Pirates of the Burning Sea (PotBS), the massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game, lets players sail across the Caribbean in 1720. Cruising across the gorgeous oceans in highly detailed, authentically recreated ships is just the beginning. Players stay among the Caribbean islands or sail west to Mexico. They even have a chance to visit colonial New Orleans, although most of the ports sit among the islands.

One thing to keep in mind when entering into Pirates is that, unlike traditional MMOs, levels don't matter. Attaining higher levels earns points that can be spent on new combat moves and special bonuses, but a nine-pound cannonball is as devastating when fired from a level 1 ship as it is from a level 50. However, higher level players will most likely build huge war galleons equipped with twenty or so cannons, all set to quickly wipe out any puny boats unfortunate enough to sail into their path. Then again, a couple of fast ships can outmaneuver and overwhelm slow, heavy ships, so it could be anyone's fight, depending on how the wind blows.

Before shoving off, a multicolored ring encircles the player's ship. Sailing in the direction of the green takes full advantage of the wind. Yellow does less so, while red sails against the wind and practically brings the ship to a halt. In ship combat, players must exploit an enemy's weak spots, either directly ahead or behind them, and fire using a variety of ammunition. Some ammunition, like the bar shot, brings down sails and disables them.

We also got to look over the long list of skills available for both ship battles and sword fights. While maintaining an overall sense of realism, one of the sword fighting styles found in the game is "dirty fighting," which includes low blows (stabbing opponents in the foot) or elbowing them in the face. Sword fighting relies greatly on balance (represented by a ring around the characters' feet), and the goal is to throw opponents so far off balance that they can no longer fight. Moves can be strung together into combo chains, since some abilities need other types to be used first before they can activate.

Winning became pretty easy once we got a groove going, but the fact that five other pirates were fighting by our side might have stacked the odds in our favor. As for ship battles, we picked up skills that would increase our damage output and maneuverability, along with one called "Flog Gunners" to whip our crew into reloading cannons faster.

Soon after some basic training, we got a tour of the various port cities featured in PotBS. San Juan is a small but quaint Spanish town that gets rocked by gun ships. Each area has a unique sense of style that captures the time period, but few stick out like the British Port Royal, which suffered from a number of devastating earthquakes, causing the residents to build a new town atop the ruins of the old. Although the game focuses primarily on realism, players can actively seek out the supernatural storyline and end up on a ghost ship like we did.

Lastly, the famous pirate port Tortuga will no doubt enthrall you. According to the developers, it's the largest city in the game. Its dizzying size makes it easy to get lost, and the developers had to install a number of smuggler's routes as shortcuts so that players wouldn't have to run the whole distance to reach critical areas. In the true spirit of a pirate's haven, there are plenty of bars to hang out in, including one built from a ship's hull. However, it's funny that a pirate town should have such a large prison sitting in the middle of it. Characters play dice in the streets, and the port also has an area located inside an active volcano, where reveler's like to drink and dance next to the orange glow of lava.

The game's extensive economy system needs more time to develop, as more beta players sign up and contribute to trade and manufacturing, but it will become a critical component, since almost all the game's ships and building materials will be user generated. In the meantime, players choose when to stay or flee from confrontations, since losing a battle also means losing all the loot inside the ship's hold. No doubt, big money can be found in escorting merchant ships and protecting them from danger.

No matter how one chooses to live life on the high seas, adventure and quite a large sum of loot can be found among the Pirates of the Burning Sea.