Planning for a winter release and a fall beta, Pirates of the Burning Sea is well on its way to a drool-worthy product. Both PvE and PvP are centered on naval combat, a feature not often seen in massively multiplayer online games and Flying Lab does it right; the combat is realistic and heavily dependant on tactics. For instance, while a sloop makes a great scout and can run circles around a frigate, it isn’t likely to do much damage. A 64-gun frigate, on the other hand, is slow and hard to steer (much like driving a freight train) though its powerful cannons can quickly tear through the hull of an enemy ship.

Different sorts of cannon shot can be used to damage different parts of your enemy’s ship. Chain shot rips at your enemy’s sails, bar shot works well against enemy masts, and you even have the silverware when all else fails. Cannons aren’t just on the side of your boat, either; stern and bow cannons and swivel cannons shoot diagonally from your ship. On large ships with many cannons, like the frigate, you can also have several levels of cannons, from heavy to light.

This, of course, means a big difference between a battle in a sloop or a battle in a frigate. In a sloop, you want to keep moving and try to avoid notice, ducking in and out of range when your cannons are ready. On a 64-cannon frigate, you can plant yourself in the center of several targets and shoot your cannons in every possible direction.

Damage isn’t just expressed in the form of colorful numbers – though PBS provides those, as well. Large, gaping holes will appear in your sails, and cannonball imprints will decorate the sides of your ships. Crew members will fall down, cannons will be pulled back into the ship when too severely damaged, and on defeat your ship sinks gloriously into Davy Jones’ locker.

Don’t worry, though! Death is not the end. As of now, Flying Lab Software is not planning on adding a penalty for death, other then having to start back at the beginning of your mission.

Not all combat will be naval; Flying Lab Software plans to add avatar combat and more avatar missions in later updates, and said updates will be free downloads rather than costly expansions.

Combat isn’t always the way to go, though. Trading will be an important part of Pirates of the Burning Sea, and port prices will depend on players rather than unknown NPC actions. For instance, if players are blockading a port, that port will pay high prices for any supplies a crafty galleon can sneak through.

Players can also participate in a sort of out of game crafting. All flag and sail designs will be player submitted pictures stretched to fit sails, and Flying Lab is also considering allowing players to design their own ships in the future.

With beautiful graphics, a stellar combat system and intelligent trading, many gamers are looking forward to Pirates of the Burning Sea. I really enjoyed the preview, and here’s hoping that the game will fulfill its promise.