Ruins of The Secret World

There is a city on the moon. 11 days are missing. The Earth is hollow. The tower of Babel never fell. These are just a few of the many premises of The Secret World, a stunning new MMORPG game that promises to plunge players deep into a Lovecraftian realm of mythology risen, a secret world the X-files only ever hinted at.

MMORPG stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, a game played online in a shared fantasy world like World of Warcraft. The Secret World, as yet unreleased, looks utterly awesome, with a taste of any and all mythological flavors- with a very strong emphasis on ruins:

– The Illuminati office entrance is in an a dilapidated NYC warehouse.
– One whole zone is The Savage Coast, an abandoned theme park.
– Ancient Egyptian ruins hold unsettling alien truths.
– Cities lie in rubble, and the ruins of Atlantis rise.

However it’s not just the ruins that grab me- its the notion of a Secret World hidden under and within everything we know in our everyday lives. The Matrix captivated me with the same premise-

“The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.”

– Morpheus, The Matrix.

I’m a big sucker for that. It’s the reason I love ruins, the reason I’ve explored so many- looking for that feeling that you’ve somehow slipped through the cracks in reality and discovered something stunning and new that flips our understanding of the world on its head.

This video listing of the Secret World’s premises gives me shivers every time I watch it-

Everything is true.

And that is just words!

In summary

In the Secret World you play one of three secret societies- The Illuminati, The Dragon, and The Templars. You level up by killing monsters and doing quests, gear up with shotguns and magic, and roam the world kicking the butts of every shade of legendary monster imaginable, solving puzzles enshrined in the public consciousness for generations (Bermuda, Atlantis, etc…), and saving the Earth from damnation.

Here’s a video introduction to the factions-

I’m awed by the breadth and scope of this game. I got soured on World of Warcraft because I never felt like I was doing anything other than just being some douchebag mercenary farming for gear, gold, and levels. For many people that is plenty enough. For me I want to know that what I’m doing for so many hours of game play is something at least important, not just acquisitive. At that level it becomes just like another Sims game. Who can pimp out the coolest house?

Anyway, Secret World seems to have that focus. Fight evil, or the Earth is gonna die. Yes. Here are more ruins screen-shots and videos to sucker you in.

Savage Coast Abandoned Theme Park

The Savage Coast

Looks like the Pripyat ferris wheel.

Savage Coast location preview.

Ruins of New York City

Possibly this is Seoul or London, but still a dying city.

Blasted JFK?

Illuminati warehouse entrance.

Overgrown underwalk.

Vehicle Boneyard.

Wreck of the container ship Polaris.

Awesome CGI battle in New York, with subway trains as hammers.

Secret Societies

Here are the three cabals in the Secret World-

Dragon, Templars, Illuminati

Illuminati girl fights.

Templar man fights.

Extreme hottie on the left. Who needs kevlar?

As aforesaid- I’m psyched for this game. Anybody else?

All images and video from The Secret World.

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll probably enjoy more of my Fantasy Ruins articles-

Fantasy Ruins:

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You may also be interested in my galleries of Japanese ruin, AKA haikyo-

Ruins / Haikyo galleries:

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You may be interested in my World Ruins articles too.

World Ruins Gallery.

You might even enjoy my offbeat surreal dark fiction here.

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