Quick Look: The Secret World (with Gameplay Video)

The Secret World is an MMO created by developer Funcom, which aims to change the core gameplay elements of the genre while creating a complex world combining elements from our own reality with myths and mysteries from a variety of cultures.

The Secret World starts with the usual character creation process and a rather lengthy narrative bit made up entirely of cutscenes, which deliver the core concept of the game but leave the player with more questions than answers.

I have only seen Kingsmouth so far, which is well designed, even though some of the areas feel a little cramped and weird.

The puzzle design is interesting, a little on the difficult side, and this is something truly unique to The Secret World, the kind of feature that will likely create a reputation for the game.

Of course, the focus on puzzles might actually serve to drive players away and doom the MMO to always having a small player base.

Puzzles are completely options and anyone who gets stuck can focus on the combat side of the game or just Google his way out of the tough spot they found themselves in.

The upside is that The Perfect World offers a lot of variety from faction to faction and that tends to encourage replays and different choices at various points in the game.

Funcom has been very successful in creating believable characters, even if the entire setup of the game is beyond belief, and there’s a lot of smart writing linked to the longer dialog sequences, while the shorter exchanges are often humorous, even if not in a laugh-out-loud way.

The team at Funcom has been careful to pay attention to details when it comes to sound design and that means that character voices are truly unique, if sometimes campy.

Worth a full Softpedia review? Yes.