The Truth is Out There

In December, we here at EGM previewed The Secret World in our MMORPG issue of EGMi (Issue 76 if you’re curious to go look) and the excitement we felt then only carried over into a new demo we were able to get at GDC last week. And although it may have been pushed back from an April to June release, The Secret World shows they are pulling out all the stops when it comes to trying to be competitive in the subscription based MMO world.

If you need a little refresher, The Secret World is shaping up to be a cross between The X-Files, Fringe, and some obscure Norse mythology where you play as an agent from one of three very distinct and different secret organizations. The Templars are based out of London and have that old world charm and are zealots when it comes to hording power and control. The New York based Illuminati believe that only the strong survive. And the Korea-based Dragons, who we finally saw in action at GDC, worship and all its causes, including lust, jealously, and other kinds of extreme emotion.

The mythology is really where the action comes from as while playing your part for your respective organization, you have to try to hold back demonic forces that are trying to cross over into the real world and help out folks who are clearly in over their heads. Part of what is breaking down the dimension doorways and what not is something called the Filth, which we saw what happens when there is a full-on infestation of this stuff. People are completely consumed and turned into walking monstrosities when they make contact with the stuff and it is up to you tapping into some crazy powers and weapons to help drive it back.

Something else we saw in our original demo was when you are first brought into the fold of your respective organization is that you live the last moments of a life, flashback style, that came into direct contact with the Filth. At GDC, we saw a level that took that a step further as we were transported back to pre-colonial America and had to fight off a monstrous dragon-like creature and much like the Cthulhu type creature we faced off against back in December, you need a full-team before taking on any dungeon master as these creatures do monumental amounts of damage.

It should be interesting to see how well The Secret World can do in the AAA MMORPG space to compete against titles like World of Warcraft and now even Star Wars: The Old Republic as the market continues to move towards a free-to-play stance for the most part. But one thing is for certain, the concept is definitely there and I can’t wait to go hands-on with a finished product.