Funcom asks you to join a secret society
The Secret World, an upcoming MMO by developers Funcom, aims to be something a little different. The game is being created by the same company that brought us Age of Conan, so take that for what it’s worth. Ragnar Tornquist is the creative director for The Secret World, which should go down as a positive. Tornquist is familiar for popularizing the modern adventure with his work on titles such as The Longest Journey and Dreamfall. He is both a writer and a director, and aims to bring his so called, “modern adventure,” to The Secret World. Though the game is being developed by Funcom, it will be published by Electronic Arts.
The Secret World will be unique as it will have a modern day setting, but continue to have an ancient fantasy feel to it. The game will use myth, conspiracies and urban legends to weave its tale. Three distinct factions vie for power and control in a truly secret world. Though each of the three factions have power on their minds, the must reluctantly join together to battle a growing evil in the world. The three factions should spark interest for anyone acquainted with modern day stories of secret societies and a hidden global power elite.
“The Art of Chaos” – Unknowable instigators of change, through quiet violence they create tiny ripples that grow into sweeping tsunamis.
“Sex, Drugs and Rockefeller” – Invisible puppet-masters and corporate manipulators, they crave power and wealth by any means necessary.
“Deliverance From Evil” – The old guard; suave and sophisticated, but fiercely brutal and uncompromising in their crusade against darkness.
The Secret World takes place in a world that looks like any modern day civilization. However, as the title implies, there is more to this world than meets the eye. Vampires, werewolves and demons can be found in seemingly normal locations. You just need to know where to look. The game world will have real modern day locations such as New York, London and Transylvania. From these real world locations, the creatures of fabled stories come to life for you, of a secret society, to battle.
What will really separate The Secret World from the normal MMORPG will be the gameplay itself. This is what will make or break the game for Funcom. The Secret World boasts unparalleled freedom of character progression. Their selling point is that the player will not be restricted to class or level. From the official Secret World site:
Experience a game that has no classes or levels. Truly freeform character customization allows you to create the alter-ego that you want to play. Choose from hundreds of different powers for your character without ever having to re-roll, completely eliminating the need to follow a set path of progression throughout the game. Choose the powers, the weapons and the clothing that you want to use.
Source: The Secret World
Without classes or levels, the progression system will be purely skill based. This isn’t necessarily a new concept for MMOs, but it’s one that has been challenging for devs to deliver upon. With a skill based progression system, character customization will be at a premium. The Secret World will further this customization by making a character’s appearance through clothing and items fully customizable as well. A player will be able to make incredibly unique avatars.
Though the game will be very story heavy, and focus more on PvE, there will be PvP as well. Even though the three playable factions have united to stop the creeping darkness, they are still challenging each other for world domination as well. Specific PvP zones will be available in The Secret World. The stories throughout the game should be fairly well written though. Tornquist is an award winner for his work on The Longest Journey, and claims that attention to the story was a major focus in development. Like most MMOs, The Secret World will have players team up in groups and guilds, or Cabals as they will be called; but the game will be solo-friendly as well. This is of course a trend that most online game developers have moved towards in the recent years.
The Secret World will start up the servers and reveal its secrets to players on June 19th of this year. Funcom has put a lot of resources into this one, and by the looks of it the game will most certainly stand out. It remains to be seen if the elimination of classes and levels will play as well as it sounds… and if modern day clothing instead of bulking fantasy armor is as aesthetically pleasing. The game world, atmosphere and story line though should provide a great hook for a generation of online gamers that have been screaming for something different… Something, “outside the box.”
Trailer
Gameplay
