A small town on the New England coast, shrouded in supernatural fog, with a handful of survivors holding out against the zombie hordes while black helicopters fly overhead. If you've had any exposure to the horror genre of the last hundred years, in film, television, book or game, there'll be something in Kingsmouth that feels familiar, and the more you've watched, read and played the more you'll recognise.
It's a town like any other. Any other in this genre.
Referential, but not derivative, The Secret World takes inspiration from dozens of sources, but successfully blends them together into its own distinct identity. The depth of detail in Kingsmouth is perhaps the best I've ever seen in an MMO. The town feels authentically real, and the subtle (and not so subtle) references – in street names and store signs, in architectural features and the design of the manhole covers – don't feel out of place. Kingsmouth was already a strange place before the fog came.
Every rumour is true, every legend is real, and everyone is in on it. There's usually at least one character in this genre whose role it is to disbelieve everything until the exact moment when they get eaten by the monster. So far I've yet to encounter such a character in this game. People may not know exactly what's going on, but they already knew there was something going on.
Comments
Post a Comment