By Craig Pearson on January 27th, 2012.
There’s a still an interesting intangibility to Funcom’s The Secret World: I get the sense that it’s difficult to quantify because that’s the way they want it. Watching their latest trailer, showing off The Blue Mountain area, it has a story and aesthetic that makes me think of a single-player game, but the action smacks of buffs and guilds and raids. What do you think?
By Alec Meer on January 16th, 2012.
Funny thing, The Old Republic – while I’m still not entirely sure whether I like it or not (here I am wrestling with its inherent single/multiplayer duality over on Eurogamer, incidentally), what it has successfully done is restore my appetite for MMOs. I thought that urge was dead in me since the great binge of 2006-2008, but no, there the old hunger for virtual globe-trotting is again. So, hellooooooo Secret World. I had barely a lick of interest in you a few weeks ago, having plonked you square in the “oh, another one” bracket, but now I hopefully wonder if you can meet my dark needs as well as doing something new’n'smart. Let’s take a peek at your gruff British Illuminati and see how I feel.
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By John Walker on December 7th, 2011.
A new trailer for The Secret World is out. For some reason it’s only been given to Gamespot, because if there’s one way to advertise your game, it’s to limit it to one website. Fortunately they’ve put it on their YouTube channel, so we can all enjoy! This one reveals a new location – the perhaps not too enigmatic sounding Scorched Desert. Oooh, plains of sand you say? That’ll save on graphics. But wait! As much as it might be brown, it’s pretty detailed. Plus, Egypt is always more interesting when it’s suffering from around ten plagues.
"I would hate to see the MMO be the end of it."
By Adam Smith on November 28th, 2011.
In the first part of this in-depth conversation about The Secret World, the talk focused on the game’s fiction and mythology. As the discussion continues, we explore how different the game will be to other MMOs as well as talking about the importance of lore. After covering connections to Indiana Jones and Tintin, the questions turn to other matters as we wonder aloud how long we may have to wait for more Dreamfall. The interview followed a full day hands-on session with the game and those present were: Marten Bruusgaard, lead designer of The Secret World, lead content designer Joel Bylos and the game’s writer/director, Ragnar Tørnquist. We were also joined by Norwegian journalist Knut Gaute Vardenær.
"God is in the details"
By Adam Smith on November 23rd, 2011.
Playing The Secret World was enlightening but the only way to explore its most secret parts was to sit down with some of the myth-makers who are conspiring together to create this story-led MMO. So I did what was necessary, gathering together three of the minds behind the game and forcing them to talk at me and each other for many an hour. In the first part of this two-part conversation, you will DISCOVER the reason the game is set in the modern day, THRILL to the origins of the secret societies, CONSIDER the difficulty of inserting narrative into an MMO, and PONDER religion and mythology at great length.
Cabal Rousing
By Adam Smith on November 21st, 2011.
I’ve had mixed feelings about The Secret World for a while now. As more details have emerged, I’ve found it hard to hide my excitement about the real world setting and mad mix of mythology, but I’ve been struggling to shake the suspicion that stitching them to an MMO framework could squander the potential of the scenario. The promise of classless builds and a strong narrative were intriguing, but they were only promises. That is, until last week when I spent a day playing the game and saw just how convincing it was.
A Knight's Tale
By John Walker on October 24th, 2011.
I was recently sat down to watch one of the opening sections for Funcom’s MMO, The Secret World. A game that promised much, and so far seems to be confusing everyone by delivering on those promises. Is that still the case? I consider such things below.
By Adam Smith on October 14th, 2011.
Lots of footage from The Secret World reaches us via a new developer diary, showing factions, monsters and huge player versus player battlegrounds. At times, it’s in danger of looking like every other MMORPG video out there, with flames and bullets flying back and forth, giant beasties roaring aggressively, and groups of oddly clothed gents and ladies flailing at each other in a determined but ineffectual fashion. That aside, I’m more interested in the setting and factions than just about any other upcoming RPG, and having real and mythical places existing alongside each other is fun stuff. Watch the video below and see what you think.
By Jim Rossignol on August 30th, 2011.
The delayed beta sign-ups for The Secret World are now open. You can sign up here. But wow, who put the beta sign-up behind a trailer? Obviously if I have clicked “sign up for the beta” I already decided I am interested! Anyway, you should be interested, not because of the trailer, but because of this RPS preview of the game. The game is out in April, so either the beta itself isn’t going to kick off for a while, or it’s going to be a very long beta.
By John Walker on August 16th, 2011.
Oopsie – Funcom’s PR machine has accidentally spat out the big news The Secret World project lead Ragnar Tørnquist was about to announce at Gamescom. The release date will be April 2012, with the game’s beta registration beginning this month, on the 26th.
Aberrant Psychic Signals
By Mark Wallace on July 12th, 2011.
“Situational Analysis”. That’s what Funcom are calling the crackling radio reports that reach characters in their upcoming MMO The Secret World, as they make their way through instances like the one unveiled (the first so far) at EA’s recent summer showcase at their Redwood studio. Warning of “aberrant psychic signals” in the wreck of the container ship Polaris and “a highly volatile biological mass” (though I could have sworn I cleaned that up), the transmissions seemed to serve more as glaring signposts reading “Boss fight this way!” than any kind of actionable tactical intelligence.
A missed opportunity?
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