The LEGO video game franchise has two major positives; we’ve all grown up playing with LEGO toys and adapting high profiled movies (past games include Star Wars and Batman).  This time around LEGO welcomes Jack Sparrow and all the excitement of the Pirates of the Caribbean universe with gameplay set in all four films including the latest release ‘On Stranger Tides‘.

LEGO is faithful in adapting major scenes from the films and generally gives a different ‘LEGO perspective’ on the action – mostly due to the lack of dialogue.  Be prepared to face hours of hand gestures and ‘shrug’ noises from the characters much like you would experience watching a silent film.  The animation for Jack Sparrow’s character is immaculate to Johnny Depp in every way – characters will even take a swill of rum if you leave them standing around for too long.

The LEGO video games are geared to a younger audience and don’t offer much in the way of a challenge.  We haven’t seen any real dramatic improvements to the engine over time but like the other games you can drop in and out of co-op with a friend and eventually be able to play up to 70 of the memorable characters from all the Pirates films.

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game from Disney Interactive Studios is available now on all platforms and handhelds – we played it on the Xbox 360 where the graphics and game interface was smooth and rewarding if not limited to a weekend of casual fun and exploration.

For more on the game visit:
http://disney.go.com/pirates/index.html