Secret World Legends
Secret World Legends is a reworking of The Secret World, Funcom’s 2012 MMO set in a present-day world where conspiracy theories, urban legends and mythic horrors all turn out to be true. Instead of elves and orcs, it deals in secret societies, haunted towns and cults hidden behind corporate logos, with the player recruited into one of three factions – the Illuminati, Templars or Dragon – and sent to investigate outbreaks of the supernatural under the cover of ordinary life.
The original version of The Secret World earned praise for its writing and atmosphere, particularly its investigative missions that asked players to solve codes, follow clues out into the real web and piece together mysteries rather than simply follow quest markers. Its ability system was deliberately horizontal, encouraging wide builds and experimentation instead of traditional levels, and its combat revolved around building and consuming resources with carefully chosen abilities. That same design also limited its reach: the subscription model and slightly clunky combat left some players admiring the story from a distance rather than sticking with it.
In 2017, Funcom relaunched the game as Secret World Legends, aiming to keep the setting and narrative while making the structure more approachable. The revamp added a more conventional levelling system, clearer progression paths and a reshaped early game, with missions reorganised to guide new players through Kingsmouth and beyond in a more linear fashion. Combat was rebuilt into a more action‑oriented style, with retuned animations and simplified resource mechanics intended to feel more responsive than the original’s ability wheel and builder/consumer rhythm.
Alongside those structural changes came new systems. The Agent Network, for example, lets players collect named NPC agents via dossiers and send them on time‑based missions for rewards, while also slotting them for passive bonuses in normal play once they level up. The overall class and weapon framework was streamlined into clearer “decks” and archetypes, but the core idea of mixing weapons like pistols, blood magic, chaos or assault rifles to create a build remained in place, now in a more guided form for newcomers.
Secret World Legends also extended the storyline beyond where The Secret World left off. Dawn of the Morninglight, released in 2018, continues the main arc after Tokyo and Orochi Tower by sending players undercover into the New Dawn compound in South Africa to infiltrate the Morninglight cult. That chapter keeps the series’ blend of investigative work, stealthy observation and more straightforward combat, while pushing deeper into the mythos around the Filth and the Dreamers that has always sat behind the game’s stranger outbreaks.
The new onboarding reflects lessons learned from the original. Fresh characters wake up in Kingsmouth and move through the Solomon Island zones, then on to Egypt and Transylvania, in a more explicitly tiered order, with tooltips and tutorials explaining investigation mechanics, lore entries and build choices as they go. This tidier structure makes it easier for first‑time players to follow the thread, even if some of the open‑ended feel of The Secret World’s early days is lost in the process.
The relaunch was not without friction. Long‑time players sometimes missed the old ability wheel, the broader freedom to roam and the particular pacing of the original combat, and the move to a free‑to‑play model with new progression systems created some unease about grind and monetisation. For newcomers, the sheer depth of accumulated lore and overlapping systems could still feel daunting, even with a more guided start.
Despite that, Secret World Legends has kept the core appeal of its setting: well‑written missions, a memorable cast of NPCs and locations like Kingsmouth, the Scorched Desert and Tokyo that feel distinct within the MMO landscape. Seasonal events and returning investigation missions continue to draw attention back to older content, and the shift to a free entry point has allowed more people to experience its particular mix of occult horror and puzzle‑driven storytelling.
