Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned

Disney has released information about a new Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG, Armada of the Damned.

From MTV's John Constantine:

When you’re brought in to make an original game based on one of the most popular film franchises in history, your hands are usually tied to all kinds of characters, story elements and setting. Propaganda is taking the road less traveled with their action role-playing game “Pirates of the Caribbean: Armada of the Damned”. No Jack Sparrow, no Orland Bloom Keira Knightley make-out sessions here. The game is all about you and you are the baddest ass pirate n the high seas.

That is, you will be. The game’s design and creative directors didn’t have anything to show us during our private session with them at E3. What they had was a solid looking concept trailer and many good ideas about what a great “Pirates” game should be. Set fifteen years before the movies, you play your own customized pirate and explore both Caribbean islands and the surrounding seas on your own ship, with unique combat and character growth in both.

While it seems like a must, multiplayer is still unconfirmed and they’ve yet to decide if you can play as a female character, “Fable 2” style. Disney? I want to be a lady pirate when the game ships for Xbox 360 and PS3 next year.

As you may remember from my review of Disney's first Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG I will probably play but not go into much depth on this, but I agree with Mr. Constantine, I want to play a girl. Pirates has some great girls in it, not the least of which is the fantastic Anamaria, who was absent from the second and third films, but has proven herself a fantastic xenolinguist and a likely even more compelling alien-cat-lady.

New Pirates of the Burning Sea Character Classes

The more subtle side of making your own pirate adventure is coming to Pirates of the Burning Sea.

Buccaneers are pirates too, but a bit subtler than their burning-bearded brethren. They steal and loot, but also manipulate the black markets. Some would call them gentleman adventurers, though few are true blue bloods. Buccaneers do not have the raw power of cutthroats, but they work well in groups and can help friends and cripple enemies.

Now, buccanneers were no less bloody or brutal than other types of pirates across history, but it's buccanneers we think of when we think of democratically run ships in the Caribbean and it is they who have most influenced the romantic conception of pirates in modern media.

Pirate MMORPGs Aplenty

So, Today marks the release date for Pirates of the Burning Sea a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG) . Also out right now is Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online MMORPG.

Now, while I want to provide you all with the finest in pirate-media reviewing possible, but I do have a job and a first mate who is 10 month old, so I didn't do a lot of extensive testing. That said I DID try out the free trial of Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online.

In Disney's new game, placed in a somewhat undefined time between the end of the first movie and the beginning of the second, though with appearances and references to characters from the second movie (at least as far as I had gotten). Anyway, you're a pirate and you're more or less helping Captain Jack Sparrow fight an undead pirate named Jolly Roger and his skeleton army, and simultaniously fending off Lord Cutler Beckett and his East India Trading Company Assassins. Briganding Ensues.

With Game play being really simple and designed as a family-friendly game That said, it has a system built into it that prevents you from randomly shooting other players, or in fact anyone other than undead ghosts who wouldn't mind since they're already dead. That logic is somewhat tenuous given that you are shooting them to re-kill them. Regardless, the game was fun but like most MMORPGs I've encountered, expect to kill a number of random beasts trying to level up and a lot of time getting from place to place between quests. But, as a plus, if you want to try it out there's a free trial that allows you to play for seven days before committing to a monthly membership.


Next, Pirates of the Burning Sea, has no free trial mode! GASP! For Shame, Pirates of the Burning Sea, for shame.

Here's a review from QJ.NET They seemed to like it.

Another Review from GameSpot,

In the midst of any number of World of Warcraft clones, it's unusual to come across a massively multiplayer title as unique as Pirates of the Burning Sea. Make no mistake: This is not just WoW with pirates instead of Night Elves. Instead, Pirates of the Burning Sea seeks to offer a deep but accessible role-playing experience with any number of original features.

I think the thing that captured me as having the most potential (also potential to literally suck my entire life into a game) was this:

Each nation includes over 1,000 missions, and SOE promises that 80% of them can be finished without having to group. This should be good news for solo players, especially because the target completion time for most of these missions is between 20 and 30 minutes. However, player-vs.-player enthusiasts will find a real treat in the game's PvP system. There are a number of ports scattered around the game world, and these ports can be contested and captured by any of the four nations. This isn't a quick process, however. First of all, you need to create unrest in the region, which will cause an uprising. To do this, you can perform acts of espionage, such as delivering gunpowder to insurgents. Once enough unrest has been caused, the port will be contested, which opens up plenty of opportunities for PvP combat. After a few days, the contest is decided in a huge final battle.

If that doesn't sound like a good time I'm not sure I know what does, possibly reading a blog about Pirates.

If any of you play them please send in comments, I'd love to hear from you.