Up Down Left Right

Dead men tell no tales.

Luckily, when you're playing video games, you can always start over if you die.

Although Jack Sparrow and his "Pirates of the Caribbean" are unleashing their third big-screen adventure in multiplexes this summer, the belligerent buccaneers are officially setting sail inside a virtual world for the first time.

In "Pirates of the Caribbean Online" (free for "basic access" or $9.95 a month for "unlimited access" for Windows PC), the infamous treasuer hunters are inviting the audience aboard for a massively customizable ride, beginning this spring.

But gamers have been canon launching and sword fighting long before the Disney attraction docked on the big screen and started hoisting tie-in games onto the market.

Long treasured titles such as "Curse of Monkey Island" and "Age of Pirates" have been capturing the pirate spirit for decades -- and even more pirate-themed games are on the way. Originally released in 1987, "Sid Meier's Pirates!" recently went handheld ($29.99 for PSP).

In this installment of Up Down Left Right, asap digs up such pirate games to see if they're worth their salt.

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See the video here.

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"Up Down Left Right" is a weekly video feature starring asap reporters and gaming gurus DERRIK J. LANG in New York and RYAN PEARSON in Los Angeles. From separate coasts, they personally provide their take on today's -- and sometimes yesterday's -- games. E-mail them at updownleftrightap.org.

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Don't miss previous "Up Down Left Right" installments featuring "Spider-Man 3: The Game," (http://asap.ap.org/stories/1403232.s ) "Guitar Hero II," (http://asap.ap.org/stories/1385834.s ) "Crackdown," (http://asap.ap.org/stories/1369357.s)" Whirlwind Over Vietnam" (http://asap.ap.org/stories/1354027.s ), "Hotel Dusk: Room 215" (http://asap.ap.org/stories/1435692.s ) and more!

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