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The year is 1720, and three nations race to establish a grip on the resource-rich coast of the Caribbean to boost the global influence of their people. A fourth group competes as well--a group that shows fealty to

You'll command your own vessel early on in Pirates of the Burning Sea.

no flag and honors no king or queen. Welcome to the backdrop for Pirates of the Burning Sea (PotBS), where you'll take on the role of a patriot for England, France, or Spain or commit to the life of a pirate as you battle on the waters from Florida to South America.

In PotBS, developer Flying Lab Software and publisher Sony Online Entertainment deliver an almost unprecedented game play experience. Gamers can see the full world map from the moment they enter the game. The point isn't for players to explore the world and find adventure but rather to expand the sphere of influence for whichever of the four factions they belong to and to increase their personal and national wealth. Players must be ready, for the other three groups will certainly stand in their way. And even within the pirate ranks, different groups vie for power.

PotBS is built on a foundation of fairly solid historical accuracy, and even though player actions will cause the game to deviate from the real time line, Flying Lab Software wants to keep players immersed in a world that feels real and believable even when the zombies come out at night. As a result, players won't be flinging spells or teleporting from one side of the Caribbean to the other. The developers have seen to it that combat revolves around different fighting styles and training emphases and travel takes time and conveys a sense of grandiosity to the world.

Careers
Even the traditional notion of classes won't quite fit PotBS. At character creation, players choose from one of four careers: pirate, navy officer, freetrader, and privateer. Be sure to view the character creation video from the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show.

Pirate is both a choice of career and a declaration that a person serves no country. Pirates tend to overlook little inconveniences like laws and common decency, so they can steal ships when the going gets tough.

Players can pick a career that matches their play style.

Pirates tend to hedonistic motivations.

Navy officers serve the throne of their nation on a commissioned ship with an inexperienced crew. They're responsible for keeping the seas safe for government-owned transport vehicles that ferry goods and people about the Caribbean. Navy officers perform based on a high sense of honor and patriotism.

Freetraders are the average citizens from their country trying to forge a fortune in the new world. They are loyal to the throne but not bound in service; thus, they can explore and seek legal profit. Freetraders are pioneers at heart.

Finally, privateers are the bounty hunters of the seas. They take jobs from the throne to hunt outlaws and make them pay for their crimes. Privateers find motivation in meting out justice on the high seas.

Swashbuckling
Flying Lab Software has tried to engineer a novel combat system for PotBS, too. Melee combat, known as swashbuckling in the game, works on the principle of using initiative to score deadly hits while maintaining balance. Think of initiative as the magic points used in most conventional massively-multiplayer online games. But unlike magic points, initiative starts out at zero in battles and gamers must try to build it up to dispatch foes. Meanwhile, balance rates a fighter's chances of landing and avoiding blows. The more chances a player takes to score a hit, the lower his balance goes. The result is a chess-like system that adds elements of strategy to combat.

Each swashbuckling style has its strentghs and weaknesses.

Swashbuckling Styles
No matter which career gamers choose, everyone knows how to do some amount of fighting. The three fighting styles are known as Fencing, Florentine, and Dirty Fighting. Each styles boasts something unique that could bring an advantage against another style, but each one also has weaknesses.

Fencing is a style of fighting using a rapier to strike fast and precisely. Characters who use this style try to stay on the offensive with rapid and frequent strikes.

The Florentine fighting style combines a short sword and dagger to create a solid defense. Characters who use this style can parry incoming blows with their two blades and wait patiently for the right moment to land a hit of their own.

Dirty Fighting is the preferred fighting style for pirates and involves the use of a cutlass. The wide blade is deadly, but it's the dirty part of the fighting that wins the day. Characters who use this style resort to tricks in battle; they might throw dirt in an opponent's eyes to reduce his accuracy and defense.

Ship Combat
Flying Lab Software knows that you can't have pirates and three nations contending for the seas without ship-based combat. One of the most heavily-touted aspects of PotBS is its ship-to-ship battles. Like swashbuckling, this combat system involves some strategy and cunning. Gamers can choose to just outright sink a ship, but there's no booty in that, so it's usually better to board enemy vessels for the loot. That's easier said than done, though, and players first need to disable the ship enough to successfully grapple. And boarding is much easier for astute players who thin the numbers of the enemy crew with anti-personnel fire before boarding.

All told, a ship battle could involve maneuvering for the best position to fire bar shot to damage the mast and sails. With the enemy vessel crippled, a player could then use langridge shot to take out some of the crew on the deck before grappling. Once the grapple is successful, the boarding begins and a swashbuckling battle ensues. For more on ship combat, see Ten Ton Hammer's interview with Game Designer David Hunt.

Parting Thoughts
Gamers who pre-ordered Pirates of the Burning Sea have been able to play since January 7, 2008. Retail boxes will arrive in stores January 22. In the meantime, the subscription prices for PotBS have been announced. Stay tuned as we continue to bring you more news about this game, and look for my review coming up soon!

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