In Pirates of the Burning Sea, it's up to you to chart a course through eighteenth century Caribbean society. Creating an avatar begins with selecting a nationality from three choices: England, France, or Spain. Upon selecting a nationality, you're required to select a class. Entering the navy allows you to become an officer of the crown, naturally granting advantageous combat abilities. Other classes include freetraders, who are concerned more with finances and information than combat, and privateers that are commissioned by the crown to hunt down enemies of the state. In essence, privateers are sanctioned bounty hunters give freedom to bend the law to get things done. You also have the option of becoming a pirate, a rogue association that essentially designates you as a criminal. While citizens of the same nation can't attack each other, pirates are open to assault by anyone including other pirates. There might be honor among thieves, but for virtual pirates the game played is back-handed and solitary.
As with nearly every massively multiplayer game, you're given the chance to play Ken or Barbie before setting sail on the high seas. Characters can be customized along sixteen different variables including hairstyle, face type, clothing, jewelry, and even pirate-specific accessories like eye patches and peg-legs. (Exactly how a woman would find herself in the position of officer in the British royal navy during the eighteenth century is a question waiting to be answered.)
There's plenty of time to ponder such mysteries while sailing the modeled waters of the Caribbean. Scaled down to allow for quicker navigation among islands, the game world spans the northern coast of South America through the Atlantic edge of Central America to the southern seaboard of the United States. Even scaled down from true size, it’s an enormous expanse brimming with potential gameplay. Sailing from one island to another can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to half and hour depending on the distance.
Naval battles break monotonous treks across the ocean. One-on-one contests are possible, although most confrontations quickly expand as computer-controlled vessels and other players enter the fray. Battles occur on a separate screen with engaged players departing from the over-world to leave a battle icon hovering over the water. Other players sailing by can head into the icon to join the battle if so desired.
Ramming into another ship doesn't damage either ship, but your ship comes to a complete and vulnerable stop. Without being able to position your ship, you can't attack. Three types of cannon shot are available: chain shots aimed at destroying line, grape shots against the crew, and round shots to break the hull. Working with allies to vary attacks encourages forming parties, which makes naval combat not only more effective but exciting as well. Once an enemy vessel has been defeated, you and any other allied players have the option of sinking the ship or boarding it to ransack its goods and finish off the crew.
Combat also occurs on dry land, although it tends to be a solo affair. The vast majority of missions, at least early on, can be completed alone making the game an attractive title if you're searching for an alternative to the group level grinds of more popular online games. This isn't to take away from the multiplayer aspects; rather, the emphasis is squarely placed on developing a unique character with which to share with the community of players. Even more, the game's robust economic system encourages interaction with others in interesting ways. The game promises action at any time by allowing you to venture on a mission by yourself, while at the same time enabling massively multiplayer interactivity in the forms of a dynamic economy and group questing. It's a remarkably smart design that ought to please both ends of the spectrum.
Instead of essentially splitting into two styles of play--one economic and the other combat-oriented--Pirates of the Burning Sea features an integrated economy that influences every aspect of play. At the beginning of the game you're given ten plots of land to develop using deeds. Representing specific structures such as a quarry or woodcutters' camp, deeds allow you to lay buildings. This serves as your economic base, a template with which you can raise structures used to harvest natural resources and craft goods. You're limited to ten plots through the course of the game, although their exact location and how you employ your deeds is entirely up to you.
