From what you and the trailer have demonstrated, it seems as though Pirates suffers from two readily apparent problems. For starters, it falls into the same controversial pitfall as Resident Evil 5, which cast the appropriately heroic European protagonist against hordes of mindless foreigners. Luckily, Capcom experienced enough PR pressure and eventually inserted an African sidekick. While Sheva was meant to act as a foil against the unintelligle natives, she seemed obtuse and completely artificial.

You outlined the second problem really well. When the contrast between the protagonist and antagonist is so sharp, the viewers are forced to assume that there's a message. While I would never imply the developers are racist by any means, it's tough to ignore the evident "Civilized European vs. Savage Natives" juxtaposition which they've created.

I'm glad that I'm not the only person who feels uncomfortable at in-game scenarios like this one. Unfortunately, it seems gamers who are of ethnic minorities are the only ones who take umbrage with this kind of one-dimensional narrative. All in all, excellently put!

@Omar, I never played RE5 but I remember all the controversy over it. I was reluctant to comment on it at the time, but definitely the imagery of that game made me way more uneasy than with this one. Sheeva as a "foil" didn't quite work for me since she was much lighter and had straighter hair than the other Africans.

I think that non-ethnic minorities also take issue with these one dimensional narratives, as you put it, but maybe they don't feel uncomfortable enough about it to write something. 

Suggested reading: http://io9.com/5422666/when-will-white-people-stop-making-movies-like-avatar

This doesn't seem quite as bad as RE5, which didn't have to take place in Africa at all, but it's still another case of developers failing to think about the imagery they're conveying. Lots of people took issue with the race debate that RE5 sparked, but I think it was ultimately Capcom being irresponsible.

I wrote about it here if you want some background (don't mind the formatting, I'm changing layouts): http://boldstate.com/2009/08/01/dismissing-defending-claims-of-racism-in-video-games/

@Chas, I like the analysis in your piece on boldstate. I particularly dig how you illustrate the difficult dance one has to go through to try and talk about irresponsible depictions of race in video games without going so far as to accuse anyone or thing of being racist. 

Thanks. I was a bit late with that article because I was having so much trouble trying to convey my opinion of the situation, but it all clicked when I read that article complaining about LFD2 and Call of Juarez. Like I said at the end, I've never played or even heard of a racist game, but I've seen plenty of irresponsible ones. This Pirates game looks to be one of those.

Yes, racism does exist in our society, and I understand your view point. But, I personally do not feel that Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned is racist.  When watching the gameplay video, I did not identified them by the color of their skin. I thought they were native islanders, on a remote island that has yet to be explored. Do I think all islanders are like this, no. They are just attempting to tell a story that borrows from Indian Jones and the Temple of Doom (which is better than National Treasure Mike Minotti). Overall this was a good piece that helped bring out a healthy discussion on the cultural relevance of video games.

Well, in defense and condemnation of RE5, the game in itself really wasn't all that irresponsible. It was a jarring image at first glance; I knew exactly what was going on and still had "Birth of a Nation" shiver go down my spine initially. But to push toward the notion that there's not compelling example or reason to have a white protagonist be in a shooter set in Africa pushes a sort of patronizing liberal racism that offends me more as a person of African descent more than most of the typical racism I've grown up with living in the southern United States.

My biggest problem with it in the initial controversy was the trailer. It was misstep in marketing from a company based in a country that at times makes the early-era Disney cartoon dipictions of minstrel stereotypes look progressive. 'Roided up white military guy gunning down the most stereotypical-looking African villagers just doesn't look good on the surface. For all the gamers that cried black leaders were ambulance chasing racial issues, my initially viewing of the trailer left me thinking had I not known what Resident Evil was and understood what was going on from prior knowledge, I'd probably would have thought the same things. Gamers often credit Resident Evil with a lot more cultural cache outside of the gaming community than it actually has. Past that, the only issue I really had with the production of the game was one the heads after claiming to have spent a couple of months in Africa doing to research on a particular African tribe being completely unable to recall the tribe when asked by N'Gai Croal. Honestly brainlocked moment, possibly. But it again appeared pretty bad in the midst of accusations of stereotyping and being culturally irresponisble to not be able to remember the tribe you claim to be researching.

@Chas, I've seen quite a few racist games. The flash game Border Patrol comes quickly to mind and I believe the National Alliance has done it's share of selling a FPS entitled Ethnic Cleansing. They do exist. They tend to be a very underground thing and are rarely ever discussed by the gaming press, let alone the mainstream media unless something like an RE5 incident happens.

@Gerren, thanks for your insight on the whole RE5 issue. I think you phrased it quite eloquently.