Pirates of the Caribbean Online E3 Previews

Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean Online is the latest MMORPG to be featured in several new E3 previews around the web. The first is at GameSpy:

The game has a pseudo-class-leveling system that’s essentially based around the types of activities the player like to pursue and the items that they use. Melee fighters can specialize in particular types of weapons like cutlasses and clubs. Gun wielders can act as a ranged class and there will even be a “magic” system in the game that uses voodoo as a base. On the other hand, combat isn’t the only path to advancement. Many players will never leave the taverns where they’ll be able to gamble the night away in games of poker and blackjack — and level up their gambling skills which will allow them to cheat at such games.

The second is at Ten Ton Hammer:

Even cooler, every player has a (ship in a bottle), which summons his or her own ship (it sails in through the fog, which looks fantastic, and is fully customizable). Catch a ratline to swing aboard, and it’s time to weigh anchor. Sail the ship, man the guns, or take a first-person perspective to repel boarders, taking your position is seamless and as easy as moving around (and other players can take stations aboard your ship, or you can join their crew). Load the cannons with chain shot to carry away the sails and slow your enemy down, then pound the hull with round shot. When the hull is sufficiently weakened, fire grapple shot to pull the vessel alongside. When you’ve cleared the top deck, you’ll go to a cutscene that swings you back to your ship as the enemy sinks.

The third is at MMORPG.com:

Players advance by gaining skills. The more you use a particular skill, the better you get at it. Characters gain levels in daggers, cutlass, cannon, etc. That is also tied in with notoriety as players compete to be the best of the best. PvP is consensual and Disney plans to support the competitiveness outside of the game by providing leader boards and PvP ladders for bragging rights.

The fourth is at IGN PC:

The game is being built from the ground up with their own engine, based on the Panda 3D Open Source project. Not interested in pushing the graphics envelope (for fear of losing their core market due to steep system requirements), they have designed the game to be scalable based on your system specs. The minimum specs will be a Pentium III 800 processor with 256 MB of RAM. Shaders will be available for those with higher-end systems, ensuring that there will be more eye candy for those who have the firepower. As it is, Pirates Online is a very colorful and appealing game in appearance. Think of it as a cross between Kingdom Hearts and Toon Town. The water looks surprisingly good for such low systems requirements, and the Ghost Pirate ships look eerie and menacing. The look and feel of the game is very much in keeping with their intended market (and will most likely succeed in attracting parents to the game as well).

The fifth is at Kotaku:

Back at the PC demo, I’m watching a pirate racing around empty streets. Buena Vista says the online version will obviously feature more and also offer player matching that links online players with others interested in the same missions. The attacks are all timing based, and there are three weapons available for swashbuckling: a sword, a pistol and voodoo.

And the sixth is at WorthPlaying:

Land-based combat is a different beast that has the players using guns, swords and even voodoo you know, stuff that pirates use. It was suggested that there will be very few weapons in the game, but each weapon will feature a large variety of special attacks that will be accessible as a player gains skill with the weapon in question. Voodoo attacks will allow players to attack others in mystical ways; “simply” tear a bit of hair from your opponent’s head, attach it to your voodoo doll, and run away while gleefully burning, poking and otherwise torturing your doll and opponent. However, if you would rather not risk having your hair pulled on, let alone being lit on fire from afar, you are in good hands, as PotCO will only allow consensual player versus player combat.