The Secret World beta: This game still blows.

I played the The Secret World beta, again, this last weekend. There was more content for players to explore, and I didn’t want to write this game off after one bad beta weekend, so I tried it again.

My assessment: I’m even more disappointed than I was before.

Nothing’s changed. The character creator is still crap. The combat is still dull. And the game is still buggy.

In fact, after playing more I discovered even more bugs. My total Pax – the game’s gold – was over 10 million. I couldn’t target some NPCs. When I left the place where you’re suppose to pick your one and only starting combat focus – guns, blades or magic – I somehow left with two, both guns and magic. At one point, I somehow disarmed myself, though my sword (I played more than one character.) was clearly in my hand; had to relog to get it back. Players in the forums were saying they couldn’t log at all, and a lot of them said their characters ended up running around naked. No word on whether the underlying avatar models are anatomically correct, but who cares? They’re all hideous, anyway.

The bugs alone will send this game to free-to-play faster than you can say goodbye to a cookie at fat camp.

Sadly, at least for the smattering of hardcore fans, word seems to be out: There weren’t a lot of beta testers. There’s only the one server and, as far as I could tell, only the one channel, but there was probably less than a few hundred people in the game. That’s pretty sad for any beta.

Recommendation: Don’t pre-order this. Wait for the release and the reviews. Then decide if you want to spend some of your hard-earned dinero on this fresh hell from Funcom.