Despite warnings that the game would not take off, Disney produced a pirate mmorpg that captures the quick action feel of swashbuckling movies.

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online is the first true commercial pirate mmorpg. Players can download the client and play a character in the world of Jack Sparrow, but there are some differences between the Pirates of the Caribbean Online game and more traditional mmorpgs. The first one that strikes the user, other than the game being free, is the lack of character classes.

Pirates of the Caribbean is Skill Based

Characters can gain levels in pirate related skills, both ship and land based. For a character to learn all skills or get more than a slop in the game, he must upgrade to a paid account. (Players who complete the introductory quests receive a sword, a sloop, and a gun in that order.) Pirates of the Carribean Online divides skills into sea based skills and land based skills. Both land and sea skills can be raised, but a character must use a skill to gain experience in it and level it up.

Capturing the Feel of the Pirates of the Caribbean Movies

A player who has watched all 3 movies may not want the feel of the third movie captured, as At World's End was long and drawn out, but Pirates of the Caribbean Online does a good job imitating the feel of the cinematic swashbuckling genre.

Rather than the normal combat controlled by the AI, Pirates of the Caribbean Online requires player interaction to attack opponents, allowing the user to make combination attacks with the weapon. (Each combat raises the amount of experience with the weapon in a manner similar to Runescape.) The action flows at a fast pace, although the travel times between the island could be improved.

Pirates of the Caribbean Online Graphics

Like Disney's first attempt at an mmorpg, Toontown, POTC Online has cartoony graphics which may be slightly dated. This allows the game to run on older computers with a minimum of hardware, but the Disney corporation made sure the art for the graphics was well rendered which more than makes up for this problem. The character customization options show a great deal of initiative and though. Only Star Wars Galaxies allows for a wider range of avatar appearances.

Disney's Target Market for Pirates of the Caribbean Online

The game cannot compete with the lager mmorpgs like World of Warcraft or Everquest, but it is free and may be popular with the crowd that Runescape and Toontown appeals to. Disney's target age group is slightly older than Toontown's, and some of the parental controls have been relaxed in Pirates of the Caribbean Online. If parents are concerned about who their children are communicating with over the Internet, the parental controls can be turned back on.

While it is not the best mmorpg on the market or the most popular, Pirates of the Carribean Online provides a way to play a pirate online.

Sources

Disney's Website

Pirates of the Caribbean Online