The Secret World Review

It's not very often that an MMO can compete with the first of it's kind - World of Warcraft. However in the recent months we have had the biggest upset in the MMO industry with Guild Wars 2 being released..and without a subscription fee! Since then we have been introduced to a modern day MMO called The Secret World and finally there is some competition and choice in the MMO world. Initially, The Secret World had trouble selling, this due to the fact that it was released around the same time as Guild Wars 2 which had a massive following because of the lack of a subscription fee. The Secret World soon realized to compete with these other amazing MMOs it had to lose the subscription fee, which has proved their best decision ever.

When you start the game you are forced immediately to pick your faction, which you have three to choose from - Illuminati, Templar and Dragon. To help you choose you are shown a video of each telling you your duties of that particular faction and what life will be like if you choose to follow their path. The Illuminati are the 'bad boys' of the game, with the Templar's being the ones who hold the power and the Dragon's who fight for what they believe in. Choosing your faction doesn't greatly alter the game, so don't bother spending hours on end studying the ins and out of each faction. Depending on your faction you will start in a different city, either London, New York or Seoul. This will be where your factions base is and you will come back here very rarely to complete other missions that are just for your faction and will level up your rank.

For the first time since WoW, questing has moved on from 'take this item to so-and-so - return to hand in the quest - and repeat a million times over.' Questing now is no longer a chore, you find yourself wanting to keep going and help the survivors in these zombie infested towns. The people all have interesting stories with just as interesting quests to go with them. Most people have 2-3 quests available which then unlocks more elsewhere. Questing also consists of different levels and types of quests (although i am using the word 'quests' they are actually called 'missions'in this game, which also makes you feel like it HAS to be done but in a damn good way, like you are fulfilling a mission to save the world.) At one time, you can have your story mission, a dungeon mission, a main mission and three side missions going at one time which all range in difficulty and content.

The biggest achievement in The Secret World are the investigative quests which leave it up to YOU as the gamer to figure out what to do from a very vague clue. You will find yourself trying to decode a deceased persons will, attempting to decode Morse code (which I failed at miserably) and numerous other quests that will have you racking your brain. So many of these quests have you looking up fake websites that the developers have made to force you to delve deep into this game and that will undoubtedly happen. It will take over your life, in the best way possible. You will find yourself giving up on some of those investigative quests and realizing the answer to it hours later while you're sitting on the toilet and the reward for completing these missions isn't just the few bucks you get, experience and some mediocre items, you also get the satisfaction of completing something without the MMO holding your hand along the way.

This is certainly one MMO that doesn't hold your hand in the slightest. It is tough, and if you haven't kept up with the weapons, skill points and level of your items you will soon find yourself on struggle street, but don't worry because it is a populated street. Once you learn the best way to stay alive, you will develop your own style of playing and soon realise how to upgrade in the best way possible that will assist you and your weapon build specifically.

Another amazing feature of this game is being able to customize your weapon 'tree', which i use the 'tree' term loosely. You will be forced to choose a main weapon at the start of the game but once you 'level' up your character, another term i use loosely, you will soon be able to customise your weapons and skills to your liking. Not only is there a range of weapons, including but not limited to guns, swords, /hammers, magic and elemental attacks, but you then have the ability to essentially use all of them. No longer are you stuck in a class and forced to use the same kinds of weapons and constantly picking up ones you cant even use. It may literally take forever, but it would be physically possible to completely fill up the weapon tree and be the highest level in every single different type of weapon. This freedom means you can be using an assault rifle and suddenly change to an elemental attack and then back again. Being able to combine modern day weapons with those of a fantasy world is my, and probably many other gamers, dreams.

This game has left me astounded. Being able to play such an amazing and innovative MMO for no subscription fee is just great. Finally being free to play an MMO when i want with no pressure of having to play because I've paid is one of the best feelings. If you are unsure of this game because of it's lack of advertising, i would recommend it in a minute. It is fastly becoming my favorite MMO and the modern day setting is a fantastic change that i think everyone will love. The ability to customize your character to such an extent is the freedom most people are looking for, and with this game you will not fail to find that. This is easily the most stimulating MMO and it is an excellent way to pass the time.

I highly recommend this game and give it 9/10. Go and buy it now. Do it and you will thank me.