"I want to be a pirate!” That’s the first sentiment expressed by Guybrush Threepwood in the The Secret Of Monkey Island, and one that resonates with most of us. After all, who doesn’t want to be a pirate?

Towering sailing ships, swordfights, cannons, rum, adventure on the high seas and –if you’re that way inclined – an amazing beard are just a few of the benefits of joining the pirate fraternity. And don’t even get us started on the joys of making filthy landlubbers walk the plank…

It’s exactly that sort of aspiration that developer Piranha Bytes is hoping to tap into with its upcoming ‘pirates in a fantasy world’ game, Risen 2: Dark Waters.

It’s also the former PC-only developer’s second dive into console waters, and it’s hoping the franchise’s transformation from generic fantasy world to pirate romp will be a success after the rather lacklustre Risen floundered in 2010.

You certainly can’t accuse the developer of being half-hearted with Risen 2’s pirate shtick, and in its attempt to craft an RPG with a unique identity, Piranha Bytes is hoping to deliver an island-hopping pirate epic.

The whole adventure is your life as a pirate, recasting you as the hero from the first game, only now a washed-up, drunken bum, recently marooned on a pirate island. The only way to escape is to join the pirates, and so begins your journey from hobo to pirate captain.

A mug o' ale over a campfire? Pirates never were the smartest...

This being a Risen game, you’ll explore a living open world on each island you go to, and level up to unlock skills like musket-shooting, sword-fighting and all manner of dirty tricks, including throwing sand into enemies’ eyes.

You’ll also gather a crew of pirates to adventure with you based on decisions you make, and you’ll need all the help you can get to escape the authorities, battle other pirates and monsters, and see off a world-destroying magical threat.

While we quite like Risen 2’s whole Pirates Of The Caribbean meets world-saving high-fantasy vibe, it’s a little disappointing that pirate ships only transport you between islands and can’t be sailed.

Still, we’ve never really played a pirate RPG on the 360, and that’s enough for us to want to cast off in Risen 2 in search of adventure. After all, we want to be pirates as much as anyone else…