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Funcom Wants You To Develop Your Own Way In The Secret World

Jeff Cork — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 15:17:00 GMT

The "RP" portion of MMORPG can be one of the most satisfying elements of the genre when players click with their onscreen counterparts. It's not uncommon for players to regret early decisions that they may have made regarding their character's class or ability selection, however. Funcom isn't locking players into major decisions when it comes to character development in its upcoming supernatural MMORPG the Secret World, as you can see in this new freeform progression video.

Lead designer Martin Bruusgaard and lead content designer Joel Bylos explain how the Secret World's freeform progression works. Players will have access to more than 500 abilities, and they can pick and choose between them at any time. To keep things manageable, players can only have even active and seven passive abilities engaged at once. If you don't feel like micromanaging your character to that degree, you can also choose from a variety of premade templates including bodyguards, witch doctors, and gunslingers.

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Look for the game on June PC starting June 19.

World Domination

Matthew Kato — Fri, 14 Oct 2011 16:45:00 GMT

A battle rages among three secret societies vying for world domination beneath the surface of our everyday lives. Check out this developer diary for Funcom's The Secret World and peel back the onion layers of this global conspiracy.

The Illuminati, the Dragon, and Templars, fight it out across the globe to advance their respective aims, and as a player you'll join one of these factions and battle others in persistent battles to influence the ever-shifting conflict for world control.

Check out Phil's impressions of the game from the Gamescom convention, and be sure to also take a look at new screens for the title below.

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MMO Meets Survival Horror In The Secret World

Phil Kollar — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 21:17:00 GMT

I've been intrigued by Funcom's myth- and conspiracy-driven MMO, The Secret World, since I first heard about it, if only because I'd love to see a great MMO that's not based in full-on fantasy or science fiction. Today at Gamescom I got to witness a demo of one of the game's darker missions, and it definitely succeeded in standing out from the MMO pack.

The "Into the Darkness" mission takes place in a New York City car park, where an Illuminati agent enters to discover what happened to a fellow agent who went missing at this location. The Illuminati is ordered by her superior to check a nearby camera. On the camera she discovers a Templar in the building, immediately raising alarm. These two factions do not get along well, so the player character readies her weapons.

The lights have mysteriously gone out in the parking garage, so in order to delve deeper, the Illuminati agent grabs a headlamp. This section shows off one of the more impressive parts of Secret World: its real-time lighting effects. As the character turns and explores the pitch-black darkness of the garage, light spills out of the lamp in an incredibly realistic fashion.

The lighting (or lack thereof) also helps add plenty of tension to the situation. After exploring in silence for a few moments, a zombie creature lurches out of the shadows and attacks the player. She pulls out a pistol and shoots him down quickly.

After a few more encounters, the lamp goes out. In order to progress, the Illuminati agent digs through a nearby car and discovers some road flares. These actually work as a limited resource, so the player must strategically choose when and where to deploy a flare. The flares will also attract some creatures, so in some cases it could be better to try to sneak through the shadows rather than creating patches of light.

The mission comes to a climax with a boss encounter against a giant zombie creature known as the Devourer. This pink-skinned monstrosity crawls through a narrow section of the car park on four legs, looking like something straight out of Resident Evil.

Sadly, I'm not allowed to see what happens after the boss encounter, but Funcom promises that this mission is playable from the perspective of each of the game's factions -- the Templar, the Illuminati, and the Dragon. Depending on which side you play, you'll have a very different mission that offers new information and a different spin on the events that happen.

Funcom also briefly showed off Secret World's PVP mode. The three factions will fight over ancient areas of power such as Stonehenge, El Dorado, and the Lost City of Shambhala.

I got to watch one huge battle in which Dragon forces attempted to win a temple from Illuminati control. The Dragon had to first win control of several anima wells in order to gain anima charges to destroy the gates of the temple. Once inside, they had to contend both with a large contingent of Illuminati as well as a powerful NPC guardian -- in this case a giant robot. Players will be encouraged to take part in these battles for control of persistent territories, because the faction that controls them will gain faction-wide bonuses.

Years after its announcement, I'm almost relieved to finally have seen Secret World in action. I still think it's a great concept for a game, and thus far the story missions, at least, seem to stand out quite strongly from standard MMO fare. Beta invites are opening up soon, so hopefully I'll be able to see a lot more of the game in the near future. In the mean time, you can check out our previous preview of a different mission from The Secret World.

Unraveling The Mysteries Of A Haunted Island In The Secret World Demo

Annette Gonzalez — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 13:30:00 GMT

Funcom, the team behind Age of Conan, is looking to break away from traditional MMO conventions for its upcoming project, The Secret World. The ambitious title is set in modern times and puts players in a world where all fantastic myths and legends come true, whether it’s the existence of vampires, werewolves, or the idea that Stonehenge has magical powers. You’re free to join a secret society and choose between the Illuminati, Dragons, or Templars and as you progress you’re free of classes and leveling as part of the game’s “free progression” system. A live demo at EA’s Redwood Shores campus showcased these elements as a band of characters complete a mission on the haunted Solomon Island.

Solomon Island has been invaded by powerful enemies called the Draug. A mysterious organization, the Oroshi corporation, feel that it’s time to take direct action by sending a few people out to investigate a wrecked tanker. The first objective is to pick up the Orochi tactical map located on the hood of a car nearby. The hero character who kicks things off hops into a helicopter to venture to the island and meet up with the rest of the crew (the helicopter pilot plays a role as he will offer radio communications to the team as they progress).

Five players prepare to take on the dangerous mission. There is a masked man with a sledgehammer who serves as the team’s tank, a young lady takes the healer role, a man armed with an assault rifle and grenades is the crowd controller and dishes out ranged attacks, another gentleman harnesses fire powers, and the hero character wields a sledgehammer with a focus on high damage. The team wades through shallow water for their first Draug encounter – plus zombies. Whenever you encounter Draug, zombies are always along for the ride. There are also Draug females, the mothers of the Draug race, whose sole purpose is to reproduce. The sorceress protects herself with a barrier (can be removed with magic) and summons a thunder cloud to electrify the water and endanger the team. Female Draug also have the ability to take their zombie underlings and mutate them into Draug as well. The team makes quick work of the enemies, earn skill points (used to unlock new abilities, more than 500 to master), and move on.

The wrecked tanker, Polaris, is finally found. The vessel went missing four years ago and turned up on Soloman Island. Draug came off the ship and used the location to launch their attack. At this point the team encounters their first boss, the Varangian that charges at the group and occasionally submerges into the water to summon zombies. The beast then retreats to an area surrounding itself with containers and electrifies the water leaving the team to have to dish out attacks from atop the containers – at least until the Varangian begins electrifying containers. This keeps the team mobile as they dish out ranged attacks until the beast finally falls.

Funcom then shows off how puzzles come into play in The Secret World. In one example the team finds a crate that requires a code to unlock. If you take a look next to the container there’s a shipment number, but it’s not the code. Players will have to visit a website outside of the game to look up the shipping number and retrieve the code to unlock the in-game chest.

The demo ends with the team hopping into a helicopter to make their way back to safety – or so they thought. A large enemy attacks the helicopter and the screen blacks out leaving the sound of struggle and an aircraft quickly going down. What happens to the team? We’ll have to wait and find out when The Secret World hits PC (release TBA). Will The Secret World be free-to-play or follow a subscription model? The team at Funcom says they are “examining all options.”

Check out the latest trailer below:

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Trailer And Screens Show Off Funcom's The Secret World MMO

Jeff Marchiafava — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:02:00 GMT

EA Partners is teaming up with Age of Conan developer Funcom to deliver a new breed of MMO. The game world is steeped in a world of myths and conspiracy, where vampires, zombies, and werewolves are commonplace.

A spokesperson for Funcom said The Secret World is "...a game that asks a simple question: What if every myth, legend, and conspiracy theory were true?"

The Secret World tells the story of three factions (The Illuminati, Templars, and Dragons) tasked with fighting mythical creatures in real world locations like London, Seoul, and New York City. We don't know much else about the game other than that Funcom is stating it will feature a "revolutionary progression system with no classes or levels." Instead, the gameplay will be skill-based, and you'll differentiate your character through heavy customization of your appearance, weapons, and super powers. Funcom also says there are hundreds of toys and powers for players to use.

The CG trailer below, shown at the press conference, shows off a random inhabitant's supernatural abilities during his visit to a local pub. The screens are even more promising, as they show off some epic-looking monsters players can look forward to battling. After looking them over, why not take a gander at the GDC trailer, which shows some of the game's impressively large and varied locations.

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GDC 2011 Trailer Illustrates Explosive Action, Unique Settings

Adam Biessener — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 17:29:00 GMT

Funcom has released an extensive new video for its long talked-about MMORPG, The Secret World. The trailer showcases the game's striking environments and enemies over various developers from the team talking a big game about its freeform progression.

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This video, while impressive, leaves me with the same impression I've had the last few times I've seen The Secret World. The game sounds great on paper, and the setting and art direction are both unusual and fascinating, but I'm not about to drink Funcom's Kool-Aid again. While I have high hopes for The Secret World, both of the company's previous games (Age of Conan and Anarchy Online) had significant warts marring their ambitious designs. Funcom representatives have gone to great lengths to reassure me that The Secret World won't make the same stumbles that those titles did – and I'll be happy to believe it just as soon as I see it for myself.

The Secret World is a modern-day MMORPG that follows three secret societies' struggle for domination of an Earth that plays host to just about every supernatural force ever hinted at by the mythology of history's innumerable cultures. With no classes or levels, players are able to build their avatar however they like as they participate in a personalized epic storyline.

Developed by Funcom and published jointly by Funcom and Electronic Arts, The Secret World has no official release date yet, though I expect it this year.