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| G4 = 2.5/5<ref name="G4">{{cite web|url=http://www.g4tv.com/games/pc/46075/the-secret-world/review/|title=The Secret World Review for PC|publisher=[[G4 (TV channel)|G4]]|first=Jonathan|last=Deesing|date=2012-07-19|accessdate=2012-07-19}}</ref>
| G4 = 2.5/5<ref name="G4">{{cite web|url=http://www.g4tv.com/games/pc/46075/the-secret-world/review/|title=The Secret World Review for PC|publisher=[[G4 (TV channel)|G4]]|first=Jonathan|last=Deesing|date=2012-07-19|accessdate=2012-07-19}}</ref>
| 1UP = A- <ref name="1UP">{{cite web|http://www.1up.com/reviews/secret-world-review|title=The Secret World Review: Think. Different.|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|first=Dustin|last=Quillen|date=2012-08-15|accessdate=2012-08-28}}</ref>
| 1UP = A- <ref name="1UP">{{cite web|http://www.1up.com/reviews/secret-world-review|title=The Secret World Review: Think. Different.|publisher=[[1UP.com]]|first=Dustin|last=Quillen|date=2012-08-15|accessdate=2012-08-28}}</ref>
| IGN = 7.9/10 <ref name="IGN">{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/26/the-secret-world-review|title=The Secret World Review|publisher=[[IGN]]|first=Nathan|last=Grayson|date=2012-07-25|accessdate=2012-09-03}}</ref>
| MMORPG = 8.5/10 <ref name="MMORPG">{{cite web|http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/view/reviews/load/224|title=The Secret World Review: Funcom's Magnum Opus.|publisher=[[mmorpg.com]]|first=Dustin|last=Quillen|date=2012-08-02|accessdate=2012-09-23}}</ref>
| IGN = 7.9/10 <ref name="IGN">{{cite web|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/26/the-secret-world-review|title=The Secret World Review|publisher=[[IGN]]|first=Ralph|last=Harry|date=2012-07-25|accessdate=2012-09-03}}</ref>


| GR = 72.56% (27 reviews) <ref name="gr">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/939466-the-secret-world/index.html|title=The Secret World|accessdate=2012-08-30}}</ref>
| GR = 72.56% (27 reviews) <ref name="gr">{{cite web|url=http://www.gamerankings.com/pc/939466-the-secret-world/index.html|title=The Secret World|accessdate=2012-08-30}}</ref>

Revision as of 11:26, 23 September 2012

The Secret World
File:Secret World cover.png
Regular version cover art
Developer(s)Funcom
Publisher(s)Electronic Arts
Designer(s)Ragnar Tørnquist, Martin Bruusgaard
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows
Genre(s)Massively multiplayer online role-playing, action-adventure[2]
Mode(s)Multiplayer

The Secret World (formerly known under the working titles Cabal and The World Online)[6] is a massively multiplayer online role-playing video game by developer Funcom. Ragnar Tørnquist is the creative director of the game.[2]

Officially confirmed on March 6, 2007,[7] the final title of the project was confirmed on May 11, 2007.[8]

Gameplay

File:Secret World screenshot.png
The player is standing in the game's starting location.

After announcing the development of The Secret World, Funcom project director Jørgen Tharaldsen informed the press that the game uses the same engine as Age of Conan.[7] According to Funcom, the game will blend elements of MMO gameplay with alternate reality gaming (ARG) and social networking.[9]

At GDC 2009, Tørnquist gave an interview to GameSpot regarding The Secret World, revealing more about its gameplay.[2] There will be neither levels, nor classes in the game; instead, the character building will be skill-based. This way, the developers plan to avoid level grinding, allowing new players to join the game more easily. The player characters will be customizable to a large degree, particularly in their choice of clothing (except in PvP, where players must wear faction-specific uniforms), weapons (which range from shotguns to swords and can be customized and upgraded), and the supernatural powers they acquire. Combat against computer-controlled monsters will be one of the game's central points and will require more of player's attention than contemporary MMORPGs. Death in game results in the character returning as an "anima" and they have the option of returning to their body or respawning at a variety of resurrection locations. The players will be able to form teams to fight together but in an earlier blog posting, Tørnquist assured that the game can also be played in single-player mode, should a player choose not to play with a group.[10] According to him, the game is story-driven and there will be an overarching linear plot, as well as numerous side-quests, ranging from investigation to sabotage and hunting, since diversity of the gameplay will be another central point.

In an interview to GameSpot at the 2009 Penny Arcade Expo, Tørnquist and the lead designer Martin Bruusgaard revealed which playable factions ("secret societies") will be available in the game. The factions are: the London-based Templars, pious zealots "who would burn an entire village down to get their hands on one demon"; the New York City-based Illuminati, Machiavellian pragmatists who "believe that it's a tough world where only the strongest will survive"; and the Seoul-based "Dragon", who take a neutral stance between the other two and are "all about deceiving, orchestrating chaos, and waiting patiently for its time". A personality test to determine the players' inclination towards one of the factions was made available on the official The Secret World website soon after the reveal.[11] It will be impossible to change factions without creating a new character. Additionally, players will be able to create their own guilds, known as "cabals"[12] in-game, affiliated with one of the main factions. All players' actions in the game will contribute to their ranking in their respective guilds and factions.[11] The same interview revealed that PvP areas of the game will be located in the region called Agartha inside the hollow Earth, where the players will fight for the invaluable resource known as "anima".[11] This idea was dropped during closed beta as they decided it wasn't entertaining enough.[citation needed] Large scale PvP has later been revealed to take place in big persistent warzones. Control of these warzones has an effect on the rest of the players of a controlling faction, and provides bonus experience and other perks.[citation needed] There are also small mini-games in iconic locations such as Shambhala, El Dorado, and Stonehenge.[citation needed]

Quests come in several varieties. The "plot" follows a faction driven quest storyline, which is persistent throughout the game. In addition, the player can play up to 2 main missions, side quests that are limited by faction, and 3 general side quests which are open to anyone, and are predominantly fetch and hunting quests. However, quests can include a variety of puzzles that are quasi-alternate reality games and require searching the Internet for various clues through an in-game browser.

Plot

The game features an original setting created by Funcom, with contemporary elements as well as "magic, myths, conspiracies and dark horrors."[13] Contrary to rumors spawned by the game's second working title, it has nothing to do with, nor is it inspired by, the .hack franchise and its setting.[14] Tørnquist debunked several rumors surrounding The Secret World, stating that "there are no aliens or science fiction elements" in it.[15] He also denied any connection of The Secret World to The Longest Journey.[15]

At GDC 2009, Tørnquist revealed more about the setting and the story.[2] He stressed that the game is set in the "modern day real world" but also incorporates pieces of ancient mythologies, real and false history, urban legends, and pop culture, and ties them into an original back-story. The latter is said to go back in time for 100 million years and encompass long extinct ancient civilizations. The players will assume the roles of supernatural heroes who participate in a "future war between good and evil", fighting dark monsters that threaten the modern world. Tørnquist identified the genre of the story as dark fantasy, mentioning vampires, demons, and zombies. The players will be free to travel across different locations of the world (both real, like London, New York and Seoul, and mythical, e.g. Agartha, the legendary city located within Hollow Earth[16]) and even in time, to pursue the overall plot and investigate new mysteries in connection to the dark invasion. The overall plot will have a conclusion but the designers also leave room for future expansions.

Development

The pre-production of the game originally known as Cabal (and The Entire World Online in the earliest concepts) started in 2002,[17] but in mid-2003, most of the working team was transferred to the development of Dreamfall.[6] Cabal was to be set in the same universe as the later The Secret World but in the 1920s instead of the contemporary period, with H. P. Lovecraft's works and the Indiana Jones franchise being major inspirations.[17] The idea of setting the game in the 1920s was scrapped after lengthy discussions, in order to make the game more accessible for modern players.[17]

The work on The Secret World was resumed in 2006, after Dreamfall shipped, with many of the latter's designers (including Ragnar Tørnquist) playing key roles in the former's development.[6] The Secret World was produced at the Funcom studios in Oslo, Montreal and Beijing.[8] In August 2008, it was stated that the development team consisted of people previously involved in the development of Dreamfall, Anarchy Online, Age of Conan, EverQuest II, and The Longest Journey.[9] In November Funcom stated that 70 people were working on the project.[18] The Secret World uses the proprietary DreamWorld Engine.[19]

On September 29, 2009, Funcom announced a reduction of 20% of its staff, resulting in "significant delay" for the release of The Secret World.[20]

On January 10, 2011, Electronic Arts announced that it will co-publish The Secret World with Funcom. Funcom told VG247 that they were "leaving [their] options open" in regards to the 360 version.[21]

On August 30, 2011, beta testing sign-up became available.[citation needed] The first public beta test "Kingsmouth Calling" went live on May 11, 2012 available to all pre-purchasers of the game. The second public beta test "Hell Raised" went live on June 15, 2012 available to pre-purchasers and invited players.

Marketing

The first promotional material appeared on May 8, 2007, when a picture was leaked into the internet, containing a poem, a Knights Templar seal, and several sentences in Spanish, Norwegian, French, German and Hebrew.[22] When solved, the poem led to a series of internet pages, one of them with a riddle, and, eventually, to the newly created official forum.[8]

The websites lead to a Flash page with a countdown timer that uses Eastern Arabic numerals instead of Arabic numbers. The timer will presumably reach zero on 12:00 AM on December 21, 2012, adjusted for the location of Funcom headquarters.[23] This date will see the end of the Mayan calendar cycle which is notable in Maya mythology. Since then, a massive alternate reality game has been established in the forums.[24]

Over the years Funcom has hosted several alternate reality games[citation needed] such as: Two lines twine, The Dark Places and most recently CoV System Malfunction.[citation needed] The alternate reality games were created using: Twitter, Flickr, 8-tracks, Wikidot[citation needed] and several websites created by Funcom such as the Kingsmouth website and the official game forums.

A first teaser trailer featuring the Dragon faction was released on April 7, 2009, during the GDC 2009.[25] A second teaser featuring the Templar faction was released on September 4, 2009. A teaser presenting the fictitious town of Kingsmouth was released on February 2, 2010. On March 23, 2010 (i.e. 10 days after the GDC 2010 of San Francisco, California), a short teaser was released, showing some extremely brief in-game sequences and announcing the release of a bigger teaser on March 25, 2010. This last one showed some fights in Kingsmouth. Most available teasers can be viewed on the game's homepage, however, GameSpot's interviews with Ragnar Tørnquist, on the various factions within the game, included scenes from teaser trailers.[26][27][28]

In 2011, Funcom announced that a Facebook app called The Secret War was being created.[citation needed] The first stage, asking players to choose their faction, aired on August 30, 2011 along with the long awaited beta sign-up for the actual game.[citation needed] As of April 2012, The Secret War was active. Players were able to earn the chance for a guaranteed slot in the beta, as well as a trip to Montreal, Canada to play the game. Actions in The Secret War gained special items to be used with characters at game launch.

On February 21, 2012, Funcom announced that the The Secret World would be released on June 19.[29] The company also revealed that over 750,000 gamers had applied to beta-test the game, significantly higher than for their previous MMO, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures.[30]

Funcom also had a panel advertising The Secret World at PAX East 2012. People could play a beta test of The Secret World.

On May 25, 2012, Funcom released an announcement moving the release date to July 3, 2012.[1]

Pre-order

Funcom offered a number of in-game content packs available as a pre-order bonus by registering at the official website. These ranged from additional in-game pets and weapons to a life-time subscription and discount at the in-game store. The exact contents of the bonus packs depend on the location of purchase. Players who pre-ordered the game gained early access to the game servers, before the official release date.[31]

Reception

The game has about 73% rating on both Metacritic and GameRankings indicating that it has mostly got positive reviews from critics, however Funcom has held what it says "a low Metacritic score" and "poor word of mouth" responsible for poor sales of the game.

IGN especially praised the presentation and also said that while The Secret World starts off pretty strong, it loses steam afterwards[38].

References

  1. ^ a b announcement
  2. ^ a b c d Park, Andrew (2009-04-07). "GDC 2009: The Secret World First Look Interview". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  3. ^ "In our first #TSW box cover art meeting". 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2011-12-11.
  4. ^ Tørnquist, Ragnar (2009-01-18). "Oh-nine, one". Retrieved 2009-01-24.
  5. ^ Hagerup, Eivind (2007-03-14). "Funcom drops "offline" PC games". Adventure Gamers. Retrieved 2007-03-15.
  6. ^ a b c Tørnquist, Ragnar (2007-05-11). "The Secret World is secret no more". Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  7. ^ a b Callaham, John (2007-03-06). "GDC: New Funcom MMO Game Revealed". FiringSquad.com. Retrieved 2007-03-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ a b c "Funcom reveals The Secret World". Funcom. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  9. ^ a b "Q2 2008 Financial Report Presentation" (PDF). Funcom. 2008-08-15. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  10. ^ Tørnquist, Ragnar (2007-08-22). "Attacking my massively backlogged inbox". Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2007-08-22.
  11. ^ a b c Tong, Sophia (2009-09-10). "The Secret World Updated Impressions". GameSpot. Retrieved 2009-09-12.
  12. ^ "The Secret World: Cabals". Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  13. ^ "Q3 2006 Financial Report Presentation" (PDF). Funcom. 2006-11-02. Retrieved 2008-08-20.
  14. ^ Tørnquist, Ragnar (2006-06-14). "And so it begins, the comments". Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2006-06-16.
  15. ^ a b Tørnquist, Ragnar (2007-03-07). "The rumours of a reveal are somewhat exaggerated". Archived from the original on 2008-06-27. Retrieved 2007-03-07.
  16. ^ Tørnquist, Ragnar (June 9, 2009). "The Forbidden Land". Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  17. ^ a b c John Walker (2011-07-06). "Ragnar Tørnquist On The Secret World: Part 1". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 2011-08-27.
  18. ^ "Q3 2008 Financial Report Presentation" (PDF). Funcom. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2009-01-15.
  19. ^ "The Secret World's engine takes center stage". Joystiq. 2012-01-09. Retrieved 2012-04-16.
  20. ^ "Secret World gets significant delay as Funcom drops 20% of staff". VG247. 2009-09-29. Retrieved 2009-09-29.
  21. ^ Cullen, Johnny (2011-10-01). "EA Partners to co-publish The Secret World, Funcom "leaving options open" on 360 version". VG247. Retrieved 2011-10-01.
  22. ^ Purchese, Rob (2007-05-08). "Poem hides new game". Eurogamer. Retrieved 2007-05-12.
  23. ^ "Dark Days Are Coming". Funcom. 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2008-05-28.
  24. ^ "Alternate reality game on The Secret World forums".
  25. ^ "GDC 2009: The Secret World Official First Look Teaser Trailer". GameSpot. 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2009-04-09.
  26. ^ Gamespot-The Secret World Updated Q&A - More Illuminati
  27. ^ The Secret World Updated Q&A - More Templars
  28. ^ The Secret World Q&A - The Dragon Faction Details
  29. ^ "The Secret World to launch in July". New Game Network. February 21, 2012.
  30. ^ "'The Secret World' To Launch June 19, 2012". Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  31. ^ Reahard, Jef. "The Secret World pre-order packages feature beta access, lifetime sub, and more". Retrieved 21 June 2012.
  32. ^ Deesing, Jonathan (2012-07-19). "The Secret World Review for PC". G4. Retrieved 2012-07-19.
  33. ^ Quillen, Dustin (2012-08-15). "The Secret World Review: Think. Different". 1UP.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Text "http://www.1up.com/reviews/secret-world-review" ignored (help)
  34. ^ Quillen, Dustin (2012-08-02). "The Secret World Review: Funcom's Magnum Opus". mmorpg.com. {{cite web}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Missing or empty |url= (help); Text "http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/404/view/reviews/load/224" ignored (help)
  35. ^ Harry, Ralph (2012-07-25). "The Secret World Review". IGN. Retrieved 2012-09-03.
  36. ^ "The Secret World". Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  37. ^ "The Secret World". Retrieved 2012-08-30.
  38. ^ Grayson, Nathan (2012-07-25). "The Secret World Review". IGN. Retrieved 2012-09-03.

External links

Template:Media based on H. P. Lovecraft works

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