PotBS Review
Author: From:www.buyfastgold.com
Split between the classic MMO style melee combat and ship-to-ship battles, Pirates of the Burning Sea is an interesting attempt to marry two very different styles of gaming into one experience. The game centers around the Caribbean Sea in 1720, with four factions vying for supremacy and control of the area: British, Spanish, French, Pirate. A richly detailed economy supported by a crafting system offers players different ways to play the game, but battle can't be avoided. Pirates of the Burning Sea, or PotBS, grows more interesting as you move along, despite the suspect graphics and normal hiccups of an MMO launch.
You start the games by choosing which factions/nationality you will be, either French, English, Spanish, or Pirate. The classes (Naval Officer, Privateer, Freetrader, Pirate) tend to overlap a bit and none are more or less capable in an open sea battle. If you choose to be a Pirate than that is also your class, which stands to reason. Also, once you have chosen, you're stuck with that unless you erase the character. This makes sense, since SOE can't have individuals playing on both sides of the fence in a virtual world that is constantly being shaped by the users.
The star of the game is the ship-to-ship battles. Ship movement is very realistic, so understanding how your vessel maneuvers, which direction the wind is blowing, the range of your cannons firing arc, and the special skills you earn all affect the outcome of battle. Tactics vary depending on which class you've chosen. For instance, British Naval officers might have better armored ships but they are slower moving and not as maneuverable as something a Freetrader might buy or a Pirate might command. This helps to level the playing a field a bit and incorporates more player skill over the standard competition for uber equipment and spells.
The battles themselves are fun, intricate and offer a variety of ways to play them to your tastes. Watching a sink ship tickles our giblets but battles sometime linger on as AI circle around islands or try to escape. Now to be fair, this is very realistic reaction, what good captain stands still while his vessel is assaulted? But still, thirty minutes chasing bilge rats around will make the most patient sea dog scream, "GARRR!!" at his monitor. Much like any game though, if you weather this early frustration, you're rewarded with skills that will allow you to tailor your captaining abilities to your battle preference.
The point of these ship-to-ship battles is the booty. Well, the point to most MMOs is loot, and the best way to maximize your efforts and get the most loot is to board a ship you are fighting and kill the opposing captain in melee combat. This is the truest combination of the games two gaming experiences and a very cool simulation of the at sea pirate battles. Unfortunately, the melee combat isn't nearly as complex or developed as the ship-to-ship and is basically relegated to the number keys and few different attacks.
The graphics are similarly split. The glistening ocean is beautiful, and the camera allows you to views of the rock formations underneath the surface and glimpse of ships as they sink. Common areas aren't rendered quite as well and the character modeling is far from impressive. To boot, there are serious lag spikes depending where you are in a given zone.
The maps of the common areas are fairly simple too, which wouldn't be too much of an issue if you didn't spend a lot of time in these areas overseeing your holdings. The economy is highly detailed in Pirates of the Burning Sea. You build warehouses to store goods that you produce in structures like gold mines, logging mills for timber, and so on, but you have to make sure that the area you build in has those raw materials. So, don't build a gold mine where there is no gold! In order to build these structures you must first buy deeds and once you build them you must pay taxes on the structures so you have to be aware of your cash flow. Also, you will need recipes to produce items. Simple recipes come with the structures and more advance recipes are loot drops. Next you have to pay attention to amount of labor time is required for a recipes which is measured real world time. Pretty cool idea, that. You sell goods that you produce on the Auction House and ship them back an forth via your ships.
If fireballs and lasers have run their course for you, Pirates of the Burning Sea is a very capable and interesting alternative in the MMO world. The lags issues are to be expected in a game launch and will no doubt be mitigated somehow. Ship-to-ship battles are fun and a little stream-lining will only improve on that. All the positive elements of Pirates of the Burning Sea suggest a persistent and engaging experience, especially since players can shape the power structure and economy of the world. Should Flying Lab improve on the melee combat system, Pirates will become a solid purchase in the MMO universe.
return list: Pirates of the Burning Sea(US)
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