I was fortunate enough to participate in the past two beta weekends for The Secret World so I thought I would offer my review/general impressions. The release date for this game is July 3rd, early access starts this Friday. If anyone is not familiar with this game, its that latest MMO developed by Electronic Arts and takes place in a modern world but in a fictitious location. There are no races (in the orc/elf/dwarf sense) – everyone is human. There are three factions: Illuminati, Templar, and Dragon.
Character creation is a bit reminiscent of Aion or SWTOR where you can modify the physical appearance of your head, nose, chin, eyes, etc (but not quite as granular as Aion). You will also choose your outfit and choose wisely because your outfit will not change. You will be able to set a first name, last name and nickname. Your nickname must be what is unique and finding a nickname that wasn’t taken and/or allowed can be quite challenging almost to the point of aggravating. I’m not going to describe the story because I would rather you experience it for yourself but basically you are part of a secret society (which is associated with your faction) and you fight your way through strange activities occurring in the world (almost like something out of a Stephen King novel coupled with a Dan Brown novel).
Probably the most interesting concept in this game is how you level. It isn’t a traditional leveling mechanic in that there isn’t a numeric value to your level. What gear you are wearing and how deep you have gone into your skill/ability tree dictates how far you have leveled. Your weapons consist of magic, guns, swords or clubs … all of which seem pretty cool. Your weapons are the only noticeable changes to your character as you swap gear in and out. You don’t receive chest, legs, feet or gloves. Your gear primarily consists of a weapon (or focus for magic users), a couple talisman, rings, neck, etc.
Ok, so what did I think. Its not a bad game. It’s different. I like the modern world aspect of the game. The artwork and graphics are pretty amazing but you will probably want a pretty decent video card and processor to properly experience the game. It’s not a game I would pay a subscription to play. Something that I didn’t like is that sometimes what you are suppose to do and where you are suppose to go for quests wasn’t very clear. I found myself just running around without a clue as to where to go until I stumbled onto the right path. Sometimes you have to “pause” current quests in order to pick up new quests so you can’t pick up everything and do them all at the same time.
The game definitely has potential but its not going to be the next WoW, in fact I doubt there will ever be a game that will generate the same player base and have the same impact as World of Warcraft. I’d say that if you get a chance to check it out for free, give it a shot, I think its going to be a game, like Aion, for the A.D.D Gamer who briefly needs something different.
Click here to go to The Secret World website.
Cheers!
It has been a tumultuous time for Bioware and EA lately. The layoffs, server mergers, and plummet in stock price has been a pretty grim omen for the game manufacturer. SWTOR and Bioware have been receiving some tough criticisms from the gaming community and its sad to see such negativity because honestly I really enjoy playing SWTOR. I would say I enjoy it more then WoW and a lot more then Diablo III (I just couldn’t get into Diablo III – I like DC Universe Online more then D3, but I digress).
Despite the fact that I make my living providing Microsoft solutions using .NET, many know that I have never been a big fan of Microsoft. I stated that because I want to be upfront about my past feelings and that I am going to try not to let those feelings influence this topic. I am going to discuss this based on my interpretation of the evidence I see in the industry today. I think that Microsoft is no longer a leader but frantically playing catch-up instead.
After eight seasons, Hugh Laurie is hanging up the cane. While I know that all the characters are fictional and that Princeton Plainsboro doesn’t exist, House was still a pretty big part of my reality. The cast and crew of House have made amazing television over the past eight years and I wish all of them luck in their new projects. I intend to keep close tabs on a few of them to see where they go to next. I was very upset when I heard that FOX was not going to renew House for another season and I’m still pretty upset with FOX because I feel like they forced Hugh Laurie to end the series so FOX could free up the time slot. Why do that to such a successful series, especially when we barely got to know Park and Masters.
This post is probably a bit premature and perhaps I will be writing a retraction in the near future but I thought I would express my impressions and concerns about Diablo III. I’m sure any of my gaming friends reading that first statement are probably surprised by the subtext it creates about my impression of Diablo III.
SOPA, for anyone that isn’t familiar with it, is a bill soon to be voted on by Congress. It stands for Stop Online Piracy Act. I’m not an advocate for or against online piracy but I thought I would weigh in on this SOPA bill.