Funcom has launched the reboot to their modern day MMORPG The Secret World. Secret World Legends revamps much of the game’s mechanics and graphics to modern standards. The traditional MMORPG tab targeting system has been dropped in favour of a more dynamic reticule based system, allowing gamers to play the game like a third person shooter. All nine weapons have been completely revamped to give each one a unique mechanic that skills are built around. Quests and progression has been streamlined to flow better, making the game more accessible to new players.
Secret World Legends is a mature themed action RPG set in modern day. Three secret societies are sending their best and brightest out into the world to investigate and battle supernatural phenomenon that have long been considered myths and legends by the general public. The game features the traditional trappings of a modern MMO, but also intricate quests that will require players to solve complex puzzles that will challenge their logic and research skills. All 100+ hours of story-driven content from The Secret World has been brought into Legends, and new story content will be developed and released in the coming months.
Secret World Legends is entirely free to play with quality of life bonuses and cosmetic items available for an extra fee. A monthly Patron status is also available that grants bonuses such as free keys for gear, scenarios, dungeons, and lairs; bonus experience; quality of life bonuses for the market, and unlimited travel.
https://youtu.be/DRqLm8w3G_8
When we last were with the Guardians they had managed to put down the biggest threat to the galaxy and obtained a strange relic known as the Eternity Forge. They had little time to celebrate their victory as a new villain was quick to pursue the group with their eyes set on the Forge and it doesn’t take long to see why. Not only is this relic capable of revisiting the memories of the one holding it but it also is capable of resurrecting the dead as we see Peter come away from a mortal wound with just a torn shirt in the end.
As we’ve seen in the previous episode, despite being a tightly knit group that can be called a family at times, the Guardians are always bickering with one another and constantly tease breaking up anytime someone gets on another’s nerves. The balancing act players will have to do with their crew remains the same as before as most of the time they will introduce various choices that will anger at least one of the group. This feeling continues into this episode only this time rather than focusing on a little bit of everyone, the spotlight is mostly focused on the origins of Rocket Raccoon with other group interactions serving as something similar to teasers that will likely come to a head later on.
Outside of Rocket’s spotlight the core storyline continues to move forward a fairly slow pace though we do see some small developments here and there. This includes the appearance of a couple of familiar faces who interact with the crew as they try to uncover the secrets of the Eternity Forge and leave players eager to see what will happen next, especially with the way things leave off and the rather unique way of presenting previews this time around.
As mentioned before, the soundtrack is filled with satisfying classic rock though this time around a few of the tunes may be a bit unfamiliar to some at first listen. Alongside this music track the voice work continues to be very impressive with the voice actor for Rocket really knocking it out of the park during his backstory segment.
Players will experience the majority of the story through the framework of a reporter who has had his wife and child taken from him after the war between the Mishima Zaibatsu and G Corporation that is tearing apart the world landed in his home town. Occasionally the focus will shift towards certain characters that will then battle one another, or fight against a wave of enemies, before progressing further on.
As for the side characters, they are relegated to receiving single fight episodes that generally show what they are doing during the storyline. For many of them the majority of the context actually comes from their loading screen text so you’ll need to be sure to read that, especially in the case of a few fighters since this writing leads to some interesting paths that we can hopefully see followed in the future. Though, being a Tekken game, be prepared for some of these little episodes to be simply for fun and nothing else.
If you want to see how you handle against the AI, there is the standard arcade battle mode to run through as well as Treasure Battles that give the player chances to earn Fight Money as well as different customization items that allow you to dress up your fighters in various ways. These range from being completely absurd looking to standard, and a few even provide special effects either when defeated or entering the new Rage mode. Fight Money can be used to purchase standard customization items as well as various visual alterations to your fighter card, health bar, and more.
The biggest change however comes in the form of the Rage mechanic. When dropped to low health, a fighter’s health bar will glow red while a red aura will flow from the fighter. During this Rage state the fighter will be able to deal additional damage from basic moves in an effort to close the gap between them and their opponent as well as use either Rage Arts or Rage Drives. Rage Arts can be seen as a character’s signature attack that can drop an enemy’s health bar by a third at the cost of losing your rage state. Rage Drives play off this mechanic in the same manner though they tend to be combo moves that are performed by the character and tend to be more difficult to use at the cost of dealing extra damage.
One thing that can be rather detrimental to your time with Tekken 7 is the fact that the load times can be rather terrible at times. This wouldn’t usually be an issue usually but sometimes load times can last longer than a fight, especially when it comes to online modes with your customized fighters. Treasure Battle, a mode developed to fight as many times in a row as possible without losing also suffers heavily from these long load times.