In our continuing coverage of this past weekend's beta event for The Secret World, we take a look at the game's modern setting and its refreshing change in an industry packed with fantasy MMOs. See what else we think and then leave us a comment or two.

As an Illuminati player I was instantly transported to the streets of New York City. Since I grew up about twenty minutes outside of New York, it is quite easy to recognize my home turf. One of the great parts in the zone is that they don’t show you the glitz and glam New York, but the underbelly of society. The zone is a mix of seedy back alleys and quiet conversations in corners. Living here for many years, this is everywhere in New York, except maybe Time Square and Broadway now-a-days. Being transported into this world now makes me want to find the Illuminati and figure this place out.

Read more of Garrett Fuller's The Secret World: Not Another Fantasy MMO.

    I found it to be an amazigly fun game even in its "unpolished" state. 

I played this weekend and for the first time in awhile I was looking forward to playing a MMO.

How did you get to experience the Illuminati when I only got to experience the Templars?

Eh. Funcom. A company with the unique track record of unleashing not one but two completely unfinished MMOs, to the point where they wouldn't even be in beta testing for a real gaming company. But they always make their entry content polished to convince reviewers/MMO columnists their product is gold instead of the iron pyrite it really is. 

Not being fooled this time. Let me know how the game is three months after release. ;)

The only problem I've seen with the story so far is that the player character really doesn't participate in it, he only observes it.  Now when someone gives us a game with the adult themes and plot/setting quality level of TSW in combination with BioWare style character focused story and choice driven narrative, *that* will be a winner.  For now, those of us wanting a strong narrative experience in MMOs are still forced to choose between games that have different sets of glaring flaws.

One spot where I get stuck in my understanding of TSW is if the design is intended as mainstream or niche.

To me being a storyline driven quester places it in the mainstream category.  However, the theme, environment, and skill system all sound niche to me.

I consider niche to mean a game's target market is smaller than a full-on mainstream game, but the game itself does better in catering to the tastes of its own target market.

Originally posted by apocoluster

    I found it to be an amazigly fun game even in its "unpolished" state. 

I wouldn't say unpolished, but there are a few things that need to be addressed.  The impact of combat on enemies being the top of the list.  Technically, the game seemed solid though.  The flexibility of the classless system is amazing too.

My largest concern is that the zones in the world are very fragmented.  It's one of the things I didn't like about AoC.  It felt too much like a open world hub and instanced spoke system.  Maybe using the real world as the back drop will help bring more context though.  We'll see.

It'll be interesting to see how successful a MMO with a high learning curve can be in the current market.

Playing in the beta this weekend was great fun, even with the 11+ gig download over my smokingly-slow DSL it was worth the wait.

The game really feels like Steve Jackson Games' Illuminati: The Conspiracy, albeit in MMO format:

http://www.sjgames.com/illuminati/

It is great fun and a nice change from cut-and-dried MMO cash-shop ginder MOB-raid-zerg rush battlefield instanced planets nonsense.Some of The Secret World reads a bit like Alex Jone's InfoWars craziness, but it's all in good fun, and I found it a lot more interesting story-wise then the SWTOR beta (which billed itself as having epic story and voice-acting, which it didn't).

FunCom gets a bit 'Hi-5' from me for this beta, thank-you FunCom...!

* deleted by Mors.Magne *

btw the age of conan first town and part you played in the beta was amazing too ! that just when you finish it and enter the real game you can see that age of conan was not ready and full of bugs, just saying , have fun in the secret world everyone !

let make it look we forget age of conan releases ( the last from funcom ) and buy it first day , pre order , stuft like that ! .

Originally posted by nttajira

btw the age of conan first town and part you played in the beta was amazing too ! that just when you finish it and enter the real game you can see that age of conan was not ready and full of bugs, just saying , have fun in the secret world everyone !

let make it look we forget age of conan releases ( the last from funcom ) and buy it first day , pre order , stuft like that ! .

 

 

Closed beta testers are saying that this game is not another AoC, but thanks for your concern.

I must have been playing a different game o_0

Originally posted by ActionMMORPG

One spot where I get stuck in my understanding of TSW is if the design is intended as mainstream or niche.

To me being a storyline driven quester places it in the mainstream category.  However, the theme, environment, and skill system all sound niche to me.

I consider niche to mean a game's target market is smaller than a full-on mainstream game, but the game itself does better in catering to the tastes of its own target market.

 

Head on over to wikipedia or a talk to a friend with a marketing degree to get a good handle on the concept of "niche" products.  World of Warcraft is a niche product.

i was a little weary at first but what i found had myself happily hooked for the weekend .. what a refreshing bag of fun it was .. hell i dare say i thought i was in a off spring of silent hill and res evil but with an active world of players aound me, and i say that in the most praising way .. love the way random players would help save ur ass as they ran pass on their way somewhere... had fun fun fun very interested to see how it all turns out . the only thing i didnt like was the characters/your player very clone like, all same build same height etc yes i know its beta and they will change/add. i do hope this includes some body adjustments cause my char looks like he is a tad overly buff from the gym and a steady diet of junk foods, a bit to beefy for my liking ..picky i know :P