by Geek Woman of WomenGamers.com

Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online doesn't have the sharpest looking graphics or the most interesting missions you'll ever play. What they are going for with this title is as casual interest MMO. With the millions of fans of the movie IP and the millions of DVD's sold it was a pretty sure thing for Disney to poop out this game and expect to make a bundle. Even with its offered free-to-play mode, you can be sure that there is revenue coming in or they wouldn't have made a business model like this one.

Look & Feel:

The Pirates of the Caribbean (PotC) fans will no doubt appreciate the reasonably good job they've done at capturing the look and feel of the movies. Jack Sparrow, the leading character from the movies, is the first character you meet. When Jack is on screen his anthem plays. Unfortunately the voice-acting in the game was not done by the original actors.

Graphics are kooky. The bodies of the characters are exaggerated and cartoonish. The environments and backgrounds aren't very detailed. The buildings are open empty and barn - like. In the towns the graphics aren't anything special and it could have been a rush job to get the game out before the competitors Pirate game ships set sail.

Gameplay:

The game is offered two ways which are 'basic' and 'unlimited.' Unlimited access has a monthly fee of about $10 US. With a basic account there are fewer weapons, ships and quest options. With only a basic account, it is harder to level up as well as less experience per kill. The other downside is you may have to wait to get on the servers since basic accounts have lower server priority.

When you create your characters, instead of being able to pick your own character name, you are given a list of Pirate names which you can combine. The persistent family-friendliness that is seeping into all corners of the gaming industry is a disturbing trend. If you want to name you character without using the list, original names are subject to approval.

The gameplay has two modes-- one for land and one for sea. You'll begin in Port Royal where you are given your first quest. They are simplistic, like a search for items or people. The usual grind of killing six naval officers or a variable number of other enemies.

You'll try to find the Black Pearl for Jack as instructed by an undead lady shaman. The shipboard gameplay is the main means of transportation in the game as you would expect. Quests will require you to attack other ships belonging to the East India Trading Company. The ship combat is bound to be the biggest feature for pirate fans. One difficulty is putting together a crew. You'll see that there are way too many captains on the chat box calling for crew mates and no one wants to be told what to do by another player. This is a flaw in that game because the bigger quests require a full compliment and you may not get one unless you bring along friends from the real world. The captain pilots the ship while others man the cannons. The object is then to-- well do the pirate thing and raid other ships.

In the land-based game you don't need other players' help. Your weapons are swords or muskets. Of course there is the stipulation that you can't use guns on fellow pirates due to the Pirate Code. You can, however, use them on the various skeletons, zombie pirates. Voodoo Dolls and Staffs allow you to cast hexes that are magic attacks.

There are mini games like Blackjack to try. Dueling other players via a PvP (player-versus-player) system is possible. Every player-created pirate gets one of the cursed coins from the first PoC movie. The coins permit entrance for two PvP modes. The mode called 'Mayhem' is a free for all, or you can play in teams.

Completing quests and defeating enemies earns 'notoriety' (that is the game's equivalent of levels). Skill points are given for you to get new skills. Earning skill levels is a slow process.

Conclusion:

Pirates of the Caribbean Online is attempting to attract a different gamer than the other MMO's on the market. The game is accessible to a the casual audience since it is easy to learn. If you are a hardcore Pirate, you'll want to move on to Pirates of the Burning Sea. Sony's answer to the popular Pirate fad is Daddy's Pirate entertainment while Disney's PotC is for the kiddies. So if you want to be a Pirate here's you chance. You can beat the price of free-to-play. And if you are a big PotC fan then it might be worth it to opt for the full version.

I give Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean Online seven shiny doubloons out of ten.