Sunday, February 17, 2008
posted 4:27pm
"Pirates"
Aye, the sea's full of 'em, at least the burning sea. At the end of last month
Pirates of the Burning Sea
was released through Sony's
Station.com, though
Flying Lab Software,
a new software company out of Seattle, created it. This game not only captures the Caribbean
in the 18th century, but what it feels like to sail upon it; fighting off pirates, saving
townships, and taking over ports at the expense of other players. It sort of reminds me of
Sid Meier's Pirates! (1987)
with the whole Caribbean spread out before you. Also, all the players are Captains. There's
even a player-controlled economy; and if you want anything, and I mean just about anything,
you'll have to buy it off the auction house.
There are also plenty of quests, and a ton of ships to purchase as you level. So it's a good idea to have something going in the economy just to offset that cost.
One problem I have with this game is the hand-to-hand combat. It's a little out of control. You might have ten guys around you and it can be hard targeting one particular combatant. Plus, there's no way to focus fire with the rest of your crew. Or, it's too easy. But once you've lost your first ship you won't feel it's too easy anymore. Hopefully they'll fix all of this in patch.
Overall, I find it a really enjoyable game that practically plays itself if you're mainly focusing on the economy.
To celebrate I've put up a new sound page, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. Every time I'm sailing around the Caribbean a few of these wavs pop into my head, so I thought I'd share them.
Enjoy - D