7/29/2019 The Secret World review - PC Format

1/4

RELEASEout now

Guns, swords, magic andmonsters all in a modern

setting? How exciting

Cthulhian conspiracy? Zombie aliens? Hit them with sticksthe Secre wrldC

onspiracy theories arethriving. Its probably aallout o the horrors o the20th century, the

unbelievable inhumanity o man toman, that has led to the ormationo quite so many conspiracytheories over the last fty years.That, and the actual conspiracies:Watergate, the plot to plantexploding cigars on Fidel Castro,

Vietnamese brainwashing, theunnecessary secrecy o everygovernment and the amoralmistreatment o their citizens.The Secret World, like theX-Filesand Buffy beore it, eeds on theseconspiracies, binds them together,and makes a coherent, paranoiacworld view.

Fr ha reas, The Secret Worldis a deeply cmpellig game. Is sei r rld, he mder rld,ihi r disic ime rame.I eares recgisably mdercharacers. Ye i als delvesdeeply i, ad evices a lve r,he psych-hisry cspiracy,plghig a paraiac rr all he

ay back he Mayas, he Vikigladigs i America ad acieSmeria, ad evi ces a lve r hedeliberaely icmprehesible ales HP Lvecra ad his peers. I iere a ds, id be he riches dessers.

the game sars r eeks ag,he here as a disaser i heheadqarers he orchi Grpi tky. n-e ks ha

happeed, b smehig asreleased; he Filh, a black,iecis, pervasive ichr hacrrps ad disrs. Sme breachi dimesis as als eeced,riggerig erpis her-rldly per ad msrsiiesacrss he rld, rm trasylvaia Egyp he small America Kigsmh.

Y (r raher yr ach igly-mder characer), ere asleepdrig he tky icide. As yslep, a glig echrgaic beecraled i yr mh . Ydream, a herrldly beachih red plaes aig rapidlypas ad ke ih earhly

pers. Aer r eeks yr ais a reck, ried as y srggled crl yr pers; b hey cme easily y. A hichpi, he recriers cme kckig.

The plot thickensthgh i des maer s mchhich aci y chse, ha heygive is clr ad slighly dierepahs hrgh he mai srylie.

they each have a diere sarigarea, based real rld ciies Ld, ne Yrk, ad Sel bare mre cmpressed esseces hse places. Each hem has asimilar ask r y; ravelhrgh he hear he rld,Agarha, ivesigae he sarigpararmal aciviy ad p i righ.

the frs aci is he templars;hidde i plai sigh i Ld,heyre dedicaed balighaever i is hey perceive as evil.the Illmiai, by cras, areMachiavellia ad amral, seekigper by haever meas. Fially,he Drag is mysical, sesal adchaic, ih bscre ieis.

The Secret World isnt thefrst game to eature

Pripyats ghostly big wheel

VItALStAtIStICSPricexxDeveloper

FcmPublisher

FcmMultiplayerYesDRM alays-

iereWeb.

hesecrerld.cm

RecommendedspecsQadcre CPu, 3GBRAM, GeFrceGt 545, RadeHD 7570)

108 ocber 2012

GamingReview

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7/29/2019 The Secret World review - PC Format

2/4

IF tHIS GAME wERE AFooDStuFF, ItD BE tHERICHESt oF DESSERtS

Some o the bossbattles have a great

sense o scale...

... b is he sry hall havey cmig back r mre

oh yes, he acie, secre ar hiig higs ih a sick il heysp beig ayig ad secreive

Immediaely y sar he game,yre drpped i he rld yr aci. we cssed maily he Illmiai, hich resled i sexperiecig sme he gamesbes speeches. whas cmm all he acis (ad, ideed, all hegames characers) is he edecy mlge.

n, hile his may sd similar SWTOR s pla scrip ad vice

every sigle characer, heres adierece. Firs, mch TheSecret World s dialge is pialad -viced is js here rclr, b heres a l icidealbackgrd. Secd, he maiqess are irdced by smallc-scees, each hich is allyi-egie. this is bh a blessigad a crse; hey maily d breakimmersi, b i yre serigrm lag (a prblem a peak imes)yll be rced skip hem.

Spins a good yarnthe blessig cmes i ha hesepars are msly impeccablyrie ad aced; Ive ever see

beer sryellig i a MMo,ih a alms Jss whed-esqe miglig dark hmrad plai ld darkess heheris he 3,000 year ld campmmmy i a hie si adpaama ha r he espeak, ppchic he Illmiais yhlbss lady. Is clral reerecesare eqally cemprary adddly -escapis r a

MMoRPG, basig he gamefrmly i his rld.nPCs alkab Silent

Hill, StarWars, ashi,

Xbx he anPC mmbles himsel eh,heyll er ha r I y a

dersad hmaiy, readhe cmmes Ybe,

r Grab yr srca,yve plled r ay

he hdred qesrm the Smihs i

he Ld hby k yvesmbled acrss

excepially kig riig.Each aci has is agle, is malig hmr.

Mrever, he camera direcii he scees is excepially gd,hldig yr aei mch beerha SWTOR s slid mveme.thgh is msly lackig heeleme chice ha SWTOR ried brig rm KOTOR, he playerdes mid. I rs

sryellig is beer he yd crl he cmes ad hae did a mre chice r mrevice acig r beer graphics ejs a ed he sr y be b ee r.

the qess hemselves aresrcred ard he hemepreseed by he nPCs mlge.thgh hey ccasially srayards he sadardised qesmdels ld MMoS kill e his, cllec e ha hey all areiqely chere sries, rm hesimples he lges. Smeimes,he sryeller is eve ryig give y a qes; heres ememrable qes here abihazard-sied scieis ells y

n sereypes erehr i he makig the Secre wrld

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3/4

onE oF tHE FEw MMoSIVE PLAYED tHAt I wAntEDto KEEP PLAYInG

Clearly nothing bad is goingto happen here... oh no,defnitely not

Some scenes areincredibly eerie

ha y shld, der circmsaces, g ear heseflh-iesed pls. which is, crse, ha he qes has y d.

the ay y gaher qess iscsed sries . Y cahave e sry qes, e maiqes, hree side qess (rmallyjs d l yig a r d) ad acple her qes ypes(sealh, ivesigai) rig ace. By resricig yr access he mai qess, he game bhirdces a eleme rsrai: D I really have g

back he cemeery AGAIn? adcs, as y have chice b ll each sb-pl clsely. Smeqess are pe rld, sme aregrp ly, ad sme are slisaces; all hem earemliple seps, hich ecessiaeexplrig he rld sme mre.

Puzzle questo p his, here are geielygh pzzles bil i may heIvesigai qess, hich illreqire exesive se hei-game brser; smeimes research he asers, smeimes

js lk hem p he ikis.Fr example, e qes ivlvedgglig r a ake crpraishmepage, fd he am e adead ages spse, s ha icld be sed as he passrd his lapp, s I cld fd heprper seqece dismale adevice ha as beig sed arac msers rm he cea.

this is rh emphasisig; havigplayed MMos sice he lae 90s,Ive g sed skippig dialgead readig qes descripis;The Secret World, iqely, hasspped ha. I click a side qesmarker, he amaically clickaccep he fd mysel havig

pe my i-game jral read heex. Similarly, hgh my hadsrayed reexively ards heEscape key drig he majrmissi cscees, i rarely hi i, scmpelligly ld ere hey.

o crse, early all qessivlve cmba ad ha ers ae eaks he sal MMosrcre pressig bs ipariclar rders. Firs, likeFcms previs MMo Age Ca, players are highly mbile,ad he cmba is exible(pariclarly i he isaced

dges). Secd, he eapry isall mder, s shgs, ries adpisls ced ih srds, axesad magic. I des eel a bi dd aimes, desryig hly asiesbeyd mral ke ih js a bighammer, b is egh. I yail, here are cveie respapis everyhere.

Fially, hile he levellig sysemis as pe as Id hped i ldbe, is sill a classless, pe rld.Frm he very begiig y carai i ay he available eapses, b i akes deepspecialisai lck he mrecmplicaed pers, ecessary reecive PvP ad dge divig.

whe yre playig i a grp isill pays specialise as healers,aks ad kes b ge hepi here y ca be a eecivegrp member meas acqirigskills be her classes iecessary. Cmbie ha ih asimple sysem ha alls y sap beee characer bildsheever yre cmba, adevery characer i he game ca fllevery rle albei, alaysperecly, becase he ayyve bil yr eqipme.

the dge divig, hgh sill

bearig Fcms ivaivesryellig sreak, is he mssadardised par he game b has becase i has appeal he grp ih he highesexpecais, he peple h havegrd World of Warcraft s maxlevel dges i ds r hepas eigh years. Despie ha,Fcm has kep he mber -bss eemies i hesedges a miimm, s a all dge divig is csed perecig eam play. wih seris pealies r dyig a l adi-dge spa pis, y carepea a gh dge il yge i righ.

110 ocber 2012

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7/29/2019 The Secret World review - PC Format

4/4

GOODBYE SUBSCRIPTION MMOS

Hang on, when did I wanderinto the set o Tron?

I want to hug him, andsqueeze him, and call

him George

Leatherace is lookingmightily pissed o. Quick,someone tank him.

Rich and accomplished with an impeccablywritten and acted story, but should thishave really been a single player RPG?

the dges Ive bee hrghhave bee disic versis hell: fre, ised bimechaicalladscapes, gia dems ihskicare prblems; ad a ashbackdream bales beee Vikigs,Mayas ad America Idias,ivlvig delvig deeply i aflh-saraed excavai sie,hich as scarcely verical.

Weak pointsJs like he ladscape side, hesecre hisry he rld are jshe highlighs. the areas available

i he game are packed ihce, mch i js aii g ry smble acrss i.

there are a e qirks i hegame. the rial sysem ishig b primiive here ereseveral ccasis he I didk cerai game sysems exiseda all. the craig, hgh cleverlypllig i elemes Minecraft adTeam Fortress 2, eels like i as aaerhgh, b is ecessary scceed a higher levels. Ad hei-game shp is s hidde aay Ily d i he I accideally hia b he keybard.

Similarly, here is PvP i hegame, b is agai hid de aay.

the PvP akes he rm severalgig fghs acrss largearzes r s i seems be.Players appearaces aresadardised accrdig ceraiarcheypes, make cmba easier,ad he hle hig has he eel smehig similar a WarhammerOnline r Rift PvP area. the sidesha are crrely iig i hevaris bales ge bs XP adsas depedig ha yraci is crrely hldig.

Gig back he i-game shpr a secd. Like ms mder

MMos, The Secret World has ai-game real mey shp ha lesy by csmeic iems r i-gamese pes, clhig ad he like.thereically, his meas ha heThe Secret World eveally gesree--play (hich i srely ill,ad prbably ser raher halaer), ill already have a mey-makig sysem i place.

Agai like ms mder MMos,The Secret World has severalcrrecies ha players ca acqire aci kes ha ca beexchaged r p-ed iems, hermal Pax Rmaa ha ca besed by iems ad s . Playersca hever se real mey by

impra i-game iems - esseiali he PvP is hld is balace.

usally, The Secret World ise he e MMos Ive playedha I aed keep playig aer Ifished he revie. this is jsbecase I el like I had missed ms he ce, r ha he rld a dsrylie as s rich ad carellycraed b becase I recgisedha his, msly, as a sigle-player RPG. Ideed, his is a beersigle-player RPG ha he ill-aedKingdoms of Amalurha asreleased earlier i he year, hich

really shld have bee a MMo.there are elemes he gameha rk as a MMo he PvPmakes lile sese i a prely sigleplayer game b he ly reasr his be a MMo, really, is charge mre mey r heremeds am rk hasge i i. Dan Griliopoulos

Mch sese is sped ab StarWars: The Old Republic ad MMos igeeral, ih aalys Michael Pacher

havig he laes say a Develp,I Star Wars cld d i, made byBiare, he e ca d i.

Bllcks. uer bllcks. uer hairybllcks a sese sick. TheSecret World migh ell sd hedeah kell r sbscripi MMos(save r Blizzards slmberig tia),b bh i ad SWTOR aredameally aed; SWTOR as aJedi i leaher elb paches, hile

he mch-sperir The Secret World is bscre ad eird aracsfcie mass marke appeal.

I js is sel alk abMMos as sbscripi r aymre. Lord of the Rings Online,sesibly a ree--play game, makesis mey hrgh pialmicrrasacis, sbscripis ra pial sigle-payme sper-veera pi. Is all ab pis.

the key pi is ha sbs aregig aay - heyre js e amgsmay pssible payme pis.

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