With The Secret World, one of the story MMOs has made the leap to the home gaming table. The successful crowdfunding campaign shows that this game is more in demand than it seems. At most, only a handful of people are still playing the multiplayer role-playing game with the innovative puzzle elements on the virtual servers.
Older multiplayer onlineRole playing have their appeal: nostalgic projects like WoW: Classic, the long running times of titles like The Lord of the Rings Online or Everquest I and II as well as active communities on fan servers for MMOs such as Star Wars Galaxies show that the old games are still popular with fans. The Secret World is flying under the radar - although Funcom's 2012 MMO is still officially available, hardly anyone takes notice of one of the most innovative multiplayer online role-playing games the genre has ever produced.
The mix of Lovecraft-style horror, detective game and tough battles against monsters and secret organizations never had the success that developers would have hoped for an MMO of this caliber. The main reason: bad timing. The Secret World was released between AAA titles such as Diablo 3 and Guild Wars 2 - both of which are also games with necessary community activities. Funcom also had a bad start in the MMO genre with Age of Conan, and expectations were low given the studio's tarnished image. In addition, the former CEO of Funcom, Trond Arne Aas, was targeted by the courts at the time. The accusation at the time: market manipulation. Things couldn't have gone worse for a fundamentally good MMO like The Secret World at launch.
The game was worth a look: the quest system was refreshing and innovative, and the high-level puzzles in particular provided (and still provide!) fun. Added to that are the good stories in which conspiracy theories are developed or monsters are unleashed on a world on the brink of the abyss. The whole thing is enriched by a cool character system with weapons ranging from shotguns to magic. An attempt to rescue the game in 2017 also fizzled out: The Secret World could not recover from its botched start.
This attempt was only made possible by a success: Funcom impressed with the survival game Conan Exiles, so the development studio remained in the running. And it seems that the company is slowly recovering, as the real-time strategy game Dune: Spice Wars is also well received - and with Dune: Awakening, the Norwegians have another AAA title in development.
And yet, it's still worth taking a look at today. No other multiplayer online role-playing game is so focused on solo players. Everything in the world can basically be done alone, and for the few MMO contents there are still companions in the small but committed community. But the title was denied the big boom.
The Secret World on Kickstarter
Now popped via crowdfunding on Kickstarter The brand is experiencing a kind of revival: the pen and paper game "The Secret World for Savage Worlds" by Star Anvil Studios generated around 56.000 euros in crowdfunding. Two years ago, the studio had already launched its first project on The Secret World: the tabletop RPG debut was even more successful with crowdfunding of around 140.000 euros.
Both campaigns show how interested fans are in the brand and the genre mix. With the current project, the creators are breaking new ground, relying on the universal RPG system of Savage Worlds instead of the 5th Edition (D&D), which was used for the 2022 core book. This will have an impact on the lore, among other things.
What remains in the pen & paper game for The Secret World is the great horror atmosphere and the sometimes weird tricks in character creation. The best quests in the MMO genre can therefore probably be experienced on the home gaming table from October 2024.
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Callum * | 1,29 EUR |
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