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Bounty Bay Online

The MMO market, whilst being one of the most lucrative segments of the PC-gaming industry right now, is also probably the most difficult to survive in. Countless minor releases are crushed by extremely high budget colossi such as World of Warcraft, or ultimate niche games such as EVE online. The only way to survive in this cut-throat arena is by either offering more than the competition or by being as different as possible. Yusho's / Frogster Interactive's Bounty Bay Online tries the latter of the two possibilities, but whether it truly is different compared to Everquest 2 or World of Warcraft beyond the opponents screaming "Yarrr!" isn't an easy question to answer.

Bounty Bay Online is basically a European re-release of the Far-Eastern (and later, US-based) MMO Voyage Century Online, with the main difference being the subscription model used in BBO as opposed to free play with purchasable items. The game is initially free, with a 10 day trial, and after that players can keep on gaming for a fee of �6.99 per month. This is unlike the US version which is free to play, at all times, but sales various items, upgrades, etc to keep the money coming in. In short the game can be described as an MMO where the player assumes the role of an aspiring captain in a time where pirates still roamed the seas. Once the player gets acquainted with the basic controls, it is possible to choose a career as a warrior, a merchant or an explorer, each offering a unique game-style, each with their respective vessels, quests and skills.

Storm Island - the first European expansion pack

This particular review roughly coincides with Frogster releasing a free expansion pack, with a pretty decent line-up of new features, such as group instances, raised maximum skill levels (120 being the new maximum) and, of course, new areas to explore, among a pretty impressive list of new things to explore for those that have spent a lot of time with BBO. Some interface updates such as the option to craft as many items as possible make life somewhat easier.

Being caught in a storm like this one sure isn't healthy for a vessel!

The choice of character has absolutely no impact on things such as stats - it's all about the visuals and the starting town.

Page 1: IntroductionPage 2: Gameplay: RPG and CombatPage 3: Graphics, Audio and HardwarePage 4: Final Thoughts & Scores

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