Secret World...Looking Ahead

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This one may be something we need to play. Here's a little preview from The Abject Minion Called Sherman about the upcoming MMORPG Secret World.

Looking Ahead at Secret World

If HP Lovecraft and Chris Metzen had a baby, this would be it.  Well, Chris Metzen would think it was his baby, but the dark lord would have cheated on him with Sam Raimi Jr. and he would have only inherited his MMO tendencies from a strict upbringing fraught with horror.  In other words, the end-all-be-all of what games should be.

The Secret World.  Modern day, no classes, no levels. You’re just a normal guy/gal in a world ravaged by terror and conspiracies.  Everything is true.  Hang out in a bar with your friends, or hunt down werewolves, vampires, and unspeakable horrors, in real modern day areas or other… lesser known ones.

It’s the last stand of humanity against all the horrors of Lovecraft’s mythos… and then some.

More technically, the crafting system looks eerily similar to Minecraft, but in a good way.  Instead of being forced to create weapons or armor of a particular style, you’ll be able to strip aspect s from them and sell those aspects to other players, if you so choose.

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The story seems to be integrated into the fabric of the gameplay, and not just tacked on.  Of course, this is based purely on the information I’ve found from the developers, but still even if it’s half as good as they claim, it may not be a WoW-killer but it promises to be immersive and engaging, something WoW has failed at for years.

Cthulhu Dragons? That'll take a heavier caliber round...or ten.

The gameplay itself looks pretty standard, with the usual target and click (or press a keyboard button) interface, but the progression system seems worth looking into- without levels or classes, it’s ability based.  There’s a wheel which contains about 500 different abilities and skills (not clear on the distinction) and any character can conceivably have all of them; this severely reduces the need for alts and allows one person to improvise, adapt and overcome in any situation- an adage which pervades almost every aspect of the game and should ring particularly true to a certain corps of our readership.

This is the most excited I’ve been for an MMO in years- since World of Warcraft was itself in beta.  After being burned by WoW, though, I would still describe myself as cautiously optimistic- this title has the potential to be a lot of fun.

Very respectfully (or that’s what you think), the GI Jew.

We’re the Mad Duo, and we approve this message. We would also like to thank Sherman (GI Jew) for his input on the matter, Godless, lunatic liberal heathen that he is. This review of a game we were about to waste money on is disappoint but worth the read, and has earned him a reprieve from this month’s hippie hunting efforts at Breach-Bang-Clear. Follow him on his personal blog at Pygmalion’s Geas or on our own home page.

 

 

 

 

 

Story Continues