5 reasons The Secret World is a fail: Reason 5

5. It’s soooooo disappointing.

There are a lot of good ideas in The Secret World.

Gamers were excited to hear TSW had 3 factions. It wasn’t good versus evil or the Empire versus the Republic or the Horde versus the Alliance. Having three factions adds another level of variety, plus  three factions helps prevent one side or the other from becoming dominant on a server which happens in a lot of games.

The dark atmosphere appeals to a lot of people. Gamers want a fun MMO based in a dark world that’s not fantasy or sci-fi. A lot of gamers thought The Secret World with its dark, urban atmosphere would fill that void.

The Secret World promised a world steeped in mystery and lore, “…featur[ing] a unique, story-driven gameplay experience that explores the myths, legends and conspiracy theories of the real world.”

It could’ve been great.

Gamers were excited about this game. Based on everything Funcom was saying about it, it could’ve been great.

It wasn’t. It isn’t. It’s so-so at best.

Gamers got the MMO equivalent of a Ferrari with Tercel engine.

What gamers got was the MMO equivalent of a Ferrari with a Tercel engine. By building their MMO on the Age of Conan game engine, Funcom insured it would be a dated game the moment it was released. The Secret World is a game full of great ideas, almost every one poorly executed or hampered by the AoC game engine.

TSW lacks a passable character designer, its combat is dull and uninspired, the game is infested with bugs and Funcom has made the gameplay unnecessarily difficult. Maybe, over time, they’ll chip away at the bugs and make it a little more player friendly, but some things they can’t do much about because the game engine restricts them. It’s unlikely they can do much about the character design or the combat, for instance.

In the end, The Secret World is a great idea poorly executed. That’s very disappointing.