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If Bridge the Gap 2 has taught me anything, it's that pirates are capable of only the
most rudimentary physical abilities. If you want them to not fall down chasms to their
untimely demise, they need the invisible hand of a pirate engineer to place wooden poles,
barrels and boxes down so they can not only get to their precious flag, but collect any
gold coins along the way. Pirates do love their *** after all.
Each level gives you a set number of resources to use, and a limited selection of which items
are available. Dragging them onto the screen will lower the counter, but you can use the
saw to get that resource back. The pirates themselves who follow their captain start
waddling around once you press the play button. They can climb upwards to the height of one
box, and will mindlessly walk to the right until they get stuck, plummet, or reach the
end of the level. The stages slowly rise in difficulty, with more items at your disposal,
but the physics engine itself is rather stock standard, lacking any particular enjoyment
as you work out how to get these swashbucklers to safety by stacking crates, and using weight
to create platforms or see-saws.
The coins you receive while playing the game (and for other reasons like logging in daily
or liking the game on Facebook) can be used in the game's shop. There is a whole host
of aesthetic items but you're probably going to want to save up to hire more pirates on
your crew. Each pirate has a particular skill like searching for buried treasure or blasting
critters out of the way, and your pirate load-out can add some uniqueness to play.
One glaring problem, at least on 3GS devices is that the buttons of the game have a tendency
to not register input. Restarting a level may not happen unless you hit the random sweet
spot, and even accessing the game from the menu can be an exercise in frustration. This
coupled with long load times does a lot to aggravate the player. Especially seeing that
aside from the pirate-themed premise, there's not really a hook to keep going, unless you
really love games like Bridge Builder or were a big fan of the first Bridge the Gap.