OXCGN’s The Secret World Review
A secret best kept or shared?
by Caleb Maxted
© 2012 Caleb Maxted
From Funcom, the creators of Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, comes The Secret World, an MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) set in the modern-day, with exciting gameplay that will capture your attention for many hours on end.
If you enjoy thrashing zombies with or without your friends and having a choice from hundreds of special abilities, then look no further than The Secret World.
Funcom has created an interesting MMORPG with a difference; you aren’t a medieval warrior, ranger or mage and you aren’t a sci-fi space captain.
In this game you will find yourself starting as just a local citizen in a warped version of our modern-day reality with a weapon, with the potential to become practically a god with cool skill-based powers that you can choose from.
Mythology and legends come alive and infest our world, and as a member of one of three ‘secret society’ factions, the Templars, the Illuminati and the Dragon, you must survive and prevail against the odds.
The Secret Recipe
The game has a bit of a learning curve, as personally it is the weirdest gameplay system and controls I have ever played with.
The PC controls to attack range from 1 through to 7, and you’re using much of your keyboard already which means it will get pretty messy sometimes, as you find yourself spamming keys hoping something will work.
And what is also interesting is that there is no levelling system, which makes players feel like they are all on the same level.
But in saying that, it requires you to think what your guy should have in the skills ability section.
As you play for a few hours, you will start to master the keys which make the game much more fun as you will be more selective in what abilities you use and don’t use.
What is even better is that the points you use to upgrade these abilities are easy to earn, so don’t worry if you make one or two bad choices in the ability selection.
More Power!
This game needs power.
Unfortunately I believe they made it too hard to even run it at its best on many computers, as, for example, I have a pretty good computer rig, yet am only able to play it on low.
I have to say for an MMO, this game is gorgeous. They have beaten most other MMOs graphic-wise.
The lag though is just too much sometimes. When you are doing a mission, probably in some rural area with just you and your enemies that is fine, the game doesn’t lag at all.
However when you enter a large city it is very, very frustrating and will most likely lag unless you have a top of the line rig to run it on.
A Secret Best Shared?
When you start playing The Secret World, if you want to go through it fairly quickly, having friends helps a lot.
When you are doing missions, everyone gets the same amount of experience which means you go through it so much faster.
And what is interesting is that it seems that you get most of your weapons and items from side missions, not kills.
The many side quests that are scattered all over the place get you to explore the huge maps which is always fun, as they are fresh and engaging.
The game world, be it set in London, Egypt or New York, has tons of atmosphere and is a highlight.
With the main mission sometimes too hard, doing the side quests (which by the way are found in weird places) and getting better items makes everything just a little easier.
There are interesting puzzles too, but some of the quests do tend to feel a bit overly familiar or repetitive.
Secret Spice
The game gives you three accounts to try on each faction which is really sweet, and to make it even more interesting, they don’t all start at the same spot.
Though at the beginning of the game I found it pretty lame that your protagonist swallows a butterfly to become really powerful with awesome abilities, the storytelling is a highlight and voice acting better than usual.
The Secret World brings to life the old mythological and supernatural elements and the new real world location in a unique and exciting way. It provides diversity in a genre generally known for medieval or sci-fi experiences.
Being set in the modern-day in a battle between good and evil, the huge range of weapons from swords, hammers, and claws, to blood magic, lightning, fire, machine guns, handguns and shotguns gives the gamer a huge variety of combat options and approaches to the game.
If you want to have many hours of fun and have a powerful rig to enjoy it in all its splendour, The Secret World will satisfy the MMORPG gamer looking for something a bit different.
“7/10
© 2012 Caleb Maxted
Filed under: Free 2 Play, PC News, PC Previews, PC Reviews Tagged: | EA, Funcom, Massively multiplayer online game, Massively multiplayer online role-playing game, Secret World, The Secret World, The Secret World Review
