Skull & Bones

Naval warfare promises to make pirates out of any landlubber

- 

Considering how much fun it was to sail the seas in the Jackdaw in Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, it’s no surprise that Ubisoft is heading back to the ocean. But this isn’t a follow up to our past cover star’s series. Instead, Skull & Bones is an intriguing seafaring fighter that casts you as the captain of your very own warship, hunting for the one thing salty dogs crave the most: treasure.

We’re sampling multiplayer mode Loot Hunt, a 5v5 skirmish where teams battle to capture and escape with as much booty as possible. You can plunder it from AI merchant ships who are daft enough to be using your battleground as a trading route, or steal it from other online players.

Before we can rumble in the azure blue waters around Madagascar, we need to choose a ship.

Unsurprisingly, there are various classes, each offering different ways to play. The beefy Frigate, for instance, is a hulking tank-like ship that can absorb more than its fair share of cannon shot, but is a sluggish beast, while the Sloop-Of-War is a sprightly long-range ship that’s unable to sustain