incredibly buggy and has multiple places where crashes are somewhere between possible and likely. If you can manage to get through the first level, later levels are more stable, but you are still prone to the odd crash here and there, and in a game with no saves in the middle of story levels, (and some story levels are pretty lengthy), you can lose progress at the drop of a hat. I'm not sure it would be possible to 100% this game without either divine intervention or just playing a console version. Ultimately, I have a hard time really scoring this game. I think it's in the upper echelon of Lego games (I have them all in one form or another) in terms of fun, charm, accessibility, cuteness, and humor; and it's great to play with kids or a younger niece, nephew or cousin. It has local co-op, and you can play with a controller and a keyboard and everyone can have fun. But the crashes are just plain awful, bordering on unacceptable, especially in a game with no quick saves or anything. It's not as horrible as Harry Potter 1-4 in terms of technical problems, but it's not far above it. I can't give this game more than 3 stars, because the crashes are just that bad. Caveat Emptor.