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- Funcom
- Funcom
- Funcom
- Funcom
Secret World Legends
Released On: Jun 26, 2017
76
5.3
All Platforms
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
76
78% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Generally Favorable
Based on 9 Critic Reviews
76
78% Positive
7 Reviews
7 Reviews
22% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Writhing out of its niche, slithering, roiling tentacles endlessly grasping for the larger audience it most definitely deserves. [Issue#264, p.64]
Beside the complaints of some players of the classic version about the drop of difficulty, beside those controversies about what we can get for free and what not, it's a game that will provide us for tons of hours of fun and excitement, and the fact of it's a free to play game makes it undoubtedly worth of try, even if it's just to fulfill our curiosity.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 51 User Ratings
5.3
47% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
8% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
45% Negative
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 51 User Ratings
5.3
47% Positive
24 Ratings
24 Ratings
8% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
45% Negative
23 Ratings
23 Ratings
The reboot may not be a 'new' game, but it is a better version of The Secret World in every way.* The game is the same open world, it has a new but equally open progression system. The new system pretends to have levels and classes, but that is mostly an illusion for players more comfortable with levels and classes. The new system does prevent you from creating some builds that were possible in the old system, but mostly it helps you not create a broken and unplayable ccharacter, which is something that happened a lot in the old system and caused players to hit a difficulty wall and stop playing. The Class system just starts you out with a playable character and you can start deviating from the classes pretty much immediately.
Content wise the new system has reworked the way that the main quest line progresses to give you more guidance through the story and help you not miss cool plot points. That said the quests haven't really changed, just the way that they are linked together to make your experience more rewarding if you just follow those quests. You can still run off and investigate the world in your own way if that's how you like to play.
The new combat system feels much better and is much more engaging. It's more 'twitch based' so for the most green gamers it's probably a bit harder...
The free to play mechanics are what they are... they mostly don't get in the way while giving players that want to spend money meaningful things to spend it on. I have to say that as a parton I think I am advancing a bit too fast for my taste, it makes the game a bit easier than I would like for a horror game.
That star up at the top for 'better in every way'... ok, so having the free to play mechanics don't make the game better, but they don't get in the way of the good parts and the developers tried every other option. The game launched with a subscription to support the continuing amazing story... not enough people subscribed. They switched to buy to play with the ability to buy the new content... but not enough people got to the end of the free content and bought the content packs... they added lots of content to the cosmetic store and that did ok, enough to limp along for a while... but in the end they needed to retool the game from the ground up as a free to play game if they wanted to continue developing the story.
And what a story! Now with the relaunch we can look forward to new content starting at the end of this year! Thank you FunCom for not giving up on this game!
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I for one find the reboot interesting and the economic way more viable for Funcom. You can only go so far in the failing F2P model without hitting hard limitations and since a large percentage of gamers do not want to participate in either real life economical models or ,god forbid , virtual ones they end up fuming and spewing, well at some point ,in all socialist economies, you eventually run out of other's people money and F2P illustrates just that. Now I agree the subscription benefit is negligible but previous inception was way too indie economically and F2P and moderate P2W might be enough to save the title.
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I’m glad that Funcom decided to release Secret World Legends and gave me the chance to experience this unique MMORPG after I missed it 5 years ago. [09/2017, p.36]
The vote given in 2012 also reflects ours.
Secret World Legends simplifies and makes more accessible one of the most intriguing and captivating online worlds ever created. Unfortunately, graphics feel pretty old (which they are), and Funcom never managed to find a good balance between a story-driven experience and the MMO gameplay dynamics. Anyway, a good online action RPG that can be enjoyed with some friends.
While Secret World Legends will continue to stand as a testament to the power of storycraft and world-building in MMOs, I fear it will also continue to remain a niche game.
Obviously some angry veteran TSW players have given this reboot a undeserved low score. There was a lot of booing when the relaunch was announced. This is the developer's way of giving their beloved game a prolonged life, so they can continue to tell the story. And what a story it is, just wow, it's obvious they put a lot of heart into making it.
I'm a new player in SWL and I think it is a wonderful game! If you like story driven MMOs, and want to try one with a mature and modern setting, this game is for you! It's F2P! All content is F2P! (and there's a lot of content!). People who say there's pay wall everywhere is full of ****, you can play through the entire storyline and reach max level without paying a single dime. It just takes a little more time that's all. The storyline is fantastic and so is the atmosphere; creepy and dark. Brilliant voice acting and the cutscenes are very often humourous.
I love what they did with combat, the reticule targeting is awesome and does not take long to get used to. The number of available attacks are limited though, and you have to chose your setup of active and passive abilities carefully. I sometimes wish I had one or two more available action buttons though, as I find myself wanting to use more skills than there's room for on the action bar.
The Patron system looks fair, for 12.99$ you get one free cache key per day for opening loot caches that starts dropping when you reach lvl 15, bonus xp, bonus in-game currency when completing missions and bonus skillpoints for opening up weapons and their accompanying skills.
Give it a try, it's free after all ;)
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"Fantastic game. Not your typical MMO, it's a different approach on the classic formula.
It's a very original, smart and imaginative game. The writing is fantastic and has some of the best character I've ever seen in a videogame, the story is great and the gameplay is pretty good, even if I liked the "old TSW" system more, this action approach is more responsive and feel smoother.
Questing is the best ever seen in a videogame, period. The investigative type of missions, especially, are always extremely intelligent and original, and often require a great deal of thinking outside the box, they can be very hard to solve, too.
The game does have some flaws, but still, it's the most interesting MMO out there, hands down. And it's not the usual carbon copy of WoW."
This was my review for The Secret World.
Too bad that with this relaunch they took one step forward and two step backwards. Combat is too simplicistic and lacks of TSW's build variety. P2W with best in slot gear inside RNG crates and bad business model overall.
The wort offender is the itemization. Itemization is probably the side of this re-release that I hate the most.
I am a lifetimer from TSW, played from day 1. When I stopped I had a "perfect" DPS build with all the BiS items (minus some signets and augments) and was working on my tank & healer builds. It has been a lot of work getting to that point, but I was getting there. I saw the goal at the end of the road.
Here? Not so much. I don't see the goal at the end of the road. I see only frustration. I quickly realized there is no way I will be able to get to my desired build. Talismans are not a big deal, they're neither that rare or super expensive in the AH. But weapons? Here's where the problem lies. My weapon of choice is locked into the old loot crates. I've opened a crate a day for almost every day now and never got a weapon. Chance of weapon+chance of right weapon+chance of right affix=IMPOSSIBLE ODDS. Buying it from the AH is also impossible, first of all they're incredibly expensive due to their rareness, and secondly... I've checked the AH every day for months and never seen the weapon I want with the affix I want.
This is P2W at its worst.
Said so... the story, the lore, the background, the missions, the characters and the writing are all FANTASTIC. If you wanto to play it as if was a single player game and ONLY enjoy the story, it's great.
Just avoid the horrible "end game" and the insane gear grind.
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First, I should mention I felt obligated to give this game an eight, due to all the Secret World fan boi's voting it down, without giving it a fair chance. I have played both games and what I will share with you is my honest opinion about Secret World Legends, not compared to it's predecessor, but as a stand alone game.
First, the game play is simple and easy to grasp. It's obvious they intend to port this to consoles and as a result the number of abilities one can use at one time are limited. This can seem like a handicap to many Secret World fans, but the difference is really just a few powers and it didn't effect my view of game play that much. Controls are easy to understand and the game is fairly easy, not just aim and shoot, but aim in the general direction and you still do some damage, which is nice when you're on a learning curve.
Graphics don't seem to be that much better than before, but they are not shabby by any means. On ultra the details are easily comparable to other main stream MMO's and the lighting captures the atmosphere of conspiracy and horror the game tries to evoke quite well.
Character classes are a misnomer, since there really aren't any, rather you choice of weapon combinations determines your powers, and this where it gets interesting, because it gives you a plethora of possibilities, maybe not as many as Secret World, but still enough to keep you busy trying out new things.
My main complaints are the numerous things that cost real world money, from traveling to purchasing keys to opening caches. (Please see my edit notes below for more clarification.) This is where I get a bit miffed and wonder if it will be worth it in the long run. However, with this complaint in mind, keep in mind also that it's no worse than other MMOs such as Terra or Blade and Soul, and better than many. I'm talking to you Everquest 2!
In the end if you're into horror, especially Cthulhu horror, than you'll probably enjoy this game. If that's not your cup of tea, do you like guns and swords? Well then you'll probably like this game too.
EDIT: I changed my rating for this game because I came to realize just what a money sink this game is. You have to pay marks to get rid of Resurrection sickness, you can only open a limited amount of dungeon chests a day, The good loot, in caches, costs real money. Everything about this game is a nickle and dime experience that you don't really understand until you've invested time in it. Don't play this game if you don't want to spend real money, even if you subscribe you're going to have to spend real money. They tell you subscriptions are there to make the game more convenient, not remove the necessity to spend more cash.
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This is the worse version of The Secret World. The Secret World didn't give you any chance to influence the world at ALL!! Just kill stuff, investigate stuff, solve puzzles and report back to some unknown person for a reward.....THAT'S IT!!
Very sad that it took me $30, a lot of questions and about 100 hours of playing that that is all you will get with it.
Secret World Legends just adds a cash shop and rng loot boxes to make it even more shallow.
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Summary Fight a secret war of the supernatural. Where will you stand in the secret war between good and evil as supernatural forces threaten the modern-day world? Use a wide range of weapons and superhuman abilities to destroy the sinister evils that are threatening humanity’s existence.
