The world behind The Secret World

Hey everyone! In my typical fashion I have been doing everything in my power to play the living ba-Jesus out of The Secret World, as that is what I typically do when I get a new game, burn through it. But with Funcom’s new MMO, I’m presented with a bit of a dilemma – the game is too open, expansive, and deep for me to want to burn through it. So while I normally try to cruise through an MMO’s story missions at the quickest rate I can in order to see and hear what’s really going on in the world, I can’t help but feel I’d be missing out if I did so.

What is it about The Secret World that is holding me back? Surely other games have tempted me as well right? Well, yes. But the modern world that Funcom has created for their new games is not only full of hidden secrets, awesomely creepy monsters and tons of hidden goodies to find; it’s also filled with real, true blue, characters. Something few games have ever had.

Real characters

You may be wondering exactly what I mean by “real” characters. I mean, a character is a character right? And one could argue that since this is a video game the only character that should really matter is your character, since he/she is the extension of the player. Well at one point in time you might have been right about that, but over the years RPG games like Mass Effect and even sandbox shooters like Red Dead Redemption has taught us the strength of a strong supporting cast. It’s hard to imagine Commander Shepard trying to save the galaxy on her/his own, likewise John Marston’s adventures wouldn’t be the same without the often crazy and selfish desires of all the people he meets in the old west.

The characters that surround and support our player characters can often be the tipping point between a game world feeling like, well, a “game” and feeling like a “real” world. Or as the case may be here, a “secret” world.

While other MMOs have done a great job with voiced dialog and cut-scenes  to help expand the role of the non-player characters (I’m looking at you Star Wars The Old Republic) at the end of the day the NPCs are still only there to do one thing, hand you a mission. They give you a mission, beg for your help, or offer you some sort of reward to do as they’ve asked. They are still, at their core, quest givers. Constructs the game needs to hand you tasks to complete. No matter how much you shine it up or pitch it, at the end of the day the player character is being given something to do from them. Making them little different then that guy who gives you the sword in Zelda and tells you it isn’t safe to go alone. We are decades into video game design and the NPCs are still just standing around for the sole purpose of giving us stuff to do.

Well, not anymore. Or at least not in the same manner.

Deeper NPCs

True, there are certainly NPCs in The Secret World that have a task they want you to complete. And yeah, if you strip away all the cut-scenes and voiced dialog they are technically just named points in the environment that you pick up missions from. It would take a revolution of some kind to break from this format. But if you actually talk to them and take the time to invest in the game, you’ll see that the team behind The Secret Wolrd has done something almost unique in its simplicity: the NPCs are just regular people going about their business.

Sounds basic right? Well it is. The trick though, and the one most games breeze over is the fact that most of the NPCs in The Secret World either don’t care for you help, or straight up don’t want it. Perhaps they’ll warn you to stay away for your own safety, or simply tell you a story about how all the craziness around them reminds them of something. Or perhaps you’ll roll up to a small military camp and immediately be greeted by a representative from Homeland Security, who will promptly tell you that the government has everything under control and that you should leave things be. Of course, the Sargent next to her disagrees with that statement, and wants to do everything in his power to storm the trenches and save the island you’re on. Neither one of them will expressly state that they want your help, your character simply fills in the blanks and heads off on their own accord. Or perhaps you stumble upon a suspicious camp of hippies, and overhear one of their leaders giving a very important mission to one of their new recruits. The dialog and cut-scene ends without a single NPC even seeing your character, yet now you have a mission to follow the newbie and see where he’s going.

That’s the trick that makes The Secret World feel so alive, the spark that makes you feel like you’re exploring a real world as opposed to a game world; the NPCs are perfectly fine carrying on without you. They each have their own goals, their own personalities, their own agendas. And how (if at all) your character fits into all that is something you, the player, decides upon. What’s more, a great deal of the missions in the game don’t even come from NPCs, but from the environment. Perhaps you stumble upon a trail of blood leading away from a busted up cop car, or find a suicide note attached to the door of a bed and breakfast. Each of these things warrants investigation, and it’s up to you, the player, to decide whether or not to pick up the quest and look into it.

It’s such a simple concept, a world that doesn’t “give” you quests. But between an environment you are rewarded for exploring and NPCs who really couldn’t care less if you walked off and gotten eaten by zombies, the world of The Secret World is one that lives and breathes all its own. You, the player, are just there to inhabit it. What’s surprising is just how much of a difference that can make…

Summary

So while this isn’t an official review of the game by any means, consider this part of an “ongoing” review for The Secret World. The game offers a ton of other cool stuff, like a class-less system and its investigation missions, but I felt its unique take on characters and quest giving warranted a mention here today. Hopefully, as the weeks go by and I continue to play it, I’ll be able to reach a point where I can give you a full on review of the game. For now though, I can safely say that early signs are pointing to a great and one-of-a-kind MMO experience that you really shouldn’t miss.