I don’t think I can put into words, how much I am looking forward to playing this game, but I’ll try. I really, really wanna play this game. Take the character creation of COH, the gameplay of Sid Meiers Pirates, and the online aspect of SWG, mix em in a pot and lets see what comes out. Pirates of the Burning Seas looks like it will satisfy the most picky of MMO pallets .
So lets see what has me all jazzed up about this game.
Your character: The initial creation process is pretty amazing. True, your limited to humans but beyond that, your imagination is pretty much the limit. With enough time and energy, you can pretty much make a duplicate of yourself. Or so I have been told, as I have yet to see a short, balding, overweight, half-Korean pirate.
Your clothes: The choices you have at creation are enormous, from hats and hair to jackets, shirts, pants, boots and jewelry. And it doesn’t stop there. Once your in the game, there are shops available so that you can play Barbie as much as your pocketbook will allow.
Your ship: In PoTBS, your ship is not only your weapon and transport, but your alter ego as well. This is how others will see you when your not in port. While the initial ship selection is small, as you grow, so will your choices and the possibilities to customize them are there as well. Lets just hope they continue to add more choices, so you don’t feel the world has become a stagnant landscape full of clones. Right now, sails and flags are the most recognizable modifications available. In the future, it would be nice to see things like railings, lights, rigging, names and colors too.
Crafting: Gone are the days of repetitive clicking for hours on end. Here, crafting is treated more like running a business. You own farms and mines that produce raw materials., workshops for producing things like hull pieces or cannonballs and warehouses that allow you to store your goods. There are marketplaces in each port that allow you to ply your wares to the entire Caribbean.
Combat: There are two kinds, shore based and ship to ship. On shore, your character gets to duke it out using a pretty interesting combat system that relies more on putting your opponent off balance so that you can deliver that wicked death blow, than just pounding the hell out of em with your hardest hitting special. And remember kids, nothing will fuck up your balance more than a musket ball to the face. On the other hand, ship to ship combat is a lot of maneuvering your ship to be able to dish out as much damage per shot as you can. With an option to send over a boarding party to capture the ship and whatever she has in her holds.
