An Adventurous And Strange VR Pirate Game - Pirates VR: Jolly Roger

I have mixed feelings of positivity about the VR Pirate Game Pirates VR: Jolly Roger. They’re positively mixed feelings, let me assure you, but I have to admit that at first I didn’t think I’d be as impressed with this game as I ended up being.

As you can see in my video about it on Youtube, Pirates VR: Jolly Roger has somewhat dated UE4 visuals (though my aging PC did not help with that) and a look and feel that also makes it seem like it was developed in 2020. For instance, swinging a pickaxe at a rock to break it, and the pickaxe just… phases through the rock.

What would normally seem janky, immersion breaking, and straight up lazy in a different Virtual Reality adventure game somehow just adds to the charm of Pirates VR: Jolly Roger.

Though I could easily see the jankiness overcoming the charm for others, for me personally what made the dated feel and look fit so well was just how quickly the game changes its mechanics, gameplay, and tone to wildly different levels. I always felt like I was doing something new. That made the whole VR adventure game feel pretty adventerous.

Let me elaborate. (Minor spoilers ahead)

Pirates VR: Jolly Roger - A VR Pirate Game That Is Not Really About Pirating

This VR Pirate game has some really awesome sights to see.

When I say this game is adventurous I mean it in more than one way. This VR Pirate Game is adventurous in where it takes you just as much in what you do in the gameplay.

This game doesn’t stop to explain itself, or doesn’t do much to establish just why and how you are doing the things you’re doing except in a very cursory manner. For instance when the tone of the game starts to shift from sunny island adventure to skeletal cave exorcist simulator is when you first enter the cave area.

The first thing you find is a lantern, which is fantastically well implemented by the way. The shadow effects of the lantern light look great. Anyway your parrot companion, who is your only source of context for most things, mentions that it belonged to an exorcist nun that became a pirate. That’s it, full stop, and then a floating tooltip casually mentions that you can shoot balls of magical energy with the lantern.

Pirates VR: Jolly Roger might not have the most in depth combat system, but it is still fun.

Should this sudden tonal shift feel jarring? Maybe, but really it just feels charming. The entire story and setting work on theme park logic. Why not suddenly give the player a magical lantern?

Why not suddenly have them fight hordes of skeletons that phase through walls and teleport? Every new area that you go to in this VR Pirate Game called Pirates VR: Jolly Roger has you doing something entirely different from the previous one. There are constantly new things to do, puzzles to solve, places to explore, items to find, and even the undead to combat. A variety of simple to grasp yet different Virtual Reality adventure game mechanics don’t overstay their welcome.

Even if the implementation feels somewhat dated and janky from time to time the constant changes in gameplay keep it all feeling fresh and new and adventurous. You really never know what will come next. You aren’t even told why you are on the island you’re on at the beginning, and only find out by listening to your own character’s dialog later.

The exploration also involves some good puzzles. They’re not too hard and not too easy.

What’s the reason? You’re looking for cursed treasure of course! That’s what pirates do in theme parks.

So the game is kind of silly, but it’s silly in a very fun adventurous way. Check it out on Youtube if you’re still curious.

Disclosure: I received a free review copy of this product from https://www.keymailer.co