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At the Penny Arcade Expo, I was lucky enough to see a presentation on Funcom’s third MMO, ‘The Secret World,’ which is set in the modern day. The world is being controlled by hidden puppet masters, now in the fourth age, where cabals rule the world, and the conspiracies everyone previously thought were a joke, turn out to all be true. Pandora’s box may truly be opening, and it may be full of vampires, demons and zombies.
Today we have the first screenshots ever available for the game here on SI and of course, more juicy details (and screenshots!) are after the break.
Players will start out in New York, London, or Seoul to battle evil with their compatriots from around the world. Your starting city is chosen depending on which of the three Societies you choose from: Templar, Illuminati, and Dragons. The Templar are based in London and are a righteous, uncompromising group. They are rigid on structure and leadership, very old school, which makes sense since they’ve been around since the dawn of humanity. They hold tradition and honor above all, and believe that they are the war on evil.
The Illuminati are the sworn enemies of the Templar and truly are the puppet masters of the three groups. They believe that power is their currency, and use it to control the world by working the back rooms of the world to get the information and change that they want. Blackmail, treason, deceit are the Illuminati’s stock in trade, and they are uncompromising and vicious. They are the bad boys of the occult world, who party hard and work harder. Located beneath an abandoned warehouse in New York City, the Illuminati believe you do or get done, it’s the survival of the fittest out there.
The last of the three groups are the mysterious Dragons, based in Seoul. They are manipulators and follow the true teachings of “the true Sun Tzu.” All war is deception, and they believe everyone and everything has a purpose and a path that can be manipulated to their ends. They believe in patience and time being their greatest weapons, and are in constant motion, working against evil in their own ways. They enjoy creating chaos and manipulating people to get their way. All three of the groups, while they are in conflict with each other at times, are united against evil. However, each of them wants to be the power standing at the end, ruling the world.
The headquarters of the society you belong to will be a hub, complete with a social space, trainers, quests, and a mentor. There aren’t any classes or levels in ‘The Secret World,’ you can change what you need to do as your team changes or as need arises. The only choices you are locked in to is the choice of your Society and your gender, once you choose those, you are locked in. You also cannot make another character of a different Society on the same server. You start at a low rank in your chosen Society, and as you continue to play, you increase in rank depending on what you do. You will get titles, rewards, and unlock content.
In game, there are player organizations named cabals. You all have to be in the same Society in order to be in the same cabal. Being in a cabal also brings a few perks, like housing, and they have ranks of their own as well which are influenced by doing things in both PvP and PvE content.
PvE content primarily rules the Earth’s surface, but PvP rules inside of Hollow Earth, underground, 24/7. Players will fight to control cells underground in Agartha, fighting for control of the resource anima, which allows their cabals to get PvE upgrades. It doesn’t end there as it was hinted that it will be used for other things as well. One good thing to note, they are planning on including both PvE and PvP end games.
During the presentation we got to see some in game combat footage, which looked very intense and faced paced. In combat, there is a reticule present, for both melee and ranged, and there’s no concept of friendly fire. You will be casting on the run, and constantly be in the center of a lot of action.
There will be opportunity to play in groups, which have a size of four, as well as dungeons, which won’t actually be called that when the game releases, but it’s a good term we all know, right? The dungeons have puzzles in them, with different ways to solve them, and to go through them. That’s not to say that you’re required to be in a group to level up, solo play is most definitely possible in this MMO. As you play, you play in areas were the NPC populace feels uneasy and tends to avoid, so it makes it easy to cover up the occult activity that you’re a part of in the area.
The world is seamless; you can wander in and out of buildings without having to zone in and out of places. Funcom is looking to avoid instancing where possible, but using it for things that make sense, like dungeons. While traveling, it will be a seamless transfer between locations, but in a unique way. The hint I got was, “Think how they travel in “The Wheel of Time” series by Robert Jordan.”
There will be plenty of clothing options in this game, but there will be no stats on the clothes. Being a MMO-er myself I asked, “Where’s the loot?” There will be item slots, which you put upgrades and bonus type items into. Things will be upgradeable, and weapons are a vitally important part of this world. With loot comes the auction house system, which will be in the game, as well as a trade skill system for you to craft your wares for your comrades in the war against evil.
Of course, there will be other factions to come in the game as well including an old enemy, a new opponent, and a rising tide of change. Dark days are coming. Who do you trust?
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