Pirates of the Caribbean Online: First Impressions

Pirates of the Caribbean Online

is in the Stress Testing part of Beta right now, which means there are regularly scheduled lagfests occurring on a weekly basis. This is usually the final part of Beta testing which means they should be able to meet their "Fall" release time.

I haven't gone too far in the game and there is quite a bit of hint text missing on the loading screens, but for the most part things seem to be a lot more stable and "filled in" compared to when Beta first began a few months ago.

Here is what I think of PotCO so far:

Graphics: Not so great. A bit dated actually. But the overall look and coloring works well for what it is.

Character Creation: There is a lot of customization available for your pirate. And the name generator is quite a bit of fun as well -- I am Samantha Truepaine. I would not rate the character creation as high as City of Heroes/Villains, but it's close enough.

Depth: You can only be a pirate -- there are no other classes. I didn't detect any crafting, though I may not have come across it yet.

Movie Mojo: You meet most of the main characters of the movies very early on. The game soundtrack borrows from the movie soundtrack as well. The voice acting is obviously not done by the actors, however, though I think only purists will care.

PvP: PvP is completely optional but available in both combat and parlor game form.

Gameplay: Surprisingly, PotCO is not so much of an MMORPG as it is an MMO Adventure game. The quests are in a very linear progression with lots of NPCs who won't talk to you until you get to that part of the story.

Pirateyness: You play a pirate and you fight with swords and guns. You get a ship very early on and can travel and fight in it as well. Yes, the game is as Piratey as it should be. Yar!

Favorite part: I like everything about the Tortuga Hold'em Poker. The rules are the same as Texas Hold'em -- or at least I can't tell the difference. You play against other players with your in-game money. And I just love that you join a game by going to the pub, sitting down at the poker table and waiting for the next deal. I can even knit while I play -- or write this article. Of course, I'm not getting much sleep tonight...

PotCO is based off of the Toontown design in that it is a browser-based game which includes quite a bit of free content. Extended features will require a $9.95 monthly payment. I don't know if it will be worth the monthly payment, but it's definitely worth the download and the free Pirate playtime.