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- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Release Date: Jul 3, 2012
User Score
Generally favorable reviews- based on 1271 Ratings
User score distribution:
Positive: 1,035 out of 1271
Mixed: 64 out of 1271
Negative: 172 out of 1271
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Aug 10, 2012This game is absolutely top notch!! It is unlike any other MMO you have played. The game has great atmosphere, amazing story and great zones to play through. It also has a really unique leveling system, with no levels. This game definitely deserves a reward!! 10/10
Aug 10, 2012The Secret World is in my humble opinion the best MMO on the market per 2012. If you like pandas and cuddly toons, this game is probably not for you. I've played for 250 hours and looking forward to playing hundreds more!
Aug 10, 2012I really wasn't sold on the Secret World, but I find myself happily surprised by its maturity, intelligence, and interest in offering players something new. The Secret World has ...
... top of the line writing (on par with the best non-MMO PC games out there),
... top of the line voice acting (see above, so much so that most of the game's characters are already stuck in my mind, as any other film character would),
... great pop culture references (that don't go over-board),
... an excellent variety of quest types (puzzles, grinds, investigations, etc.),
... a fantastic mood (love the 'Siren Song' mission for instance, with that heartbreaking half-transformed unfortunate lost in the sewers),
... a great look,
... excellent dashes of humor (be they in the writing, in the acting, in the animations -- love all those sad-funny-pathetic zombie animations--, or in the audio design -- love those coughing monsters, etc),
... a keen interest in offering gamers a multifaceted take on non-western cultures and protagonists,
... a very rich universe ("very" is a misnomer of course, as there's a quasi infinite variety of tales to tackle),
... an open skill system that let's you decide how you want to play your character,
... a combat system that stands out as it requires gamers finesse and preparation,
... and loads of room to grow.
Really the best modern MMO out there, one that offers a rich mythology, and a stable environment in which to explore it, after only a month live!
The game is stable, with only a few minor bugs, and a crew of dedicated, experienced devs.
The game's not for everyone, but if you are curious, and in the mood for game design that stands out for trying to and succeeding at offering new things to the tired MMO world, give "The Secret World" a chance.… Expand
Aug 10, 2012I've been playing MMO's since 1998, and spent the best part of ten years playing Ultima Online, so I am as you might imagine a firm fan of Sandboxes. That said, The Secret World is one of the best online gameplay experiences I have had the pleasure of experiencing, and it terms of Theme Parks is top dog in my view.
The story, the voice acting, the graphics, the theme and setting, the sheer number of builds I can play with... all fantastic. The game does have it's flaws and still needs some polish here and there, but if it keeps growing and more content gets added it will become a juggernaut in time.
I also have a great deal of faith in Ragnar, Joel, Martin and co who developed the game. I am sure they will continue to improve the game and deliver an awesome experience.… Expand
Aug 10, 2012At first, I didn't like The Secret World (TSW) when I tried it in Beta, mostly for it's controls. Man I hated those controls.
However, there were many things I did enjoy. The story, the environment, the graphics, and the customization, all of which are spectacular.
Last week, I decided to give it another go, but this time, I hooked up an Xbox 360 controller, and let me tell you, what a difference that made! My initial misgivings over the controls were quickly forgotten, and I was quickly able to get back to enjoying what was truly important about the game.
I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys games with good storylines, or games with good graphics, or games set in a modern, realistic environment. Additionally, if you are a fan of puzzles and figuring out complex mysteries, this game is totally for you!
Right now, the game is still new, so some bugs and gliches are to be expected. However, those will be overcome in time. Patience is a key when jumping into a new MMO. But in the case of TSW, that patience will pay off.… Expand
Aug 10, 2012This game is refreshing. You do not have 42 active skills/spells to deal with on your hot bar. Instead you have 500+ to choose and add 7 to the hot/action bar. With this you can play the game and not just play a hot bar.
Missions; yes you do have a few of the typical kill ten rats, but they are far and few between and most missions are interesting and fun. Also, the puzzle missions are way to fun to not mention and there are more of them coming. The current community of the game is a good one, seems more mature then some other games that I have played.… Expand
Aug 10, 2012I do not like to write reviews, but for this game I will make an exception.
This game is exceedingly good. The design is phenomenal; all the way from the combat system to the manner in which the missions (or quests are performed).
When playing this game, you can clearly see and feel the level hard work, thought and creation put into The Secret World. It is clearly a labor of love.
I enjoy coming home from work and being able to sit down and actually be *challenged* in a game, unlike any game I've played since back in the days of vanilla WoW.
It does have a few bugs, like any game during first release, but not nearly in such quantity as usually found in new MMOs.
I do not like to write reviews and I do not care to read "critic" reviews, as most of us know and understand that money plays a part in how their reviews are formed.
I want to stand up for this game. It's one of the best games I've ever played. It does NOT deserve the bad reviews that have been released; which clearly will result in a lot of hurt and disappointment.
This game is wonderful and I plan to keep playing.
I should note too, no one has *PAID* me to say this.… Expand
Aug 12, 2012Aside from the brilliant setting, atmosphere and story, what makes me love this game is the gear and ability system. The sheer gaming joy of going through all the options and choosing the 7 actives and 7 passives suiting my style and preferences is unparalelled IMO. Currently I have 8 setups of gear and abilites stored, incorporating pistols, shotguns, assault rifles, chaos magic, blood magic and elementalism (I'm not too keen on melee). One of these is for soloing some very hard mobs dropping signets (more on these in a bit), and I made it after trying tons of combinations, trying and failing until I found one that worked. In most other MMO's, you only have the choice of one of the 2-3 cookie cutter builds your class offers (SWtOR, I'm looking at you). I have 3 different builds I change between while doing nightmare difficulty dungeons, one for single target dps and two for AoE. The variations are seemingly endless.
Then there is the gear. You choose yourself if you want to focus on healing, damage or raw health. Then you soon find out you need to put glyphs in your gear, and choose whether to emphasize hit rating, critical hits, evade, damage mitigation, etc., or whatever combination of the possible effects that most synergize with your build. When you get to the best gear, quality level 10, you get signet slots added to the mix. These can be straight up +2 % damage to pistols etc., or a variety of proc-type effects, and again you nee to find the ones the most fitting to your build. For people like me, with a constantly wandering mind and urge to explore and try new things all the time, this is character customization heaven. Besting other people's builds in pvp is of course even more fun.
Considering the above, and that the game have hardly any bugs, and that Funcom have promised new content on a monthly basis, I have no qualms about rating this game a 10.… Expand
Aug 13, 2012This is, simply put, the best and most original MMORPG I have ever played. So if you're looking for a game set in present day, which flirts a lot with the horror genre and has a great depth when it comes to storytelling, then this game is definitely for you.
Aug 13, 2012this game is a sleeper why because of the name "the secret world" this game is evil at times but what tsw does is let you take your time to go threw the game.there are some faults like the combat but that they are updating the combat consonantly to give a better experience. this world is evil lets say tsw is the childe of call of cthulhu had a child with 7 guest and you have the secret world . why people are turn off by the secret world is because no one knows about it. quest titles are fun to read and fun to try to finger out how to do the quest "Hell and Bach " some quest like hell and bach needs you to ask for help do you wan to know why you need to pay attention to what is given to in the 1 part of the quest ORDERINT DUM METUANT this is latan for "Let them hate as long as they fear… Expand
Aug 13, 2012This game surpassed any expectations I had. The environment and story are incredible, the quests intriguing and require understanding of your environment to solve many of the investigation missions. Even the quests that have waypoints (the ones that remind more of popular mmos) are well thought and fun. The launch was incredibly smooth with a minor amount of bugs in comparison to other released titles these past years. If you are one of those people that has been almost dying waiting for a change of scenery and innovation in the never-ending copy-cat mmo industry, TSW is for. And the fun has only began.… Expand
Aug 20, 2012It saddens me to see such a great MMO tanked by reviews from WoW fanboys and **** game review sites. I used to have respect for you G4, Yeah I'm talking to you! Especially as a large number of these reviews came from a closed beta that doesn't come close to comparing to the current product. Anyway, being an MMO gamer since the days of text based mud's and a huge fan of the Elder Scroll series, I was pleasantly surprised when I stumbled across something new and quite refreshing. Everyone that says this game has bugs is right, but just about any large-scale MMO I've played at launch has had them. It's kind of a given when you're dealing with development on such a large scale where (from a coding perspective) everything ties into just about everything else. TSW has handled the bugs fairly well, though I'm not as much of a completionist as others. If I run across something that's not working at the moment, I'll just go back and do it later. No big deal.
The story and voice acting are superb. Best I've come across in a game so far. Many times I've been drawn in, laughed out loud, or cringed due to the quality of the voice acting in this game. It really is something else. The graphics are amazing. Coming from WoW and EVE, and then taking a break from both to play FPS's on the Xbox, I was really impressed. I had always thought EVE was the most beautiful game I had seen in a long time, and didn't think another game would come close in a very long time. I was wrong. The vistas don't quite have the scope of a massive world like WoW, but the details are incredible on ultimate settings. And I end up feeling like a dirty old man checking out the combat thong on the female character in front of me that is most likely being played by a dude.......I know........sad huh.
Watching the posts, likes, comments, and reviews on Facebook, and other review sites, I find a refreshingly large number of female gamers that have been drawn into the game. It adds a wonderful balance that I will not be likely to find anywhere else outside of the Sims, and Hello Kitty Palace. The multiplayer and storyline (PvE) portion of the game is really excellent. I find myself casually grouping with random players that I encounter as I ride solo completing missions and gathering loots. We don't even have to group up, we just end up helping each other and both get credit. It's a kind of cooperative play that is really enjoyable when I don't feel like grouping or being social. Especially when I'm only casually playing in bursts while doing other **** around the house.
Character customization could be expanded. I'd love to see more options, and I'm happy to know that more will be added over time, especially as this is a new game. And I can add or tweak my customization any time I want with the soon to be added plastic surgeon and tattoo artists. TSW's only real flaw at this time is the PvP. Unfortunately, there is NO OPEN WORLD PVP. Shame on you Funcom......shame. Way to cater to the carebears. The current PvP arenas are extremely engaging at first, but end up getting repetitive over time, and don't offer the same adrenaline and challenge of open world PvP areas that I have quite enjoyed and lived in on other MMO's. I do have high hopes though as the game is still in development and I have my fingers crossed that one of these days some open world PvP will finally be added.
Overall this game will be able to keep you engaged for quite some time. Especially if you're not the achievement hunter type that tries to rush through everything to get maxxed out as quickly as possible. It's staying power is a bit lacking, but that's also something to be expected of a newly launched game as more and more content will continue to be added. I am comfortable with the fact that if I do get bored and decide to hop back on the xbox for a little while, when I come back to TSW, there will always be something new for me to explore and return to. Even without added content, the current content is engaging enough for me to repeat many times over before needing some "fresh meat" so to speak.
While PvP can lose its luster over time, it does take a while for that to happen, and new stuff is already being added to the mix.
I'd like to deduct more for lack of open-world-pvp, but TSW makes up for it in so many other areas. Goodbye EVE Online, it was nice while it lasted. I have found myself a new playground.… Expand
Aug 13, 2012Secret World is a mixed bag of great game and dropped balls. It excels in story and voice acting, but your character does not speak and just weirdly gestures. The environments are excellent and atmospheric and draws you into the world, but character customization (hair, face, body type) severely lacks, and animation is still horrendous even after trying to fix it between betas and launch. It's still the same idle pose, and your char wont move unless he sheathes his weapons. Funcom's excuse for horrible animation is the untethering of the lower & upper bodies for being able to cast while moving. But other devs (in newer MMOs) have done this without the same horrible result in TSW. This can be overlooked if Funcom is new to MMOs and building games, but it is not. 3-faction PVP, as advertised being a main feature, is not implemented well in Fusang and ends up just a game of switching control between wells. Bugs, bugs, bugs. it gets frustrating when you are at step 6 of 7 and the next step wont trigger. Their workaround: go to a dimension where the quest isnt bugged. Funcom is doing all this charging you for the box price, for a monthly and a cosmetic shop. So much promise, but it got Funcommed and EA'd.… Expand
Aug 15, 2012Fantastic game so far. It's one of those games that are seeming to become more rare these day. You know, the kinds of games that actually require you to think? Not only are the investigation quests a welcome addition to the classic fetch/collect/kill quests but they actually require you to use a little brain power and work out the solution yourself. Unless, of course, you fire up Google and just find the solution that way. I say to hell with what all the "official" review sites say, this game is a must buy. Who the hell is Quarter to Three anyway?… Expand
Aug 14, 2012This game is a whole bucket of awesome sause. The action ranges from survival horror to Indiana Jones exploration. There are also alot of hidden things (easter eggs) that are not easily found. Granted this game isn't like most and does take some time breaking out of old habits. I have found a few issues but their GM/customer support was able to help me get back on track in no time. Also their announcement of monthly content updates has made me one happy customer.… Expand
Aug 14, 2012I've played a many of MMOs through their end-game over the last 10 years; EQ, EQ2, LoTRO ... most recently SWTOR and now TSW. TSW is by a mile the most interesting, unique, fun MMO I've ever experienced. I've now logged just under 10 days of playtime (around 250 hours) and I'm still highly engaged. The skill/leveling system is fantastic and a breath of fresh air in the MMO industry. The content is actually difficult (in Nightmare mode) and highly dynamic. The community is great. Never takes more than 5 minutes to find a group for anything I'd like to work on. Are there a few bugs, sure. But the game has been live for only a few months and they're fixing things everyday. I'm a lifetime subscriber and will play this for a LONG time. Thank you Funcom.… Expand
Aug 14, 2012I was tentative at first, after Funcom's AO and AOC debacles. TSW makes me feel more confident that Funcom can do a good job. The areas are interesting, exciting and fresh. The missions range from easy "collect these items" to challenging investigation missions that have no waypoints provided to the user.
I love this game and the environment it gives us to run around in.
Aug 14, 2012This MMORG requires more effort than most, but is worth the investment. Instead of cookie cutter abilities, players can pick and choose among literally hundreds of active and passive powers. And there's the rub. It takes some effort to put together sets of abilities that work well together. You can do it yourself, or you can check out fan sites with suggested builds. I think it gives the game some real versatility, and you never are in a position where you regret your class choice, because there are no classes! Want to do something else? Just buy the abilities with experience and do it.… Expand
Aug 14, 2012I have never played a so polished and clean game ever before. It is one of the best MMO and we can clearly see it is Ragnar Tørnquest who are the director behide this wonderfull game. I love the grapich, the fantasy, the storysetting..
It is a wonderfull game!
Aug 15, 2012I'm having a blast in this game. The skill system allows me to decide how I want to play my character. The quests are well thought out and written. Last night I got the chills investigating a haunted asylum. I've mostly solo'd my way so far and am not rushing the game by any means. After a month and a half, just entering the second major zone.
Graphically it looks great whether I'm running it on my desktop or laptop computers. I haven't had any crash to desktop issues. And only experienced a few minor bugs in quests (both of which were handled by friendly GM's within 5 minutes of me posting a petition about it).
They've just announced their second "Issue" of new content; so the game continues to grow and evolve.
Some areas do need some work. PvP is a bit lackluster at the moment. But there are also some changes coming to the battlegrounds which may help address those. We'll wait and see.
I'm no where near endgame yet; so can't really comment on dungeons or raids so far.
At this point, though, I was already bailing out of SWTOR and some other recent MMO releases. With TSW I feel like I could be here a year or two from now and still enjoying myself.… Expand
Aug 15, 2012Immersion into this well-developed, rich environment is a snap. The single player experience of TSW is the best I've ever encountered from an MMO. Even the voice acting is superb! This game is perfect for gamers looking for something more than your typical "Kill X of Y monster and collect Z of their body parts." In The Secret World, many quests are puzzles which require a level of thought beyond any MMO I've encountered - and I've played many. Something that has also helped me fall in love with this game is the community. Sure, there are your fair share of vulgar individuals; however, they seem to (fortunately) be the minority.
I've been playing this game non-stop for the past few days, and my excitement only continues to grow. It's worth mentioning that beyond seeing this game at PAX Easter I had neither followed its progress nor been exposed to any hype. Frankly, I forgot about this game entirely. After spending some time playing, though, my tune has changed entirely. There is (as of 8/15/12) a free 3-day trial being offered on Funcom's website and I *STRONGLY* encourage everyone to give it a shot. What have you got to lose? This game is a gem, and considering the nature of MMORPGs, will only shine brighter with the polish of content patches and fixes for (the VERY few) bugs present in the game.… Expand
Aug 16, 2012This is neither a game for people who like to have everything presented to them nor one for people who think racing to the end game is the point of an mmo. It is a game for people who like to solve puzzles and who slowly go through the game savouring the content. Like other people have mentioned the world design is superb, combat is fun and if it isn't anymore I just change my skill set to something that suits my mood of the moment better and continue. The story keeps me wanting to go ahead with it and my own experience with customer support has been perfect. TSW general chat is the first one sofar where I haven't felt the need to search for the unsubscribe button first thing after entering the world. ----- It is not perfect and there are a few shortcomings and some things I wish Funcom could have solved differently which is why I didn't give it 10/10 but for me at least, it is the closest a mmo has ever come to satisfy my way of gaming.… Expand
Aug 16, 2012This is a great game. Loving the intricate stories and varied missions. The game is beautiful with and fun to play. There is so much to do from missions, dungeons, lairs, exploring, achievements and you get to use all the weapons and change from Tank to healer to DPS to suit the foe.
Aug 16, 2012This is a beautiful game. If you have an appreciation for a well-crafted story, excellent graphics and a challenge unheard of in modern mmo's you should definitely give it a try. This is not a hand-holding experience. You are meant to apply your brain. It is REQUIRED that you adapt to your environment rather than faceroll your way through content. The skill system is deep, expansive and complex, which creates it's own kind of metagame and you are never locked into a particular playstyle. Feel like healing? Swap to a healing build, Tanking? Throw on a few hp/defense/block items and change it up. As with any new MMO if you play hard you will run out of new stuff so I suggest taking it slow and savoring the experience.
The Dev team is passionate and communicate better than any team in any game I've ever played and aren't afraid to tell the whiners that it's MEANT to be hard.
You owe it to yourself to check this game out.… Expand
Aug 17, 2012As a veteran of many MMO over the past 10 years, I find TSW to be one of the most unique and entertaining. Its story telling and use of voice acting is top notch. Its atmosphere as a Horror MMO is also top notch. Its investigation missions (puzzles and research based) are innovative and never seen in any of the MMOs in my experience.
More importantly, The Devs and GMs are dedicated to refining and making TSW a long lasting experience. GM support in-game has been excellent. Some of the bugs (non of them Earth shattering in my opinion) have addressed, while others are being worked on. New content has been added and will be added for the game's first two months.
9/10 in my book.… Expand
Aug 18, 2012Pretty much everything has already been said by others, but my main reason for giving this a full score is that it's just so refreshingly different and deep. Yes, there are a few mission bugs, but most are fixed now, and they are only minor problems. Graphics are great if you have the computer to run max (as with all other games...), music/sound backs up the mood and setting, developers are listening, communicating and fixing. It can be a bit difficult and challenging, but come on - you cannot blame a game for not letting you cruise through all the content! Join a good Cabal that will help you if stuck, team up, try another approach.
This game is not for anyone looking for an easy game, but if you value a bit of challenge, like to think a little in your games, enjoys great stories and characters - you HAVE to at least give it a try. You can sign up for free tryout if you hesitate spending any money.… Expand
Aug 18, 2012I think that much of the negative press that this game has received is due to the critics having to pay the game for a few days and write a review about it. This works for some the less complex MMO's where it is easy to set up a cookie cutter character that is the same as 10,000 others in the game, and do just fine. The Secret World actually requires you to experiment and think for yourself when building a character and that same complexity is going to be a turn off to the instant gratification segment of players.
If you give this game an honest chance and are not the type of person that wants a strategy guide to build your toon for you then TSW is a very fun game with some amazing depth. It still has som glitches and issues that the folks at Funcom are working to repair, but I would rather play a game with some problems and great potential than another WOW clone designed for 2nd graders.… Expand
Aug 19, 2012This is the best MMO right now..Wonderfully handcrafted masterpiece..Such a joy to play ..
Combined with great atmosphere, great action filled combat and one of the most thrilling dungeon bosses created for an MMO..
The quests in this game is also very innovative, sure you have "classic" ones but even with those there is innovation. But the quests actually forces you to think, some are hard, some are VERY hard, but they still doesn't become frustrating,,… Expand
Aug 20, 2012Excellent game - the investigation missions are particularly fun, but it contains all the good Funcom trademarks - well supported guilds ('cabals'), immersive storyline, etc. The only thing preventing a 10/10 are the character graphics which - especially on lipsync mode - are not as smooth as they could be.
Aug 20, 2012Interesting world, intriguing backstory, fun quests, smooth launch... what's not to like ?
This game is a very welcome deviation from the 'lets dumb it down to appeal to the masses' trend many other games employed lately... and, while is does have its silly points here & there, you definitely won't find any giant pandas... ;)
Aug 20, 2012Truly a next-gen MMO, Funcom has taken a lot of chances and broken away from the old formula that current MMOs copy and paste from. Everything from the setting to the character building is a breath of fresh air.
The combat, which seems somewhat simplistic at first, evolves into something spectacular. It is very common that my group will hit a wall on a dungeon boss, and many times rethinking our strategy and retooling our builds (choosing from 500+ skills, editable on the fly) gets us past it. Huge bosses and movement in combat makes things a lot more actiony than most MMOs.
It didn't take me long to buy a lifetime membership to TSW, and I don't seem myself regretting it. The first content update and the upcoming monthly ones all seem to give more of what the players love about the game.… Expand
Aug 21, 2012+ setting
+ quests
+ skill system
+ synchronization (English is good ... German is weird at times because they try to copy the speaking ductus of the English version ... which makes some characters even more spycho than they are supposed to be)
+ graphics
+ monthly updates
+ fun
+ fast support
+ investigative quests
- animation
- bugs (chat, quest mechanics)
- at times extreme nerdy
Aug 22, 2012Definitely a breath of fresh air when it comes to the MMO world. Many reviews say the combat is weak, but i have to disagree with that. Thought it may not be like other MMOs were you stand around slashing back and forth, in this game you actually have to pay attention, move around, know what attacks to pull off next. It's fun and different and believe its great for the game. The unique progression of characters gets rid of the need for alts unless you want to be in a different secret society and get different outfits by building certain decks so it lets you create the character you want to create and make it more YOU. The story and setting are just amazing. It makes me actually want to go around and collect lore and learn more and more about the history of what i'm playing. The games missions feel very fresh and don't really repeat themselves at all and there are three different types of missions that make you think. The voice acting and writing is all great and FunCom seems to fix all bugs very often. One of the best and fresh MMO's I have ever played.… Expand
Aug 22, 2012Finally, a game that does not treat it`s player base as dumb monkeys, a more mature player base and most important, a monthly update to content. I do not think any other game out there does this.
Yes, it does have its small errors as in minor bugs and some other nuisances, but such is every MMO out there, especially those that were just released. And if you can look past those, and just enjoy the gameplay until they get fixed, you will have a ton of fun and joy in TSW.
Some complain that it… Expand
Aug 22, 2012Level- and worldbuilding is excellent and makes me wonder how on earth they managed to mess it up so badly in AoC. The atmosphere is great and the missions lovely varied for a mmog - investigation missions are fantastic. Combat system is pretty much par for the genre, although I like how you don't have to lock yourself into a build and can pick abilities on-the-fly (usually after respawning...) to overcome special foes. The gui needs a bit of polish. High points: missions that invites you to think for yourself; it's easy to die; and it's easy to get something done solo if you don't have time or people to do group missions. Contemporary setting a welcome change. Overall: pleasantly surprised.… Expand
Aug 22, 2012What a breath of fresh air to an ailing market. Finally a game that warrants its players with some intelligence and doesn't treat them like children.
Complex and involving investigation missions (if you ignore the general chat!) that will keep me coming back time and time again.
Well done Funcom, you should be commended.
Aug 22, 2012The Secret World restored my faith in both the genre and developers. This is not a WoW like grindfest, or a rush to get to "endgame" content. The skills and abilities you earn at the beginning of the game can serve you perfectly well through later game content. The skill system doesn't focus on the grind or min/maxing. Instead, the player is treated like an adult, a person who enjoys a good book, a person who wants mature content in a mature world. The world is the most visceral quality in the game, and they have managed to bring every zone to life. The quest system changes your mentality from jumping from quest to quest to actually exploring and seeing the care crafted into it. I look at each quest as a page on my characters story, rather than something I need for experience or loot. I take my time with every bit of content and the pace fits my desire for a mature game. The growing community is patient and educated, mature and confident. Wiping 10 times on a boss in a dungeon isn't something to be ashamed of, it's a challenge. Release was smooth, with quick additions and bug fixes steadily applied. Since starting, I've turned 5 like-minded friends onto the game and each of them feels the same. This isn't a game to rush through, it's not a game to power level. It does not hold your hand and go over every single detail. Investigation missions send you out into the world to figure things out and adapt. This is the first game in a long time I've felt challenges and expects its players to rise to the challenge. With monthly content updates and a long term plan, more than any other MMO before, I feel like my subscription is well spent.… Expand
Aug 22, 2012This is the first MMORPG that I really enjoyed in the last 5 years, and I played almost every single MMO out there since Ultima Online!
The history is really amazing, actual and not a tipical franchise of other worlds. Having the history line occurring in a real world and in the current year is just adding icing to the cake. It mixes real history, past myths and secret societies, that feels a mix between lovecraft, the davinci code and the walking dead :)
Combat and gameplay is quite unique, I really enjoy playing it both solo and doing dungeons with other people. There is tons of options to experiment, improve and you are not stuck to once role or skillset, which is great.
I've been playing already for 1 month, many hours every day, and I just can't feel bored anytime. There is so much stuff going on that is overwhelming!
The current score of 72 from Metacritic is just sad, they don't deserve that score, at least they should have a score of 92.… Expand
Aug 22, 2012This game is a breath of fresh air to me, a dedicated MMO gamer of many years. It's the first game for a long time that a) makes you use your brain, and b) has no stereotypical levelling structures. You have freedom of how you want to skill up your toons. The scriptwriting, dark humour, and cutscenes are awesome. The monthly sub on this is actually a pleasure to pay for me. I have been so sick of mindless button mashing MMO's for such a long time.… Expand
Aug 24, 2012I tried the secret world. I loved the secret world. And I will NOT pay for it any longer. It has some pretty neat ideas (world, character development,some quests, etc.) but I do not like the fact that it is simply broken. If I always have to think, if I am too dumb to solve that quest or if it is broken, it spoils all the fun for me. I found myself always using the in-game browser to solve the most mediocre quests to find out where I have to go and/or if I am there, what I have to do to fix it. Best example: The Black House. Nice quest. Nice story behind it. No combat. Great. And then it is buggy midway. Yeeehaw.
Then the leveling system. I like it. I could do whatever I want. In theory. Practically I have to predetermine a deck and use it all the way to the higher levels or I would totally suck at the second map. It is a system that should encourage curiosity. But it punishes me for it. Why?
I would have preferred a system in which I would be able to not suck so much even at lower levels. When I got my first elite skill, I thought, yeah, now I can fight those pretty heavy monsters on even terms. Well, no. I used pistols. My elite was overpowered first, but then it lost all useability. That is not the way of an elite skill, is it? It should always be useful, but not overpowered. What is the sense of a skill wheel, if I have to use some skills which are clearly stronger than others? Why can't I just spend my skill points just as I want, without suckin early on (I put some thought in it, I did not just use random stuff. It works well at the beginning, but afterwards, I just suck, because I cannot unlock the skills I want, but the next one. And that bloody takes a freaking long time)
I did not play it to the high end content, because the game would not let me play as I wanted it to.
The ideas are great. I would like the skill wheel if it was properly balanced. A lot of skills are useless, but I like the idea of a lot of skills. It would be great if I was able to unlock all of them in an earlier stage. I hate the shackles this game is giving me.
I liked the combat though. Yeah, you gotta press a button and aiming for yourself would be sooo much cooler, but hey! If I can do what I want (which I CANNOT) why not. The game crushed repeatedly on my computer, making it nearly unplayable. All in all:
It is a beta. I would play it if it were free to play. In its current state I won't.
If they fix all the bugs in the quests and give me my freedom I expected from this game, I will definitely come back to the secret world. Try it when it's free.… Expand
Aug 25, 2012This game is everything I've been waiting for. The storyline and setting sets a mood unlike any other mmo. The potential to social interaction almost outweighs the game itself, with already two online radios organizing live in-game events. The game mechanics are original in almost every aspect and allow you unprecedented freedom in, imagining what your kick ass hero would look like and than making it happen in game.… Expand
Aug 25, 2012Wonderfully refreshing MMO in a market saturated by WoW clones. Funcom dared to be different with The Secret World. Excellent modern-horror story. Well-written voice acted missions, to the extent that it is easy to become invested in the outcome. Open-ended ability progression with near limitless deck combinations. Give the trial a go, you may be pleasantly surprised!
Aug 25, 2012Good Graphics, Quests are the best that I have played in a MMO, Voice acting is spot on, the mood the game sets is truly amazing..it sucks you right in and keeps your interest. The skill wheel allows for freedom to overcome most things ingame which I have never seen anywhere...no alts required. The overall story is just engrossing, you just want more and more. The community is very helpful and mature, none of that barrens chat. Definately one of the better MMOs I have played in a long time. The critic review based on a beta version seems to be way off.… Expand
Aug 25, 2012Positives: 1) The world and atmosphere is beautiful. TSW takes place in a modern setting, running with the idea that all myths are routed in truth. There are 3 main areas (Solomon Island, Egypt and Transylvania) each with 2-3 sub regions. Each zone just looks amazing and I think really captures different horror genres. 2) The system is classless and level-less. As you gain XP you unlock AP to buy more abilities and SP to improve your weapons/armour. This lets you change your character on the fly provided you have enough abilities unlocked. In a dungeon and need more healing? Throw on some healing abilities. Need to do more damage damage? Change to do magic damage. Now while the system is effectively level less, areas are balanced you having a certain gear level, so there still restrictions in place on what you should be doing. 3) The game really forces you to think. There are 3 types of quests you can get
a) Action quests, these are your standard do this or kill that
b) Sabotage quests, go here try to avoid mobs
c) investigation quests, like playing an old school adventure game mixed with an ARG.
So investigation quests give you puzzles ranging from solving this encoded transmission, to solving riddles to translating Hebrew to looking up the wife of a worker off a fictional company website. To help you solve these Funcom has armed users with a browser in game. Now a few of the sabotage/investigation missions I find can be solved in a few ways, though I found a few that seemed like they required just brute force guess work.
4) The story and NPC's are pretty interesting. Funcom wanted everything to tie together and did a good job. For instance at the start of Solomon Island you quickly learn there is a zombie problem. After doing a few missions and talking to a few NPCS (which actually say useful and relevant stuff mixed in with the fluff) you start to figure out why there are zombies and what they are being used for, There not just there to be annoying to players, Funcom actually wrote in why and how they are there.
Now the negatives
1) Cost. TSW is the most expensive MMO on the market. It has a full game box price, a monthly subscription (even more if your not from N America) and a cash shop (where stuff is bought PER CHARACTER not account).
2) TSW's combat can best be described as boring and out dated. While choosing and building your decks is fun, combat itself is not. Combat in TSW uses a tabbed based targeting system with some attacks building resources and others consuming them. Most combat can be broken down to: use your builder 5 times, use a finisher for weapon one and a finisher for weapon 2., rinse and repeat. If you see a white circle, move; if you see fire on the ground, move. Personally I find the tabbed system makes all weapons feel the same, it doesn't help that a lot of animations are repeated so not only do they feel the same, they look the same.
3) While Sabotage missions are a very cool idea, lack of real stealth abilities make some of these the most frustrating things you will ever attempt. Since there are no stealth abilities and the AI in TSW is standard MMO level of stupid (or Doom 1 like AI) Sabotage missions tend to break down to avoid all guards since they will 1 shot you, and sometimes hit the glowing yellow object to distract said guards. Personally I found the sabotage missions at the start had some interesting mechanics like stealing uniforms and causing more distractions, a lot of them just involve memorizing guards and preying you get lucky, You have to start to wonder after nameless grunt #1033 catches you and throws you in an easily escapable box why they aren't out saving the world and instead leaving it in the hands of the PCs. 4) The game has a lot of bugs. Chat breaks pretty consistently which at times leaves you with no way to communicate with users. Some missions break down from too many people trying to do them or certain mobs don't spawn making them impossible to finish. As well as the bugs there some pretty bad design decisions. For example if your watching a cutscene and a mob happens to aggro you somehow you can die in the middle of said cutscene. For non main story/investigation missions this could mean having to wait 1-3 days to resee the cutscene, for story or investigation missions this means you now need to search youtube preying that someone recorded the cutscene for you to watch. The cutscenes also give you important missions hints/clues.
Over all I would recommend trying to TSW. The unique setting and investigation missions are a ton of fun and a breathe of fresh air in a rather stagnant (imo) market. Over all though I don't think TSW is a perfect game and has more than its fair share of problems. At times the game really seems to want to be a 3rd person action game, but had to make numerous unfortunate compromises… Expand
Aug 25, 2012Even with it's flaws, The Secret World is definitely worth checking out. I haven't been hooked this much since I first played World Of Warcraft. Try it and love it!
Aug 26, 2012Best mmo ever for a long time.
Graphism, new gamplay, storyline and quests are on top.
It's mostly a PVE game. A great one, and a new one. Few bugs.
I play on a good PC with 60 FPS, even in the mass PVP zone.
The only problem is that this is a mature and adult game.
Aug 27, 2012Awesome game. The modern day setting, the story line of myths and legends brought to life, the skill system - all of it is a much needed breath of fresh air in an otherwise dull and predictable MMO landscape.
Aug 27, 2012This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Some people mention bugs, but when I consider how fresh this awesome MMO is, I would have expected far more. The greatest MMO I have ever tried! YESYESYES...… Expand
Aug 28, 2012Love the graphics, but do get yourself a Nividia GTX670 or better, or you can't run the game in all its beauty and glory. Love the world, the missions, the skill system. It's all very well designed.
Sep 1, 2012The game has the best ambiance and quests of any of the MMO's I've played to date. Combat is lively and centered around timing, movement, and your knowledge of builds. The game system and content is both very deep and challenging. It's story line is really first rate. The writing is both mature and filled with humor. On top of this, the game is really quite a bit different in substantial ways from the games common to the genre. As an aside I found many of the critic reviews to be quite odd. Many seem to have been written on either minimal exposure to the game or exposure only to the games beta. The developer has offered a number of free trials, some of which I believe are still ongoing. There is honestly little reason to depend on critics for information anymore. Just see with your own eyes. A side benefit will be knowing which of the critics provide solid reviews and which ones are just fishing for page counts or filing articles to meet deadlines.… Expand
Aug 30, 2012This game offers awesome game-play, graphics that are fresh and imaginative, sound and music tracks which set the mood extremely well and game-play that is fresh and innovative. The quests offer investigation missions for those who love scouring the web, covert missions for those who enjoy being stealthy, and missions for those who love crashing through doors screaming, "BRING IT ON SUCKERS, THE TERMINATOR IS HERE!"
THe voice acting of the npcs (from many recognisable top actors/actresses) is superb and tells the story in a wonderfully rich way which draws you in, the game lore is scattered about the game areas for those who love Easter egg hunts, there are achievements to gain for those who love to keep count of their kills and the places they have been. The single virtual server structure means you can play with anyone in the world with a chance to form groups at almost any time of day because Europe and the USA servers aren't segregated it is one big melting pot.
To put it bluntly this game is the best current offering in current months and offers the freshest experience I have seen in a long time, give it a go, make it a WoW beater.… Expand
Aug 31, 2012In short: This is the only MMORPG that I have ever found worth playing, and not for lack of trying. The quest design is impeccable (a lot of SP RPGs aren't as good!), the system is fresh and interesting, and the setting and atmosphere is absolutely great. So far, the game is absolutely worth its retail price. For me, it remains to be seen if I'll keep playing, as I am not usually an MMO player, but I am confident. The Raids are interesting (especially with the mutable skill sets - your group doesn't succeed with a boss? Change your tactics on the fly! Hell, change your CLASS on the fly!). PVP is a bit chaotic as of yet, but remedy seems to be underway. Also, I find a bit of chaos more to my liking than having static battles that all work the same. While the graphics are mostly okay, the animations are a bit awkward. The design of the world is beautiful and adds a lot to the fantastic atmosphere. There are likable characters throughout the story, which are all completely voiced by good voice actors. All in all it's a 9/10, corrected to 10 to offset some of the ridiculously low ratings.… Expand
Aug 31, 2012Secret World is the most fun I've had in an MMORPG in a long time. I'm never been a fan of zombies, monsters, or creepy things. But Secret World does it in such a way that makes it really fun. The combat and the way you can combine various attacks/ability trees lets you really play the character you want.
Missions/Quests: The writing, humor,and detail on many of the missions is really, really good. So going back later and repeating the missions is fun, and about 90% of the missions are repeatable. Other games have "daily" missions, in which you usually grind something boring. But in Secret World you can pick your favorite missions and do THOSE as dailies, which is sooo much more fun. The NPC's in Secret World have their little quirks and actual personality that make them stand out. Character development: I never felt gimped or underpowered when starting new characters. Other games have the level grind, and you need increasingly more and more XP in order to make your character better in some way. Not in the Secret World, because the XP needed for the next ability point stays the same. This allows for fantastic levels of customization as you can consistently unlock new abilities. Progression was steady and well paced. Secret World allows players to eventually unlock every ability/attack/passive bonus in the game. You can only slot 7 active attacks/abilities and 7 passive abilities (14 total). But you can change them around and swap them out at any time, with any ability that you've unlocked. The reasonable XP needed to gain ability points means that you can flesh out your character in ways that are fun. For example, how about an elementalist with some dual pistol attacks tossed in! It gives you a lot or room for creating the character you're looking for.
Setting and graphics; I'm running an NVidia 275 GTX card, and the graphics are really good. The modern setting feels comfortable, because so much of it is familiar. It also adds to the creepiness in some areas, because of how things are destroyed or affected. I personally don't see anything wrong with the attack animations. In fact, I think some of them look really cool (Like pistols, and the elemenal electric attacks). Overall I'm having a lot of fun, and look forward to playing this game for quite a long time.… Expand
Sep 2, 2012Simply fantastic. Quest, skill, and endgame design are just about perfect. The only caveat I have is that the final part of endgame, raids, haven't yet been implemented; that said, the gearing process is the best I've ever worked with (played WoW, SWTOR, TERRA, and GW2), and the dungeon designs are great. There are some bugs still being ironed out, though on that score the launch is significantly better than either WoW or SWTOR--the active response from the devs is the reason I don't deduct a point, here. They've been great at listening and responding to community feedback.… Expand
Sep 3, 2012If you like good story - you should play this game. Unlike childish SW:TOR, plot is written to interest mature people. Cut scenes are directed so well, that you don
Sep 3, 2012I have to say one of the best MMOs I have played. No, its not perfect if I'm trying to pick it apart. However, this is a perfect release. I expect changes after the first few months to balance things out. But Overall this is great twist to a diluted genre.
Sep 4, 2012I'm playing TSW since release now, and am still motivated enough to play it almost every day, unlike SWTOR, where I lost all interest after my character finished the story and reached max. lvl. I sort of stumbled over the beta-weekends and after reaching Kingsmouth the atmosphere of the game sucked me in. The story, the well-crafted quests (especially the adventure-like Investigative Missions) and the great characters and dialogue turn The Secret World into something special. And while the skill system seemed really chaotic to me in the beginning, I got used to it pretty fast. Graphics and sounds are well done although the characters are pretty low-polygon, which really shows in close-ups. Lighting and shadows are great, especially under DX11. Conclusion: The Secret World is my favorite MMORPG in 2012.… Expand
Sep 5, 2012The Secret World breaks all the rules of mass market MMOs: It aims to make you think, rather than handing you answers on a plate and focuses on story and content rather than button mashing.
The game has a modern world setting, focusing on occultism and conspiracy theories for its action rather than good and evil, elves and skeletons. There are a few genuine scares and the characters are very human and relatable rather than mindless quest donors - I felt so bad for some wandering monsters I was almost in tears. The game has many nods to beloved pop culture sources - plenty of Lovecraft, Stephen King, George Romero, Wes Craven, Robert Anton Wilson, Dan Brown and Neil Gaiman - locations so true to life that you can find your way around them as a real-world local, and dialogue so beautiful you could stand and play it over and over again for days.
Quests come in three main flavours - red combat missions, where you can solve most of your problems with violence; yellow sabotage missions, where you sneak about and avoid violence at all costs, and green investigation missions, which are where the game shines. While at this point, it's quite possible to find solutions for every quest on the internet, the sheer thrill of thinking your way through an investigation - applying your general knowledge or using the in-game browser as a reference library - is second to none. They've also gone to substantial lengths to deepen a player's immersion by incorporating ARG elements such as websites for certain in-game organizations and youtube clips. While the amount of content in the game is currently only just beyond the point where you can see everything at least once in the span of a month, with 5 years of ARG behind it, there is probably 6 months to a year of engrossing material for someone inclined to look deeper, and content updates occur roughly once every month.
There are still a few bugs in the game; some are annoying, but Funcom have been responsive to bug reports so far and there is nothing to make the game unplayable for any but the most tantrum-prone.
The community so far is overall excellent - friendly and helpful, welcoming to newbies, and very team oriented, despite most of the content being quite accessible to a skilled or careful solo player. Elements that discourage team work in other games, such as "kill stealing" simply aren't possible in TSW, so a player is quite welcome to charge to the rescue of someone being mobbed - which deepens the immersion substantially - and the player you help with a difficult quest today will be the one who saves your skin next week with the rewards he or she obtained.
One very pivotal factor for me was how woman-friendly the game is. Rather than shoving away a large proportion of its potential player base by turning every female character into a mandatory sex object, you are free to choose from a range of perfectly plausible styles of dress and be as sexy or as practical as you choose. Character customization is still somewhat limited - face and hair only, with clothing "limited" to the rather huge range available between the in-game clothing stores and the vanity-item-only cash shop - you can't design your own clothes yet, but there is the possibility of that, and body customization, in future. Bodies for both sexes are presently uniformly athletic but neither overly thin nor Mr Universe proportions - they look like people who spend a lot of time every day running and fighting, which is about right. And the mandatory F-cups and biceps aren't so wearying because you can put a coat on if you want.
There are no annoying gold sellers at all. All in all, I have not regretted one single penny I have spent on this game. It will always be niche, as there are many who don't want to think or be challenged in their game-play, but it's a niche that needed filling and one that I love.… Expand
Sep 5, 2012While it is true that Funcom has not solved the "play alone together" problem all MMORPGs seem to face, the number of other MMORPG problems Funcom has addressed is remarkable.
The class-less/level-less system allows for both more character individualization and alt-less play ala guildwars. Any character can learn any build at any time.
The environment is creepy and foreboding. The modern day setting makes it feel familiar... but only familiar in the way an HP lovecraft story is familiar. The horror element and continual suprises always keep you on edge and engaged.
The gameplay, story elements and puzzles are remarkably well integrated. Unless you read and think about the story, you wont succeed. This will likely turn off grind-oriented players but for those of us who were turned off by the grind, this is a breath of fresh air. You are always learning something new *and significant* about the world around you and how to deal with it.
This is not a mass market game. Its a thinkers game. And a game for those who prefer "street level" heroes to world-shaking power-fantasies. But its a big breath of fresh air and depth in a market that has been on a steady march to bland and shallow crowd pleasers for a long time now.… Expand
Sep 11, 2012I have played WOW, SWTOR,AOC,EVERQUEST 1& 2 this was by far the game thats kept my interest the most. Love the story and atmosphere, only reason i wouldnt give it a 9.5 was the fighting takes some getting used to.
Sep 13, 2012This game is not worth it. The only thing that makes it different from any other MMORPG is the modern-time setting. Don't forget you'll be buying the game AND paying a 15 dollar monthly subscription. The graphics are nothing glorious, the animations are basic and abrupt (i.e. you can go sprinting, then randomly jump higher than two cars piled, then land normally and go on sprinting), the combat system is horrible and the missions are blatantly repetitive. Of course it has an original storyline and setting, no doubt about that. But Funcom is just trying to leech your wallet - a different story doesn't make the game worth its current prices. Star Wars The Old Republic made it free to play, and if they don't do the same with The Secret world, its going to fall... face-first. Summing it up: Game CD + 15 dollars per month for something you can do on WoW, Allods, Forsaken World, Vindictus, or any other MMORPG, with no special features or revolutionary game mechanics. Is it worth it? Not by an inch.… Expand
Sep 28, 2012I've been playing this game since beta. This is not your average MMO. This is not the game for your if you don't enjoy THINKING as well as fighting. I've seen people complain here about having to use google. There's an in-game browser for research missions. (Again, they are also optional.) The three societies are great, each one has its own unique story. I have been lucky enough to play with a lot of people from around the world and the social experience once you've joined a cabal(guild) is fantastic. No, it's not perfect but the developers are dedicated to delivering original content and an original experience. Right now, the game is even on sale. It's worth it, I'm a lifetime sub owner.… Expand
Sep 28, 2012I found the game fun but not worth paying for. The action gameplay style and skill based combat concept is nice but the game itself doesn't grab you by the face and draw you in. Instead it plops you down and tells you good luck follow the butterfly.
Oct 7, 2012+ -At last something different. -Not just braindead hack and slash and get your reward and your gear and your level up. -Not just stand in a dungeon and press your 400 abilities to spam some boss. -Not have have to chose your destiny before playing... -Not have to create several chars to try different playstyles. be anything you like. -A wery challenging endgame that keeps you experimenting a lot and have groupmembers actually cominucate whats the smart thing to do.
-You have to think. (i find this refreshing)
-The Zones before endgame is like singleplayer game.
-The Endgame is very much repeat same dungeon over and over many times before you are geared/skilled enough to move on to next one. Should haven been many more dungeon with a smoother progression in how difficult they are. -You have to think (some dont like to think)
-Should have pve areas that clearly without doubt rewards grouping.… Expand
Oct 11, 2012Best. Game. Ever. I would discuss why but it's been said in most of the 10/10's What I would suggest is being wary of many of the really negative reviews. Only because quite a few have been so glaring wrong (and I mean factually as opposed to their opinion) that I doubt they really even played the game. Although a tad expensive I feel the regular content updates coupled With the excellent concepts coming out of the dev teams really make it worth it's money. On top of this, the content designers are actually listening to the fan and building and implementing what's being asked for. Please note however that this is a very PvE centric game and whilst developers are aiming to improve and expand the PvP content it would not appear to be the main focus. So if roflstomping your fellow man is your bag then you may need to readjust your expectation should you decide to subscribe to the truly excellent The Secret World.… Expand
Oct 11, 2012If I compare TSW with any other MMO I've played in the last years - this one really captured me. I just recently started with doing Lair bosses and they are a good alternative to the nightmare dungeons or pvp combat zones. I've seen many players coming back from GW2 recently, which I see as a good sign for the future of TSW. With the new game director Joel Bylos there will be many more features to explore and play with in the next few months - so I will definitly keep on playing that game and no other...… Expand
Oct 11, 2012It's not a perfect game.... but it's the best game in 2012.. actually is the best MMORPG why? because it is a MMO ROLE PLAY GAME differently from many other came out under the MMORPG label but that are honestly not ROLE PLAY GAMES a game with only class and no role cannot be considered a RPG it's closer to a FPS then to a RPG (and a bad FPS) I understand the contect wont last in the hand of people that play 10 hours a day but for a person that play at a normal peace is a very nice game different and interesting… Expand
Oct 11, 2012Extremely inconsistent game; poor balance between "classes" (your class is, more or less, the two weapons you're using) leading to a small number of flavor-of-the-month builds; constant exploitation and bugs; questionable endgame involving extremely repetitive farming.
Oct 12, 2012This is the best game I have played for a very long time. TSW makes you actually think about the missions and the choices you make in the game. The skill wheel is a genuis idea, even though you can only use 2 weapons at any one time (plus we get an extra weapon later we can use as an extra) you are not tied to them or their passive skills, you can pick a choose a passive from anywhere on the wheel. Not happy with pistols? Then pick another weapon. none of your weapons have impair? then choose from a range of passives that can fix that for you. The points do come thick and fast which means you don't have to grind to get more points, a blessing in the beginning of the game when you are starting out and may make some mistakes. The ability to use any passives you want is one of the best ideas I have seen in an MMO for a long time. "YOU" get to pick and choose what you want to use, not what the devs want you to use. But it's the story telling and missions that make this game. (TOR please take note, I actually remember the NPCs and where they are based as they made such an impact on me). The storytelling will blow you away (I sometimes play "guess the stars voice") and the missions? Some will make you tear your hair out, some will have you laughing, some will make you hold your breathe, some will make you jump and not want to play in the dark. This game makes you think outside SO many boxes it will blow your socks off. It's a mixed bag of puzzles, stealth and shot em ups!
Also you will never get to that moment where you have run out of missions for your level and have to slowly grind your way to be able to unlock the next batch of missions. (points finger at TOR again) TSW doesn't work like that (thank the gods!) yes this game has had bugs (name one MMO that started out bug free?) but what is great is the devs seem to listen to the community and have been fixing those where they can. We have devs posting to say when they are working on issues/ problems and what is coming up if someone is discussing something they would like to see. The GM support in game is brilliant, the longest I've waited for help on a known mission bug was 30 minutes on a busy weekend when new content came out and they waited for me to go back to the mission I was having probs with so they could help. Also if you get stuck in game with a mission the community is pretty quick to help you out. So yes it has it's flaws but you know they are working on things to make the game better all the time, which is nice to know. The landscape and monsters are just beautifully done, sometimes it's nice to stop and look around to take it all in. I've even got into playing PvP and am loving it, even though the last few MMO's put me right off playing PvP content. yes it needs to be improved but they are working on this so things can only get better. I've not done the dungeons yet so cannot comment but they have introduced lairs to each zone for those looking for harder content and I've run screaming from a few of them. Also we get free updates and the devs have stated that they won't be doing add ons we have to pay extra for. updates normally have a few missions (which you get clothing items for completing them) and there's a new raid coming and a theatre for the RP to use! Free updates and free stuff to do keeps players happy :) we got a new barbar and plastic surgeon so we now have more looks to play with and halloween content just round the corner. what's not to love?! :) If you play 20 hours a day, like your hand being held all the time, only do PvP, like easy peasy "kill x bunny" missions and like being told what weapons you can use then maybe it's not the game for you. For the rest of you, come on over and bring a swimsuit, the water is lovely!… Expand
Oct 13, 2012Finally a game that requires real intelligence. a lord fantastic, beautiful graphics.
If you want a game simple and lightweight go your way. By cons, if you are looking for a deep play and require The secret world is the best game that you can find
Oct 28, 2012The Secret World is one of the best MMO experiences I have had to date. The lore and story is very immersive and extremely well done. The voice acting is top notch and really puts you into the story. The skill based system is very interesting, and allows you create a character of your liking. Funcom has also proven that they can delivery content updates and features worthy of the subscription fee. I highly suggest you give this game a try.… Expand
Jan 8, 2013So a few things about this game that set it apart from other MMOs: Investigation Missions, which require the player to put some thought into quests (unless you look up spoilers); you will be required to use clues, and put 2+2 together to solve a mystery or puzzle. Sabotage missions: these quests typically involve stealth and non-combat to solve. There is no "stealth mode" so it means actually having to sneak by guards without fighting. No levels or classes: characters have access to every skill, ability and weapon in the game. As you progress, you eventually will have ALL the skills, weapons and abilities; the tricky part is to find the right combination of weapons and abilities that will allow you to beat a particular type of creature. You build multiple decks that can be swapped in and out as the situation requires. Lovecraftian, modern day setting: it's a mix of X-Files, Poe and Indiana Jones -- the atmosphere is just great. Because it's modern day, you have access to devices such as cell phones and a browser within the game. Story and personality: All the missions have great individual stories, and they all tie together into a larger story as you explore. Fantastic cut scenes and great humor -- the NPCs are truly inspired.
Fun, challenging dungeons: the dungeons don't have lots of trash, but they DO have great settings and very interesting mechanics. They are a bit on the difficult side, so figuring out how to tackle the big bad is always challenging and fun.
Separation of gear from clothes: you can look however you like since clothes are completely independent of the gear (talismans). Some very nifty clothing options, and cool uniforms you can unlock as you open decks on the ability wheel.
Great community: one of the friendliest, mature and most helpful I've been around. Lots of opportunity and support for RP, including pubs, a nightclub and an in-game theater stage for plays.
Downsides : PvP is still a work in progress (it has its dedicated followers), animations are a bit lackluster, and not as many facial and body type options as I would like. There's little in-game hand-holding, so the learning curve can be a bit steep, especially with the ability wheel and decks. Still, the community helps here. There are a few niggly bugs still hanging about.
Overall, though, a fantastic game, if something of a sleeper. Heartily recommended.… Expand
Oct 29, 2012I absolutely love this game! The combat system is not as simple as World of Warcraft and not as complicated as Age of Conan. And the possibilities are endless! I can make a healer, tank and summoner on the same character. A few more clicks and BAM, you got an entirely new build. The graphic is amazing (even on my low-end laptop, which isn't even supposed to handle the game, but somehow it does). The cut-scenes and the storytelling is mindblowing, it is so well adapted so I don't care that my character never says a word (like in Age of Conan or SWTOR, when you can have full conversations with NPC;s). I applaude Funcom for this innovative game. Just a final note: How the hell could this masterpiece get so low metascore?… Expand
Nov 8, 2012I've actually waited a few to come and post my 2 cents worth of a review. Mostly, because I've been wondering if at some point I would get bored with it.
Four months later... I'm still playing the game and enjoying every minute of the game play. Even if I'm just doing missions or if I'm grouping up with my cabal mates to tackle a dungeon. The main story was very compelling and even now I still talk about the little theories I have about the stories development with my friends.
Sure things are clunky, but what game that comes out is not without issues. WoW had them, as did EQ, Star Wars Galaxies and a slew of other games. Definitely give this game a chance and watch the content unfold, it really is worth the time.… Expand
Nov 20, 2012This game is great. The modern day setting, the story-line, the voice acting, the puzzles; are fresh. I like the fact that you only need one character to fill any party role. In other MMO's I would roll an alt for every class. Now I can pursue endgame content full time. If groups are needing a healer, I'm that. If they need DPS, I'm that. Still learning tanking, but if they break the glass, I can even be that.
All monsters are real. All conspiracies are real. I love this game so much, and see so much room for future content I bought my first MMO lifetime subscription.… Expand
Nov 27, 2012Its different yes, which also means that it does things differently.
So if you are looking for a new WoW clone, then look elsewhere - because this is just so much better than what you are looking for then. This game is among the best games i have played and it is also a solid MMORPG. For once we see innovation in the MMORPG genre and i like it. Graphics are crisps, no performance issues, solid questing system and better storytelling than any other MMO (Maybe SWTOR have better story, but then again that is more of a massive-single-player-RPG). And big thumbs-up for the monthly content updates and bug fixes. Unlike many other, FunCom is very dedicated to correcting and expanding the game. Already after one month old areas was worth a re-visit to see the new stuff. Try it - it is definitely worth your time!… Expand
Dec 12, 2012Please do not waste your money. I've played many pay to play and free to play MMOs over the course of 12 years and I can confidently say that I was extremely foolish for buying this game. If you see positive reviews for this game please consider that they are possibly reviews created by the game's PR staff.
Let me breakdown some positive and negative aspects of this game from a buyers perspective:
(Keep in mind: My PC is setup to smoothly play TERA, Final Fantasy XIV, and Crysis 2 all on highest settings.)
Positive (The only reasons this game got a 2 from me):
- The game scenery looks nice.
- The game has a unique and interesting storyline compared to other MMOs
- The character creation process is ridiculously limited
- The character visuals and animations are horrible. The game's scenery looks way better than the character visuals.
- This Pay to Play game has an In-Game item shop which offers items that are far superior to the items achievable via game progress. You have the option to purchase items in the store with in-game farmed currency, a ton of in-game currency. (really? wtf were the devs thinking?)
- Combat is below lackluster. Imagine if GTA mated with Second Life and they produced a child game with down-syndrome -> Voila The Secret World Combat System. - PVP in The Secret World is probably the worst PVP that has ever been created in the history of all MMOs. Seriously. Couple this with the derp-a-tronic lamesauce combat system and you will be shortly bashing your head into nearby objects in order to pound some sanity back into your mind.
- Questing is subpar. This aspect of the game isn't as horrendous as the others but it is a close runner up as far as the actual conent of the questing goes. The only thing that partially makes the questing bearable is the storyline and scenery (which are also the only two aspects which get a favorable review in my opinion).
I could go on and on but eventually I would run out of word count.
I gave this game a chance. I leveled and quested until I could only go further for the sake of validating reasons why this game caused me serious Buyer's Remorse.
If you buy this game for 49.99 on steam then I am sad to say that you have wasted your money horrendously. If you don't believe me then try their 3 day free trial (which they created due to the massive amount of customers wanting refunds due to buyer's remorse. seriously they didnt even have a 3 day trial to begin with until this BS game started making people angry)
The Secret World had potential. However, if you have played MMOs before and are a veteran looking for a deep sense of accomplishment and gratification then this title is a bane to your existence. I would highly recommend looking elsewhere or spending your money on something more rewarding like a lottery ticket.… Expand
Jan 2, 2013I was debating for weeks if I should get this game due to the reviews. I finally caved and bought it and am very glad I did. I played wow for 8 years and have been searching for a replacement for a long time. I tried countless other mmo's, and nothing could hold my attention for very long no matter how hard I wanted them to (rift, tera, gw2, swtor - the list goes on and on). The graphics, animation, combat, gameplay are all awesome. The weapon and ability customization is killer. The server I am on has tons of people, all with really cool and funny clothing (some even have dogs and cats), and the community is very helpful. Questing is a blast, more fun than I have ever had doing so.
There was a lot of people writing about puzzle quests. This is a very minimal part of the game, and being able to press b for the in game browser makes any quests you get stuck on easy as could be. Just press b, type in google: tsw and instantly the first result is a site that shows you exactly what to do, but like i said, you will not need it often.
If they keep adding on to this game it could easily become one of the best mmo's around. I would easily have paid a sub fee for this game. This is by far the most fun I have had playing an MMO. I like it so much that I was compelled to write a review for it - something I have never done before for any game, but I really wanted to get it out there to others how much fun it is.
So if you are sitting there like I was, reading 1000 reviews wondering if you should get it - do it!… Expand
Jan 7, 2013The best MMO I ever played (I have long background in Legends of Mir, Guild Ways, SWTOR). Interesting storyline, quests that are so different from standard (go to location X and kill 100 worms), interesting combat and character upgrade system. Really worth checking especially since now it's B2P, you pay once and pay for ever (ok, later you may want to buy DLCs, but it's up to you like in GW).
Jan 13, 2013It been since bc wow that I've lost track of time where 4 hours feels like 1 cause playing is so much fun. I loved it in beta and it's come a long way since then and keeps getting better.
Jan 15, 2013A game with original background and gameplay. Numerous and various missions. A must have when u love MMos. Puzzles in MMos are refreshing and bring a new blood in these kind of games.
Jan 18, 2013Very inovative as MMORPG in many aspect. Questing is a real pleasure and the story is very deep, an uncommon feature for MMORPGs. Now that is B2P i think it deserves the the attention of many.
Oct 26, 2013This game is an absolutely unique game and has a brilliant atmosphere. This world is so brilliant. The characters has a really good style too, IMHO this is the best looking in any of the MMOs. And the quests are so epic and various, it's amazing! The skills are also great, and has great effects, and the UI is cool, it's number one. So overall it's a great game and by the way, you don't need to pay a monthly fee, so it's definitely worth it's price! … Expand
Feb 1, 2013So I just took my first look at "The Secret World" I figured no sub, one time buy... why not? I have to say that I am torn in whether liking it or totally hating it. I lean more towards the total hate side. The trailers and description are total eye candy... However as we all know the trailers will show the best the game has to offer and not the worst, similar to a photo album... All you will see is smiling faces in the pictures. The game itself has a terrific storyline but the game play just does not match it... It almost seems they put more time into the "lore" if you will then the actual game itself... I like the fact that they took a step away from the traditional MMO's that we see so often now a days but I would be lying if I said they took a step in the right direction... If a game becomes a job then there is no point to it, and many of the problem solving aspects of this game is damn near like a job... Kudos to the developers for doing their own thing and not following "the scene" but as far as a semi-hardcore players view it is lacking immersion, basics and excitement.… Expand
Mar 11, 2013Unlike others below, this game convinced me to give up on Funcom. It's incredibly buggy, incredibly exploited, crashes...often...Did I say that it's heavily exploited? A few minutes in the battle grounds and you will understand ;)
What does it have? Nice graphics and character customization options...but that doesn't make a game. The battle grounds are hit and miss on whether you will enjoy them, or fall asleep. As I learned, falling asleep with your head on the keyboard will get you banned...roflmao. Other games solved that problem eons ago.
Issues after months of "fixes":
Dragging items in your inventory takes a graduate degree. It's perhaps the sloppiest code ever written. The possible results range from it moves where you wanted it, it moves somewhere completely different. the game tries to (or succeeds) at destroying it, or (for consumables) sorry sucker you just drank it.
It's also a massive grind fest. In standard Funcom tradition, they are incapable of either creating in-depth content, or scaling the availability to their desired investment...you will grind and grind, and grind. But don't worry, almost every quest is repeatable (brings back memories of Age of Conan back). Yes, you will need to repeat them...forever. Good luck on new content. They fired most of their programmers months ago.
As for the story. Nice idea, very badly implemented. Despite a plethora of cut scenes, they just did a poor job of developing their story. It was a great disappointment after Age of Conan's beautiful lead in (AoC died late in the leveling scale but at least made it through a few levels of play prior to that).
Ah yes, let's not forget that this is really AoC with a new skin. Yes kiddies, its the same crappy resource hungy, unstable, gaming engine. Indeed some of the oldest bugs are still there. Just crank up the details and especially the shadow details, and you will see large patches of the world that don't quite work right. Indeed, even on low settings, I found an entire region that became unstable (as in most of it disappeared and I was left staring at the subterrain) during one of the quests.
Can it be enjoyable. Yes. Can you have fun? Yes. Is it worthwhile to play given the many alternatives? Given a choice between TSW and WoW, I would go read a book, watch a movie, or perhaps watch the birds as they fly past my house going where ever birds go this time of year.
Other issues,… Expand
Apr 27, 2013Amazing game. The combat is very fluid, but it there's a higher than usual learning curve on making a build that flows well. The lore is engaging. Unlike another fully voiced MMO we know, the questing feels a lot less pointless and I found myself trying to clear every single quest in a zone before moving on. Haven't really run into any serious quest bugs, but a lot of the investigation missions are quite difficult and may lead many to think they're bugged.
TSW is seriously underrated by critics, but if you look at the user scores you'll see that it's very high in comparison to that of other MMOs. There's no more subscriptions, but if it weren't for the misleading reviews at release, I totally would have bought a permanent subscription.… Expand
May 23, 2013This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. You step into the game and are greeted by a solitaire cowboy warming up on a bonfire. Then you notice something is not quite right. Suddenly the cowboy grabs his rifle and shoots a wandering zombie in the head. You can't help but thinking "you are so cool".
Welcome to The Secret World, one of the most under-rated mmorpgs of all time. The game is an amalgamation of horror and sci-fi genres joined by a good storyline. Zombies, Lovecraft, city detectives, secret societies, egyptians gods, vampires, war horrors...Really refreshing to not have a fantasy theme for once
Honestly my note should really be a 9, but I feel this games has been unfairly reviewed by the press. I've joined the game recently so my explanation is that there were many bugs in the release. Happily the game is pretty much bug free although there's a few still around.
Only pity is the game fails to deliver the final punch and you keep thinking "if-only". If only the dialogues could be more interactive and your character could speak. If only the pvp was better. If only there would be more endgame content. There's a feeling with a bigger budget this game could have been a masterpiece. In any case the case is tons of fun as long as you are forgiving with a few issues and don't mind the conditionals:
- you are not a pure pvp oriented player: there's only one effective pvp map and it often feels like headless chickens running around. Also there is no real proof of skill and there are no ranked matches so often matches are noob-stomping by premades group. Still jumping in once in a while is good fun.
- you are not hardcore: there's plenty of content in the game and it's incredible good value for the small price (it's f2p now) but it's possible to "finish" the game beating the hardest content after about 200 hours of gameplay. A really wide approximation from my side but my point is that you can actually "finish" the game after a respectable amount of time. Unlike other MMOs where you basically has to lose your real life to beat the last boss.
- you are a mature adult: the game treats like an intelligent being, there's not "toons" graphic and the community is nice and sane. There's a notorious lack of abuse, insults etc in general channels
The strong points of the game are:
- plenty of quests to do on your own with good storylines and distinct flavours
- an innovative skill system that allows an interesting way of developing your character. It's easy to get a basic build up but being able to build the perfect build is more challenging. Then you have the possibility to become the three tank/heal/dps roles at the same time which works wonderfully
- Interesting and challenging dungeons: 8 dungeons with a storyline, hardly any trash mobs and challenging boss mechanics.
- Being able to equip cool weapons like assault rifles, shotguns or blades, each one offering different play styles. Plus 5 auxiliary weapons (rocket launcher, flamethrower...) that add a little extra spice to your build
- Excellent GM support
- Free to play subscription is real free. You'll never feel like a second class citizen for not paying.
I've been playing MMORPGs for 15 years now and can honestly say this is one of the games I've had more fun with. I love you can still progress in the game without the feeling of it becoming a second job. The game seems to be designed for adults, who don't have so much time to sink and can get the "wink" of so much of the content. It really feels great to walk in in-game streets of new york, london or seoul and notice the details that make them so similar like the real ones.
Absolutely recommended and incredibly good value for money.… Expand
Jun 22, 2013Skeptical like most the people about the game i waited and bought it on sale about 3-4 days ago. Now I played plenty mmo's in my time to their respective endgame content .(WoW,WH:O,Tera,GW,GW2,NWO,AoC,FFXI,Rift) And i have to say this game was a refreshing addition, Not only the leveling is engaging and interesting the atmosphere of the game is great and on point, and if your playing with a friend is even better! I admit i only have about 24 hours in but as of now i would have gladly played full retail i bought in game points to contribute … Expand
Jul 4, 2013The game, regardless of its compelling content, is crippled by its bugs and should not be played.
A year after launch, some friendly NPCs still attack players during escort quests; this has been going on forever and has apparently been fixed before. One of the few useful Blood magic elite actives kills tanks if combined with a signet; Benediction has been a problem for a while.
Many of the new quests that end with a cut-scene and teleport simply black out the screen and force you to reset the interface and find the continuation of the quest on your own dime. Was the main quest line supposed to teleport you elsewhere? Instead, it merely blind you, forces you to use your one teleport on long CD, and then forces you to walk to the continuation.
Problems with PvP queues prevent the majority of players from entering the massive Fusang arena, in which all three factions were supposed to meet for epic combat; some players have waited in line for eight hours. In another arena, one faction was able to win more than 200x per hour because broken queues mean they weren't matched to enemies.
Even disregarding the new game-breaking problems in PvP, the developers have barely lifted a finger to address major imbalances in all arenas. Nothing prevents farming of new-/lowbies. In Fusang, the bots that were introduced in an attempt to help underdogs do no such thing, especially since they vanish soon after capturing a facility; i.e. the underdog can't hold on to what they were just given. There were promises of matchmaking, but the population is certainly too small by this point.
It's not as if the developers have been idle. They had time to cut crit and proc rates in half for Burst abilities, an unwelcome change especially for new players who used these abilities to compensate for low stats on early gear. They had time to put a one year anniversary boss in Fusang, where it can't be accessed by most due to broken queues.
Etc., etc. The game had promise and was accompanied by a large number of promises. These and the game itself continue to be actively broken. Do not participate in this exercise in frustration.… Expand
Jul 9, 2013Easily the best MMO I have ever played. The writing is top notch, the voice acting is extremely good. This is one game where I have watched every cut scene and been happy to read the NPC content as it makes the game that much more enjoyable.
The missions are refreshing, no grind fest here, you actually have to think to play this game and think to solve many of the missions. The overall eeriness of the game is also a big plus. I find myself drawn in each time I play it. Having just spent way way too many hours playing during their first year anniversary event I am very pleased with my purchase, very pleased that I have a lifetime subscription and cannot wait to see what they have in store for us next.
Do not pay attention to the poor reviews about this game. Give it a shot..and look me up in-game just look for Dracnor :)
Enjoy!… Expand
Sep 12, 2013This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. the game starts out good and the sense of adventure is intense you want to see whats all there the first area is fully voiced accept yourself of course the story line is fantastic but you are unfortunately limited to were you can go on your own and allot of the plots and story is in the dungeons and high difficulty zones witch are impossible to do on your own just starting out the game hasn't, been updating the main story line for the average character you have to buy missions in order to get different weapons and they have been catering to the player vs player more then the main story line itself and the story line is what makes the game so excellent but i digress the game is good in the begging and the side missions are fun but if your the type that has to see every thing in the story and how it ends i say look somewhere else cause this game will only get your hopes up and the drive them straight down.… Expand
Nov 6, 2013I'm an avid fan of H.P. Lovecraft, Stephen King, zombies, and all things that go bump, and I was immediately drawn to The Secret World because of the obvious influence the horror genre has had on its sensibilities. I'd never played any MMORG's before TSW but that didn't hinder me from immediately becoming immersed into its elaborate world.
The game proper begins in Kingsmouth, Maine, an isolated community on Solomon Island (although one can travel to any map from here provided they know the way). Once idyllic, this Arkham inspired New England town is now overrun by zombies, sea monsters, and cosmic horrors. The few remaining holdouts provide the lion's share of the quests available on the island, though there are plenty scattered throughout. The individual quest lines conjoin to build an encompassing island narrative of what went wrong in their community, and there is so much that did. Solomon Island is a haunted, insane place, and I've greatly enjoyed uncovering its' secrets.
The strong emphasis on story telling and NPC personality really shines in TSW and the voice acting is always top notch. One of my favorites is Hayden Montag, played by Jeffery Combs, who you may recognize for portraying Herbert West in the cult horror film series Re-Animator (Re-Animator was based on H.P. Lovecraft's famous novel). Many of the characters are very aware of common horror tropes, and will casually refer to them in a very self aware, wink to the audience, breaking the fourth wall kind of way that I find incredibly endearing. This is one game where I really pay attention to what every character has to say; every single idiosyncratic word.
I am also very pleased by how much TSW plays like a dedicated adventure survival horror PC game. There are the riddles, puzzles, and the exploration familiar to adventure gamers and they are all intelligently designed and well presented, many of them requiring research, for example, into Latin, Morse code, Medieval history, even musical composition. If you take the time to figure out things on your own, you can actually learn a lot!
Having never really played any on-line cooperative games before, I really wanted more of a solo gaming experience going at my own pace, instead of a group one just running around from one checkpoint to the next, but with the option of testing the waters of team play once I had some time under my belt to become familiar with the gameplay. So far I have been able to do exactly that. None of the initial missions are too difficult to be done alone, and once most quests for one map are completed my character was well developed enough to go on alone to the next map. There are missions that are impossible to be done single-handed, but nothing that would hinder the player from progressing from area to area and going back later with a group for the rest. And missions that were first done in a group can always be replayed solo after a cooling off period if you are so inclined.
The Secret World is huge. At the time of this review there are maps in Maine, New York City, Seoul, Transylvania, Egypt, London, one in Tokyo being released soon, and more, with many locations having multiple maps themselves. They are constantly expanding their universe and it is safe to say there is enough content to last for months or years. I've played for about 60 hours so far and I haven't even made it out of New England yet!
The game does have its annoyances, but most, if not all, can be resolved throughout the learning curve. Read the stickies in the Newcomer forum on The Secret World message board as they can cut that curve in half. http://forums.thesecretworld.com/forumdisplay.php?f=6 My only major complaint about the gameplay is that when sticking to the same weapons, which you must do in order to level them up, the fighting can get very repetitive.
I have thoroughly enjoyed The Secret World. It's fun, imaginative, ambitious and unpredictable. Now that it's gone free to play (no monthly subscription) I highly recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games, horror stories, or role playing. In The Secret World, death is just the beginning. Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn.… Expand
Nov 23, 2013i played many mmo's and this is the most innovative i've ever played. the game is not perfect but it DESERVES a 10.
If like me you can't force yourself to go back to your wow account because when you play it again you're bored because it's always the same stuff, and because it is now a "fast food rpg", secret world is for you.
Plus, the maps are well done, the voice acting is immersive, the quests are interesting (and you can skip the (rare) "kill x mobs" quests if you want. The dungeons are well made (interesting boss fights, no 999 trash mobs the xp system is great too you do what you want, not like some mmo's where leveling is automatic ...
a fresh breeze in the world of wow and wow-clones … Expand
Nov 29, 2013This is an AWESOME MMO! The one thing I have seen that may turn off some players is that this is NOT an easy game that holds your hand like WOW does for example, it's actually challenging. And that is why I love this game. One unique thing that I like is how you can change roles from healer to tank to DPS by simply switching builds...if you so choose. Heh...just DPS alone has tons of choices as to how you want to DPS....pure caster, pure melee, ranged or any combination of those. Although some may argue, there is no cookie cutter build that everyone and their dog is using. It's more a matter of preference.
And the story line is AMAZING...if you take the time to follow it.… Expand
Jan 30, 2014The ONE BEST ONLINE MMORPG! Investigation missions that combine history, myths and tales; stealth missions and pure shooting. Touching characters and stories that make you cry out of sadness or joy! Creepy places. Happy places. Original and beautiful. You can seemingly freeze in snowy mountain one moment; then see a desert sun.
Newest missions make great fun by seem like, say, Indiana Jones type of mission. Regular updates.
GREAT COMUNITY!… Expand
Feb 1, 2014Metacritic is horribly off on this one. The game has been amazing so far. I've sunk 30 hours into it so far and can foresee sinking hundreds more into it. It's very immersive, and has a nice feel to it. The npcs are all voiced. I have yet to experience any bugs. I accidentally bought the initiate pack on the store when I already had the massive edition. They don't normally do refunds, but they were very cool about it, giving me the full amount back.… Expand
May 26, 2014This is a great game For people who like something different. A good plot .a bit difficult to understand but fun and flexcible weapon and skill system. The graphics is excellent and u can play the whole story solo as if you were playing a good rpg game. There are fun and excekently written events each season.coustomer support is great. The bads---------- Updates are always delayed.
Some of the low tier skill animations need to be enhanced.
Pvp needs something more.....
I love this game and am still playing it avidly .… Expand
Nov 13, 2014I had bought this game on steam on sale this past holloween for $10...$10 well spent. Yes the combat can be a little bit annoying at first, but its definitely not the worst. The games combat feels clunky at first, especially if youre used to target ,right click, followed by hotkey presses here and there like WOW or GW2, but once you get the hang of it, its actually a lot better than some F2P MMO's or even payed ones too. The setting feels refreshing and new, the story is well played and the limit on the amount of quests you can have at a time allow that story to be noticed (til this day i can shamefully say i have no idea what the story is about in WOW). the fact that there is no leveling or even a class system is a very bold move for an MMO and kinda shows ESO how this system should've been implemented in some sort, as thats how Elder Scroll games are supposed to be, yes skyrim is the only one with absolutely no class system but even earlier elder scrolls titles gave you the option to create your own class to your liking, which is what TSW does very well. also one thing you either love or hate is the option to change and reassign set skills, to hardcore rpg or mmo players, having those choices engraved forever means you have to choose wisely and level your toon very carefully, that is the challenging factor that makes a good game, however the other end adds flexibility for newbies, and expands ever changing features where you wouldnt have to start a new toon to experience said features. The games graphics are rather poor for a post 2010 game, however this is where accessibility is brought into the picture. Realistically, not everyone has a top of the line computer, so with that said it can run on most PCs. Now since im fairly new to this game (but not to the MMO genre) i didnt experience that many bugs in the game, so its fairly polished at this point, but i did hear horror stories in the beginning.
Overall this game is a great MMO, its combat is an "either you love it or hate it" situation, Graphics are poor but not terrible, its not perfect and to some it might be dull, but if youre tired of playing MMO's that desperately copy the WOW formula or are in a over-used J.R.R. Tolkien cookie-cutter fantasy, then give it a shot, if youre still not convinced, wait for it to go on sale.… Expand
Nov 22, 2014I normally don't write reviews but I think this title deserves one.
This game is in my opinion the most underrated MMO out there. The story is superb, easy to follow and interesting at the same time, it is always giving you more questions than answers but when you follow the story for a bit things slowly falls into place.
The graphics is far better than most MMOs out there, giving your high end computer a run for the money but at the same time scales very well with older harware (I'm currently playing on my laptop gtx 680m).
The combat is fluid and fun; movement and timing of attacks are more important than bashing buttons (although there is a bit of that as well). The combat never gets overly complicated with only 8 combat moves available at one time, but the variation of moves that can be set up prior to combat is extensive and varied.
The game is fully playable as a single player only if you so wishes but gets more fun with a group of people in PVE mode. Unfortunately it can sometimes be difficult to find players to join you unless you are a member of a cabal (a guild), but I guess that is true for most MMOs.
There are three types of missions (aside from dungeons and scenarios which are group missions); the classical seek and destroy, the covert agent missions and the investigation missions. They are all varied and fun to do and seldom feel like a chore. Most of them are repeatable which in my opinion is a good thing. On top of this you have the main story missions which combines all three elements as it follows the progression of your character.
There is enough endgame material to keep things interesting for a long time and there are regular updates and new content added on. Admittedly it is not the size of WOW yet but it is steadily growing and improving.
The main criticism I have is the inventory interface, represented by tiles that all look very similar and you have to hover the mouse over it to find out what it is. A minor annoyance that I have learnt to live with.
I can't comment on PVP as it doesn't really interest me that much.
All in all a game that I hope more people will try, because I'm sure you will like it. It is definitely worth the 30 dollars to buy.… Expand
Oct 22, 2013The Secret World delivers an MMO experience that's distinctly different from its competitors, and it's likely going to remain the standard for future games in the horror/supernatural genre.
Dec 17, 2012I am really looking forward to the next mission, the next dialog, the next puzzle. As in a solo role-playing game flat. And this is not an error but a boon.
Sep 18, 2012I like the open character development where I don't have to wear a class straitjacket as well as the quiet discovery of mysterious dangers. But more often that it wants to, The Secret World is "just" an ordinary MMO.