PotBS mid-term review

Well I’ve finally reached level 30 and as promised, here is my review of Pirates of the Burning Sea. Since I have not yet reached the level cap and thoroughly experienced every single aspect of the game, this review does not constitute an in-depth appraisal but rather an informed take on this title. So here we go!

 

The Good:

Originality : Yes PotBS is an MMO and as such, it does follow many familiar MMO standards and clichés, but overall I find that this game still does feel quite different than other titles. Some of this is explained by the pirate / early 18th century setting, which is quite a departure from Fantasy / Sci-Fi or even Superheroes. I think that the other main factor behind this is of course the ship combat, where at least half of the time you are fighting your battles not as your avatar but as a vessel at sea, which is a refreshing change from most other titles ( although for auto-assault and EVE players this is nothing new ). I definitely give this game the thumbs up for it’s freshness and distinctiveness.

Ship Combat : As a long-time player of the Starfleet Command series of titles ( I actually recall seeing the two titles compared in the the official forums ), I was already pre-programmed to like this part of the PotBS experience, and the game did not disappoint in this respect. The tactical ship to ship combat is a high point of the game and is well implemented, with a relatively easy learning curve, which was for me mostly centered on figuring out how to cope with wind direction during battle. Rotating broadsides and gun batterie reloads as well as armor depletion, basically learning how to maintain optimum facing in a fight, came naturally to a SFC vet like me and really brought back some fond memories. Thumbs up for this part of the game too.

The So-so :

Travel time : I’m on the fence on this one. On one hand, the slow and majestic pace of open sea travel does give this game a certain atmosphere, contributing to the title’s disticntiveness. But on the other hand, it can also be a pain, sometimes needlessy prolonging a journey, especially if you are sailing against the wind. There is some limited port to port insta-travel and you can also experience shortened travel times if you manage to take advantage of some currents, but this is not always possible. Not a major issue as far as I’m concerned but I think that it could be for some players.

Economy : I would lean towards liking this part of the game, having been able to set up my factories and  successfully sell some goods on the open market. I noticed that it does help to coordinate production with your fellow society mates to maximize earning potential, the economy in PotBS being very much team-oriented. The reason I place it in the So-So category is that, as a rule, I am usually not very much into the crafting / selling aspect of MMOs, which limits for me the appeal of this part of the game regardless of how good it actually is.

The Bad :

Avatar missions : In PotBS, you spend about half your time fighting sea battles on your ship, the other half on land as your avatar. These avatar missions for me are the weak point of the game, being rather repetitive and quite frankly boring, the swashbuckling combat system being especially irritating. I read that this part of the game was tacked on late to PotBS and was not really part of the original concept, so to a certain extent I understand why it is so uninspired. Let’s just say that people coming from other MMOs will likely feel let-down by this aspect of the game. Thankfully, the ship missions more than make up for this.

So these are the sum of my main impressions of PotBS. Some may have noticed that I have not reviewed PvP. This is because I have yet to actively partake in port battles and group skirmishes, and so will hold off commenting on this till I am more informed on the subject.