Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games have typically been set in fantasy worlds, with the occasional developer trying to work in science-fiction settings, or the even more rare superhero universe. Funcom’s The Secret World is set in the present day, in the real world, but their version of the “Real” world is a little different from what most people see outside their windows.
The core premise is that three secret societies are competing to rule both the real world, and a hidden, secret world. This secret world is composed of every urban legend, mythological tale, and conspiracy theory there is. Every boogey man is real. As is every folk tale. Every crazy paranoid rant about the government putting mind-control drugs in the water is true too.
At the start of the game, players create a character who is suddenly imbued with supernatural powers, and then must choose which of these secret societies they want to join. There will be a slightly different experience based on this choice, and each of the three factions has a different tone. The Dragons are driven by their mysterious oriental code to sew chaos in the world. The Templars are overzealous do-gooders out to protect the normal humans from evil. The Illuminati are a powerful and unscrupulous lot who seek to push humanity to new heights (And personally profiting along the way).
While players will generally find themselves pursuing the same missions regardless of which faction they choose, they will get different introductory leveland contacts over the course of the game, and if the beta is any indication, the Illuminati seem to be the most fun, both for their lack of morals, and zany NPC’s.
These fun NPC’s are another feature that distinguishes The Secret World from other MMO’s. This is a story and character-driven piece. Most of the people that adventurers will meet are very distinct individuals who just happen to give quests. Characters have regional accents and even speak in local dialects. While the occasional “Go kill some local bad guys then report back to me” sort of quest does pop up, in general each quest giver has something entertaining to say, or a genuinely interesting task for players.
Most NPC’s have multiple dialog choices, and many of these have little to do with giving missions. They’re just there to flesh out the world, or reveal more about the character. Some NPC’s can be clicked on dozens of times and will yield new lines of dialog each time.
Another big deviation from other MMO’s is that there is no class system in The Secret World. Rather there are nine different powersets, each based around a particular type of weapon which includes three kinds of gun, three melee weapons and three kinds of magic. Every player has access to every powerset, but can only equip seven active powers and seven passive powers at any time. Players are also limited to two different weapons at once.
There are no levels, but players do gain experience points, which are used to acquire “Ability Points” and “Skill Points” which allow players to unlock new powers and focus on particular weapons. After a few hours into the game, the seven active and seven passive powers will be filled up, but players can still learn new ones and swap them in at any time. Aggressive players can even learn every single ability in the game.
Because players are limited in the number of powers and weapons they can have equipped at any one time, The Secret World becomes more about finding the best combination of powers, rather than just leveling up. This results in a great deal of potential diversity, and allows players to customize their role within a party even in the middle of a mission.
Combat is also handled differently than most MMO’s. Instead of the standard mana meter and cooldown times, this game uses a “Resource” meter. Essentially this means that less-powerful attacks can be used at will and using them will slowly charge the resource meter. The more powerful attacks then use up these resources to do higher damage. Players will need to continuously use combinations of powers like in an action game.
Combat also allows players to avoid some area of effect attacks. When bad guys prepare certain attacks, a marker will appear on the ground indicating where it will strike. This gives players the chance to step aside or circle strafe, thus making the game feel more action-centric.
The game is designed by Ragnar Tornquist, creator of The Longest Journey. While there are some insider references for people who’ve played The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, this game is set in a different world.
Although the launch date was just recently pushed back to July 3rd, that isn’t necessarily a bad sign. The Secret World has been in beta testing for a few weeks now and is looking quite impressive. With such an interesting world with all of these colorful characters inhabiting it, it seems like a good alternative for gamers who’ve grown tired with the usual parade of World of Warcraft clones.
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