Game Review: Pirates of the Caribbean Online
Rated by 4 members
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this is a massively multiplayer
online game in which you become a pirate and that the pirates
in this game are violent. There is no graphic blood, but you
may be asked to kill crabs and wasps. You can fight with
cutlasses and pistols, but opponents simply fall over. Cannons
can be fired from ships which break masts and cause ships to
sink, but you don't see bodies flying. Your major opponents in
this game are other humans, not fantasy monsters. There is a
Voodoo theme in the game where you wave a funny looking ragdoll
and throw "hexes" which produce a greenish grey smoke effect.
The game can be played for free in a frame which contains
advertising for age-related product. In the free version some
game content will be restricted. For the ad-free version, you
must pay $9.95/month, but since this is an online game, content
is constantly added. This game is one age bracket up from
Toontown Online and carries through all of Disney's
original child-protection and security settings, such as the
ability to lock down free chat and a profanity filter that
cannot be turned off. Many families play this game together and
naval combat actually requires cooperative play as one person
has to sail the ship, while others can fire cannons. Quests
often also are more easily completed in a group and some
require several players to play cooperatively in order to
succeed. As with any MMORPG, kids can get sucked in and find
they want to spend a tremendous amount of time in this
world.
Families can talk about how important cooperation is within this game. Do you think the naval battles were realistic of what pirates used to experience. Who is the most famous pirate you have heard of? What did Pirates really do? Does Voodoo really exist?
Common Sense Media Review
This game is based on the
Disney Pirates of the Caribbean
movies and your ultimate aim is to assist Jack Sparrow in
recovering the Black Pearl. Along the way, players create their
own pirates, dress them, and advance their characters by
acquiring reputation in various skills such as swordplay,
voodoo magic, sailing, obtaining treasure, and acquiring larger
ships.
The game actually leads the player through the storyline with well crafted quests and directions. The in-game tutorial is friendly and the game is simple enough to play that an in-depth instruction manual is not required. First time players will be amazed at the quality of the cut scenes which actually place your created character in the "movie" where you interact with familiar characters like Jack Sparrow, Tia Dalma, Elizabeth Swann, and Will Turner.
To keep to its family friendly motto, players are defeated but do not die. Instead they fall unconscious and wake up in jail. Another aspect of this game is the Player versus Player gameplay: players can go head to head with another player in an "arena" but when this occurs, they are not human. They are "cursed" and transformed into skeletons.
Young fans of pirates in general and Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean will be pleased with Disney's effort to craft an online game for the tween population who have outgrown ToonTown Online . The game is a fun romp and sailing on the high seas looking for enemy ships to lob cannon at with your kids can be a blast. Younger children may get frustrated at the more difficult quests or fights, but rest assured that in an MMORPG, there are many things to do. From playing cards to searching for treasure, from fighting with cutlass and pistol to using voodoo magic and naval battle.
A free version of the game supported by advertising in the form of a framed window is available for families to check out before committing to the full subscription membership.
If you like this game, check out Zack & Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
