Pirates of the Burning Sea - In the Bermuda Triangle

Oct 12, 2007

We just got our second look at Sony Online Entertainment's Pirates of the Burning Sea, and we are now officially excited to try it out.We didn't get any hands-on timewith the world's first Pirate themed MMO this time, but we got to see two quests being completed, which showcased the supernatural elements of the game.

You wont find any pirates shooting fireballs for five D20 worth of damage. The magic in the game is strictly in the realms of voodoo and ghostships - you know, Pirate-y stuff. Of course, if you're a stickler for a realistic 1700s naval simulation MMOs, you can avoid all of the supernatural elements by simply staying out of the Bermuda Triangle (where most of the supernatural elementsare located)and not reading the rest of this article. But don't do that.

The demo began on an island, and the first order of business was to rescue our crew, who had all managed to become possessed by an evil spirit. We set out to explore the island and encountered a lone zombie. If you read our firstpreview, you know that combat functions by using balance and health gauges to determine how successful attacks will be. While a British officer might just try to cut you in half, fighting a zombie is a bit different. First, they stink. Second, the zombies have tons of life and attempt to use their slow, lumbering undead bodies to knock you off balance before getting their grub on with your brains. With just the single zombie to worry about, we didn't have to worry much. The balance gauge recharges quickly, so he couldn't knock usoff ourpirate boots.