Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 30 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 59 Ratings

  • Summary: Pirates of the Burning Sea is an MMORPG featuring high seas action and adventure in a bold world of pirates and plunder. Set against the backdrop of the New World of the 18th Century, players can choose one of three nations – England, France or Spain – or choose the role of a Pirate and battbattle it out for glory and power. Expand
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 23 out of 30
  2. Negative: 1 out of 30
  1. The premise is fueled by historical accuracy, so there is a lot of realism to the gameplay, yet this isn't just a game for nerds. It's deep, but the curve is gradual, which will accommodate a wide range of gamers.
  2. It’s not trying to be particularly clever, but what it does it does very well and when the political and economic side of things starts to affect how you play you will find yourself in a very immersive world that will surprise you and keep on doing so.
  3. It's so fundamentally flawed that most gamers are going to simply bounce right off it. [Mar 2008, p.72]
  4. A lazy game that makes no effort to be atmospheric or fun, leaving only a husk of ideas that could have, potentially, been fun. [Apr 2008, p.76]

See all 30 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 16 out of 24
  2. Negative: 5 out of 24
  1. MattG
    9
    This game is truly addicting. I've played it since beta, and it is now a year and a half later. I've gotten bored with it and tried to quit to play other games, and it always sucks me back in. It can be difficult to get pvp sometimes, but when you get a big 6v6 ship battle, or especially a massive 24v24 pvp port battle to take an enemy town, it's a huge rush. It's got everything. For the pve player, it's got endless missions, a complex player based economy, and over a hundred ports to sail too. For the pvper, it's got Port Conquest, nation v nation RvR with 4 nations, 5 different pvp viable careers, and epic battles with a beautiful ship combat system. I DEFINITELY recommend Expand
  2. Far better game then many of these reviews suggest. One of the very few games where you can run start to run an extremely successful business just a few hours in. Very good job Flying Labs. Swordplay needed some work and there should have been more bonuses for being one of the few utilizing obscure ports, giving them actual value. Expand
  3. LudoL
    6
    Should be amazingly fun but too many bugs and abuse/cheating scenarios create too many situations frustrating and inevitable loss. Up the FUN factor and dont penalize all customers for the sins of some is critical to building a community and sustainable MMORPG... Even for genre fans. Expand
  4. AlG
    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 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

See all 24 User Reviews