So I’ve gone on and on about what I loved – so what did I not like? To start with, there’s something off about the combat system. I’m not sure if it’s just because I’m spoiled after playing things like Tera, Guild Wars 2, SWTOR or even World of Warcraft, but the combat system just feels like it’s not all that responsive. Sometimes it feels like things are happening a full second after I hit the abilitiy. Which isn’t good given that The Secret World is not an easy MMO by any means. Running the game’s first instance with a group of players that are MMO veterans, we wiped no less than ten times, and our gear was decent for the level. More often than not, it felt like we died because of this skill lag – something inexcusable in modern MMOs.
Something that Funcom tried to do differently was their skill system, which I mentioned briefly before. This system works in principal: you do quests, you get points to fill up your skill wheel and talent tress. Couple this with a “no levels” philosophy and a gear treadmill that starts much earlier that many others MMOs, and you get a continual grind. Whether this is a bad thing is largely personal taste, but I’ve had more than enough grinding for gear and experience for one lifetime. Also, these quality levels make it difficult to decide at a glance how powerful someone is, meaning you have to have them come all the way to where you are so you can inspect their gear before inviting them to a group – rather than just being able to look at their level.
I wasn't entirely sold on the crafting either. The concept itself was a novel one: arrange the components for a whatever it is you were building into its shape using same item value materials (much like Minecraft). Seems simple enough and it functions well – the problem comes down to the sheer amount of materials you need – materials you mostly get through breaking down preexisting uncommon and higher quality items. These items are far and few between, and you almost always end up outpacing your crafting as you progress through the quests, since most items you recieve are upgrades, and you end up breaking down your lower quality items. At max level, this doesn't end up being as much of an issue, however, I do feel that the crafting in any MMO should always at least have the ability to be kept up with your character without having to resort to the Auction House if you don't want to.
Oh, and if you're a PvP junkie? Best stay away from this one. The game more often than not comes down to a purely numbers game. Remember earlier when I said factions don't matter? For this, it certainly does. The game's persistant battleground, Fusang Projects, is more often than not, a flowchart of "Do you have 50 people with you?" If yes, great, you zerg the base and win. If not, you lose. Horribly. Really frustrating and a definite design flaw.
If there’s one other major flaw I could name about the Secret World, its that it doesn’t have nearly enough zones for a full priced MMO of its supposed caliber. The game only launched with five true “zones”, which are subdivided into several different quest hubs. Having five different motifs to explore got boring really fast considering how long you are stuck in each – the only thing keeping me going was the great writing, and the game’s main quest line. There did end up being quite a few boring filler quests in between, though, and it was during those times that I questioned why I kept going. I guess it was mostly optimism, as Funcom promised an extremely ambitious one update per month, which would add additional instances and zones for you to explore. It’s unfortunate, however, that the game sold so poorly. This led to massive layoffs at Funcom, including the game’s Creative Director, which leads me to question this game’s future, and indeed its entire premise: with its excellent writing, should this have been a single player RPG in the vein of Dragon Age, with a more modern setting? My gut tells me yes.
The Secret World is worth a look if only for its tongue in cheek writing and as a case study as a MMO that should have been a single player game. You’ll enjoy yourself for about a week, and then will probably get bored – in other words, if you haven't already checked this out, you're safe to keep playing Guild Wars 2. The way things are going, it looks like it may go free to play anyway!
Dustin Steiner is GameZone's eSports Correspondent! Follow him on Twitter @VGHC_Deitis and check out Video Gaming Hard Corps, where he is a local tournament organizer for the S. FL. Fighting Game Community.
Have you ever played a game that you wanted desperately to like, yet you knew was inherently flawed? That’s how I felt playing Funcom’s The Secret World – for the past month or so, I’ve desperately tried to find redeeming qualities for this game. But before I talk about what ruined it for me, let’s talk about what I loved so much about it.
Firstly, the game’s writing is superb. Taking place in a world that’s our own, but all the superstitions and stories that you’ve ever heard are true, the game has all the makings of one that’s familiar to just about anyone who picks it up. This means there’s plenty of pop culture references delievered throughout that don’t feel shoehorned in, and are done so through the game’s excellent voice acting. The game’s story, in which three factions (the Templars: Typical do what must be done for the greater good; the Illuminati: think Dante from Devil May Cry with a touch more business sense; and the Dragon: creating chaos, yet seeking to come out on top for it) are busy warring with each other and with other mystical forces to save humanity in one form or another ends up being very good, with many twists and turns delievered throughout the game’s main story quests.
These quests are varied, too – it’s not just the “go here, kill that, bring me this” grocery list we’re used to. There are mystery quests which really do force you to think, without the game screaming the answer at you. As an example, one quest gives you a note which makes you open the game’s internet browser (also built in and fully functional, a nice touch) and navigate to a “website” to gather clues for the investigation you’re working on. It’s the little things, I suppose, that make me happy. Though the answer to these quests is just a short wiki posting away, I couldn’t help but feel like love and care had gone into crafting some of these puzzles.
And don’t worry if you end up needing help – the game’s community is also superb, largely thanks to the cross realm interface that Funcom has implemented. Though there are many Secret World realms, it ends up not mattering at all, as you can group up with and even raid with people on other servers right out of the box. The only downside to this is that names are shared across all servers, making getting a name that isn’t being used by someone a little close to impossible. Getting a group for anything you want to do is also made easier by the fact that in PVE, factions don’t matter. You are able to group with someone no matter what faction they are, lending to the story that the various factions do need to team up to deal with threats, unlike the treatment other MMOs such as World of Warcraft have given where its factions were “working together”.
Lending to this is the game’s skill system. Once you’ve been playing long enough, you’ll have enough points so that you’ll have every skill available in the game, across all the various weapon types. This means that you’ll be able to fill any role eventually, provided you have the gear. And if you’ve been playing long enough, you likely will. Speaking of gear, don’t expect it to change your appearance. The game’s appearance altering gear are all basically costumes, with all of the stat altering gear being things that would be small enough to be invisible on your avatar such as earrings and rings – however, the weapon models seem to be more varied as a result. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not.
