Pirates of the Burning Sea

 PC
User Score
7.6

Generally favorable reviews- based on 64 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 44 out of 64
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 64
  3. Negative: 11 out of 64
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  1. JoeSchmoe
    Mar 3, 2008
    3
    Simply put, a terribly dull game. Sword fighting requires nothing more than button mashing, and open sea combat is painfully slow. Given that these elements make up 95% of the gameplay, there really isn't enough to do to warrant playing for more than a few days.

    Graphics and sound are bland but generally on par with what other MMOs offer. Sound is unmemorable. Overall, the game    Simply put, a terribly dull game. Sword fighting requires nothing more than button mashing, and open sea combat is painfully slow. Given that these elements make up 95% of the gameplay, there really isn't enough to do to warrant playing for more than a few days.

    Graphics and sound are bland but generally on par with what other MMOs offer. Sound is unmemorable. Overall, the game plays, looks, and sounds mediocre.    … Expand
  2. SteveC
    Mar 15, 2008
    3
    Over the past 10 years of gaming i have played hunreds of pc games. Over the past 12 months i have played most of the new releases and a lot of WOW but as a mature gamer i am anticipating the release of the new MMO Conan game so i thought potbs would be a good stopgap until it arrives. I am largely disappointed in this game. It lags terribly and to say it is an online game the world feels Over the past 10 years of gaming i have played hunreds of pc games. Over the past 12 months i have played most of the new releases and a lot of WOW but as a mature gamer i am anticipating the release of the new MMO Conan game so i thought potbs would be a good stopgap until it arrives. I am largely disappointed in this game. It lags terribly and to say it is an online game the world feels very underpopulated with other players...and thats on a busy sever. The Trading/crafting is quite complex to begin with but as long as you pick up the draughtsman recipes you can progress quite well and make a profit. But make a profit to do what?The swashbuckling/combat i feel is a joke---requiring very little skill and giving you very little control. The only intresting aspects are the naval ship v ship encounters which do require skill and a lot of input and are quite pretty visually. These do get quite boring after you have done a hundred or so---and you wonder whether it is worth all the hassle to get a bigger ship with bigger guns just to engage in the same tedious battles. I am a good judge of games and agree with most of the game rankings on this site BUT please folks by all means try the game for the first free month but you have been warned it is no WOW killer. The other downside is ..because it is an online game-most game shops wont trade it in as a part ex on your next game..so your stuck with it. Hope you have more fun with it than i did---binned after 2 weeks.… Expand
  3. Sergeys
    Nov 18, 2009
    2
    I was Flying Lab Software (the game maker) subscribed customer for 7 months and you'd think they'd care about customer loyalty, right? Their customer support has no understanding of such basic things as "customer appreciation" or "customer satisfaction". They don't even have a phone to call in, all communication is done over e-mail. Too bad such a promising game must suffer I was Flying Lab Software (the game maker) subscribed customer for 7 months and you'd think they'd care about customer loyalty, right? Their customer support has no understanding of such basic things as "customer appreciation" or "customer satisfaction". They don't even have a phone to call in, all communication is done over e-mail. Too bad such a promising game must suffer from incompetent customer support.… Expand
  4. AlG
    Sep 23, 2009
    3
    While I enjoyed this game initially with all the different kinds of ships and all the personalization capabilities the game's ugly side reveals itself towards the end. As players will find themselves running a gauntlet of endless grinding, game bugs, unbalanced PvP, as well as economic baggage that seem to be intentionally designed to make it impossible for solo players or players While I enjoyed this game initially with all the different kinds of ships and all the personalization capabilities the game's ugly side reveals itself towards the end. As players will find themselves running a gauntlet of endless grinding, game bugs, unbalanced PvP, as well as economic baggage that seem to be intentionally designed to make it impossible for solo players or players who can't find a good guild to join to obtain decent ships. The most infamous of which is the Lineship Structure Bundle. In addition to all this the developers at Flying Labs Software are less than helpful and tend to ignore player issues. I've also seen some documented cases of FLS devs banning players accounts for simply expressing their opinions about how the game is operated and monitored. If you are a player interested in naval combat set in the age of sail I highly recommend you try either East India Company or Empire: Total War as opposed to this game.… Expand
  5. tardacus
    Feb 25, 2012
    0
    This game is an absolutely dreadful waste of time.
    This game shares the grindfest gameplay model of most MMO`s complete with forced PVP against players many levels higher than you and with no chance of winning.When you lose a forced PVP fight against these higher level people you items and ships which takes days or even weeks of mind numbing grinding to replace. If you enjoy grinding for    This game is an absolutely dreadful waste of time.
    This game shares the grindfest gameplay model of most MMO`s complete with forced PVP against players many levels higher than you and with no chance of winning.When you lose a forced PVP fight against these higher level people you items and ships which takes days or even weeks of mind numbing grinding to replace. If you enjoy grinding for days or weeks just to able to pvp for 20 or 30 minetes then you`ll love this game.
    Finding an opponent to PVP against will take several hours since the game population seems to consist of only hanger on`s who have been playing the game since beta and have invested so much money into the game that they can`t walk away from it.
    PVP and PVE are slow and glitchy.

    customer service is about what you would expect from any F2P MMO, it doesn`t exist.
    Bugs and glitches are the norm rather than the exception.
    end game content, there is none.
    For all intents and purposes this is a dead game that should have been buried long ago.
    The only reason the game is still up and running is because the few fanbois that still play it keep throwing money at it to keep the two servers running.
    This is just another low budget independent cash cow game.    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

55
#55 Best PC Game of 2008
51
#51 Most Discussed PC Game of 2008
73
#73 Most Shared PC Game of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 30
  2. Mixed: 6 out of 30
  3. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. Multiplayer.it
    Mar 9, 2011
    78
    Learning to play may take too long, but sea-battles are really exciting and the setting is more than catching.
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  2. GameDaily
    80
    With plenty to do and gorgeous visuals, Pirates of the Burning Sea is a quality MMO no one should miss.
    Read full review
  3. Game Revolution
    75
    A unique hybrid of plundered gameplay elements. It doesn't manage to actually improve upon its MMORPG parents, but if you've become tired of space lasers or elf wizards, Burning Sea is easily the most interesting new game in town. In the long run, it will be the complex economy and the faction warfare that will determine the success of this ocean venture.
    Read full review
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