Ross's Game Dungeon: The Secret World

[@stefanm.734]

An update, nearly 5 years later: Secret World is still around, however the game has been converted into a free-to-play model and is being run solely by the developer. While this means the game will survive for as long as people are willing to shovel up some money, it also means the game has microtransactions everywhere. You can supposedly still play the original game, but it is of course no longer supported, so you miss out on content, fixes, and adjustments added in the new version. And I don't think anyone has "cracked" it yet, so no private servers. This means the game is still in danger of being lost, particularly the old version, which is surviving only because Funcom has decided to keep the legacy server running.

[@th3highwayman]

Thanks for the update.

[@KingLich451]

Thanks a lot for the update, he is going to play it with fans on october 24, 2020 utc 5 pm

[@stefanm.734]

​@@KingLich451 Oh, really? I'll put that on my calendar then. Thanks for the notice!

[@gameprose4293]

Also, I actively play both Secret World Classic and Secret World Legends (The new version). So something not pointed out here, the game's combat has been overhauled in the Legends version to be faster and more fluid. Some other things were removed, such as crafting, while others were changed, like how you earn your abilities. A lot of people still play Classic, mainly those that liked how certain mechanics worked before, but the majority of the player base is active on Legends.

[@alexhooi7268]

Thank you for the update, loved their dreamfall series back in the day but really didn't like their switch to mmo games, but maybe ill give this a shot.

[@DanteEsGrande]

my favourite line from this is: "so he gives me a vision of what the future will look like, if you buy the DLC"

[@thebadger4040]

OWNED

[@Zeithri]

@Captain J MMO's aren't all bad. And they didn't use to be. But these days, every game is just... Meh. DLC this, DLC that... Lootbo- Sorry, *SURPRISE MECHANICS* everywhere. Which is why I primarily play older games.

[@bfkc111]

@Captain J It's probably a deliberate joke, unless you haven't understood anything else about the game since the beginning.

[@Accursed_Farms]

+Valdonkis I was showing the experience for a beginning player AND a more a developed one. A fresh player won't have options to more than a couple skills. If you look at the abilities I had lined up later, I think you'll be hard pressed to find a build with much higher DPS than what I was using with the later character (for a pre-Egypt character). As for the "play forever", I'm taking that to mean "as long as you have functioning software and hardware, you can always play this game.", not literally forever. You can still play Super Mario Bros. today if you have a NES that works, that's "play forever". When the game depends on a central server that you literally have no control over from a company that's put itself up for sale, then they can't even guarantee 2 years, let alone forever.

[@epiczombiedoctor5961]

+Accursed Farms hey there's lots of references to the secret world in the park but you'll see what I mean

[@MisterAAnderson]

+Accursed Farms Well, i'm not a lawyer yet. Just a simple law student but that advertising is common in many areas. In court they say that it's just a marketing thing. It's a metaphore, an abstract a allegoric thing not meant to be taken litterly. In contrast - a subscription game doens't allow you to play after the timer goes up. Realistically if you own it, you can crack it even after servers go bust, if you have the files. Create some alternate server and voila! Just like people play other MMO's on non-official servers. I hope you have a nice day. Don't worry about MMO's being unplayable. If they are good, if they get publicity, they don't disappear. I believe RF Online is still being played... Just as you showed. World of Warcraft private server. Same here. But I trust The Secret World might get a brighter future!

[@Heliox4PL]

+Accursed Farms Are you per chance living in Kraków? This is a tag used by one of the local football club fans along with JŻS.

[@kabliekke]

+Heliox4PL He is in Poland.

[@The_Foxymew]

+Andrei “Anderson” Țurcan Yeah, I'm pretty sure the court would mark it down as marketing, as obviously, nothing is forever, and since it's an MMO game, any idiot should know it means as long as the game is running. Such marketing terns are thrown around all the time. It'd be like suing a 90s cereal commercial for not instantly becoming great at sports for eating one scoop of the stuff. Though it would be nice if they did let it continue running, but seeing how they're selling, I don't think that's in their hands anymore. Or rather, if they 'freeware' it, it would hurt their own sale because it would mean having to give up an IP.

[@c4bombexpert]

The voice of the Headmaster is Jeffrey Comb! He played starred as Herbert West in all 3 Re-Animator films AND Crawford Tillinghast in From Beyond. Both are based on HP Lovecraft stories. He was also in a few other Lovecraft films like The Dunwich Horror. He's such a great actor and perfect for that role.

[@ShogunMongol]

He was also in 2 Star Trek shows, which is where I found out about him personally.

[@TheJabbate1]

@@ShogunMongol2? He was in 4. He was big in DS9 and Enterprise but he also had a couple small roles in Voyager and guest starred as AGIMUS in Lower Decks.

[@nonotorious1467]

I knew it was his voice! Combs has been in like every single sci fi tv show made in 90s and 00s not to mention tons of movies, he's a legend.

[@kalligthegrey7010]

"A single-player game handcuffed to an MMO server." This statement EXACTLY mirrors my feelings about Star Wars: The Old Republic. With the sole exception of the Operation instances and the reworked Flashpoint system, you don't NEED a group to enjoy the game. Though, it IS a BioWare game, and with the exception of Mass Effect 3's ending, their work is pretty solid. Sadly, SW:TOR bears the stamp of death that is EA's logo as well as a publishing credit for them, so I'm sure its time is limited, but I like to think that BioWare won't just sit idle and let them kill what is probably their best game since the original Knights of the Old Republic

[@Tzphardi]

Agreed, I went from a lowly lightside Sith Warrior to a Benevolent Galactic Emperor Jesus in that game and had a blast, SWTORS death would kill mmos for me. Either find a way to make it offline playable bioware, or legally allow emulators for it.

[@kalligthegrey7010]

Yochanan Ben Yaakov I HOPE BioWare has an end-of-life plan for Old Republic, because there is literally NO reason it needs to be an online-only game. Hell, why not take the opportunity to reprogram it as a single-player game but give it Mass Effect's gameplay and turn it into an Action-RPG where you can actually make better use of the classes? Mainly the gunner-type characters, but the Agent in particular. It's the only class that can use a sniper rifle and you can't aim at ALL with the kind of gameplay the game has now. Sure it would cut down on how many abilities you could use, but Mass Effect 2 and 3 had fewer ability options than the original and they were still fun to play

[@davidjohnson4171]

If I recall correctly, someone was making a 4k remake of SWTOR and they weren't being sponsored by EA or BIoware. But I heard this, like, two plus years ago through a buddy of mine in high school, so as far as I'm aware the project may be dead. Plus the guy half lied like the devil on everything so it may have never existed in the first place, I never bothered to follow up because I will probably never own a machine that could run a 4k resolution. But there's a microscopic pube hair of hope for ya.

[@jaysongreen6741]

SWTOR should of never been a mmo, it should of just been Kotor 3

[@gidofter_lukge]

Mass effect Andromeda, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Anthem ruined that streak.

[@SlicerJen]

'Support your local templars.' I love it

[@lathamhendrickson2028]

"You think you can out-chaos Cthulhu?" I need that quote mounted on my wall.

[@briancahill9594]

Honestly, without the context of the video it sounds more like a motivational question, like you're asking yourself how much chaos can you cause today lol

[@joshuahopkins8747]

Omg I want that so bad now.

[@kitrana]

honestly chuthulu isnt about chaos so yes I think i can. :P

[@LemonRush7777]

"this is just fighting with time-delayed water pistols" Goddamn, speaking some truth bombs here.

[@sandakureva]

Yeah I've never heard a better description of tap-target combat.

[@Babbleplay]

775 hours, Ross. 775 hours of my life have been consumed by this game. And, admittedly, I've enjoyed it greatly, but, this is coming from someone who never gave a hoot about WoW, or Everquest, or any other MMO, but, you made me curious with this video back when it came out, and now I was seriously hooked. So, your video has at least added myself and my GF to the Secret World playerbase. We got the Lifetime Membership when they were closing down the offer.

[@BumboLooks]

You're an autist that obviously doesn't value their own life.

[@RootVegetabIe]

Are you still playing?

[@Babbleplay]

@@RootVegetabIe nah, I lost interest when it rebranded to secret world legends and reset my progress.

[@CypherDND]

​@@BabbleplayWhat are you doing these days, 7 years later?

[@Babbleplay]

@@CypherDND Not much presently, have not uploaded in a few months; kinda sorta got hit by a car that ran a light while I was crossing the road. Doing much better, but spine does not like sitting in chair long enough to record stuff. Mostly youtube and audiobooks.

[@t850terminator]

Outsmart an Elder God? Didn't someone already do that? A certain theoretical physicist. With a gun.

[@dontspikemydrink9382]

Wasn't that person going to become a 'one free man'

[@shawdow357]

t850terminator and a rocket launcher

[@Yellow13Firestorm]

Or an internet comic reviewer, also with a gun. twice in fact.

[@Przemko27Z]

You mean the Xen entity? That's small fry compared to what the power of the Outer Gods.

[@slyseal2091]

@@Przemko27Z The outer gods cant beat ye olde plot armor though

[@ChaoticMonki]

Ross, you have been on POINT lately. Thank you for the content man!

[@benjaminkerger8072]

Agreed. Ross is pumping out content faster than a nascar racer goes around a track. Go him.

[@XFGHL78E]

...So no one leaves comments like: "HORY $HIET, CRY!", okay then.

[@aaronknee1218]

+Cryaotic It's great to see a renowned guy like yourself, know the sheer awesomeness of Ross and his videos, a man who truly knows quality over quantity. He definitely deserves more subs; and now we wait for the transient fixes of his videos until the movie that he HAS TO MAKE comes out.

[@zeubersandvitch8882]

fancy seeing you here!

[@taylerspeakman7714]

You have good taste, hehe.

[@LezCharming]

Secret World is like a crazy goth gf. She's overly complicated. She absorbs massive amounts of my time and energy. She could vanish into the distance at any moment. But I'll always love her.

[@Bad_Gazpacho]

That's... a very fitting analogy, actually.

[@scotiej]

I felt that on a deep level.

[@TheOsamaBahama]

OMG, are you me ?

[@steviewolfeofficial]

Eventually though you realize that shit is just manic pixie dream girl shit and is absolutely NOT worth it and there's so much better out there.

[@tristepanparsifal9543]

Even after 4 years and a lot of rewatches, I love that Texan guy cooking beans

[@tylerdurden8659]

Hmmm, EA, Eldritch Abomination? It all adds up now

[@BloodpactORG]

EA did not publish The Secret World, Funcom contracted them to print and distribute physical copies of the game in North America only. Funcom self-published The Secret World worldwide.

[@sirsmoss7362]

More on this later.

[@ColSamuelHawk]

almost 4 years later, the game is free to play and still able to be downloaded and played on steam. I'm not sure how but is good to see a not so bad game not being killed

[@wooshme5986]

Oh hell yeah

[@XDesit00]

Yes but nah. I played both. The f2p one (new) is so different in many ways. Also about killing the game after a year later from this comment at 23:20 176 people played this game on steam. It says everything I think. My only concern is the game went from a new never seen idea to a meh okey another mmo title

[@belisariussmith9095]

The free to play version on steam is 100% cancer. Also now there's only like 100 people that play that new relaunched version. Hopefully it dies out completely and they go back to supporting the original (and far superior) version.

[@amedicalmystery]

"I ended up finding a witch anyway" *witch skateboards away*

[@Gray963]

Man I love you Ross. I've never seen anyone as honest, outspoken, and good at their job as you. Keep rocking man, you really don't disappoint.

[@Accursed_Farms]

Hey everyone: The first monthly video chat will start on Nov 14th at 4pm EST. It'll be at www.twitch.tv/rossbroadcast.

[@dlobom]

+Accursed Farms at around 31:00, the music is ripped off directly from Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption. Seriously check it out.

[@TheRapierTheBetter]

+Accursed Farms Just seen another ad for Secret World and the main text was still: PAY ONCE, PLAY FOREVER!

[@pedrompbr]

+Accursed Farms hey man, are u ever gonna make freemans mind 2???

[@johnyyonehand]

+Accursed Farms Ross, about 29:40 ish TSW graffiti. You are living in Poland. Don't try to analise it too much. TSW is probably acronym for Trenuj Sporty Walki (Train Martial Arts) some kind of catchprase probably popular among futbol fanatics.

[@crikk23]

+Accursed Farms may i ask what the end song?

[@MrBenMcLean]

As a deeply religious person who has made a reasonably good study of the Bible, I can confirm that the significance of the Biblical passage in 2nd Kings is far from obvious given the clues in the game. Not even a seminary graduate would know to connect all those things.

Finally bought the game in a Humble Bundle and it's the first MMO I enjoy in my gaming life. I don't even know why this game is an MMO, it could have been an awesome single player RPG.

[@diegolopezpresa9719]

-When you examine one of the bodies that the zombies were feeding on earlier, then... *Huge monster appears* -Moving on... I love this guy!

[@distructobot6762]

ross even though you're probably not gonna see this I want to tell you:in California there is a Halloween theme park every year with 5 haunted houses called pirates of Emerson. I went there last night and do you wanna know what one of the attractions was?well do ya?...........CarnEvil , yes one of the best Halloween games of all time was in an actual theme park.

[@humanoidtyphoon1904]

18:15 This is the best explanation i've ever heard of the difference between turn-based combat and the shit they put in most MMO's nowadays.

[@Ashalmawia]

"cooldown combat" describes Blizzard-style RTS combat perfectly. It's also used in the game Sins of a Solar Empire which gives it a really weird feel.

[@GeorgeMonet]

@@Ashalmawia But it works in Sins as Sins combat makes it look like watching an episode of Star Trek.

[@KingofCogs1]

31:43 Jeffrey Combs plays the Professor. He was great in Star Trek DS9

[@Диего_де_ла_Вега]

Wow, I just noticed that the headmaster at Innsmooth is Jeffrey Combs.

[@UltimateCarl]

I've always said that if you live in a town or on a street named after anything Lovecraft ever wrote or any other horror author/director's name then you're not allowed to complain when a Hellmouth opens up there. I played up to about halfway through the final zone around launch but haven't touched the game since... I've been meaning to give it another spin. I definitely would have preferred this game as a single-player experience, though.

[@Romanticoutlaw]

this comment comes 5 years late but that reminds me of the sinking city, where literally every street is named for lovecraft lore, and hell opens up under the sea

[@TomOfTheDon]

I can't agree with Ross more on the combat in mmos. I just don't see why almost every mmo out there just goes with the same relatively exact formula for combat.

[@nizizumi]

Blame WoW

[@LloydTavner]

Because it's not to hard on the server to have dozens of people doing it at once and it takes a lot more lag than most other combat systems to start affecting the average players experience. You'll notice in other MMOs with more action driven combat that they're always instance base and have separate levels divided by loading screens

[@axis1247]

I play FF14 my moves combo pretty fast on the global cooldown and enemies go down quick at the appropriate levels. I couldn't stand this, why do moves do so little damage

[@Shenaldrac]

Because it's what WOW did, and WOW was the thing that REALLY made MMORPGs blow up, so everyone copies it. Stuff like Planetside 2, an MMO that's a first person shooter, those are very rare by comparison.

[@stefanm.734]

​@@LloydTavner Well, not _all_ of them. For example, Elder Scrolls Online is more action-driven in it's combat and it doesn't separate stuff by loading screens any more than the regular single-player games. And yeah, the game does make use of instance based dungeons, but I'm not convinced this is because of the combat. I believe it's done just because it's not a good idea to have dozens of players all running around the same claustrophobic cave at the same time. It gets hectic even with 5 players.

[@Novous]

31:42 WAIT WAIT WAIT. Blue gloves? As in, "two by two, hands of blue" conspiracy from Firefly?

[@angelwolfplays6456]

Over a year later and they are still releasing content for TSW. I think it's going to last longer than you feared.

[@KOTYAR0]

AngelWolfPlays oh, thanks

[@armisg5664]

Ross, you might not read this, but I just wanted to let you know that your Game Dungeons are the only KZbin content that I keep coming back to and rewatching every few years. Thanks for being awesome!

[@MrDoctorColossus]

If you are attracted to the "I can't tell if I love it or hate it" sentiment man, you are gonna *love* heroin

[@jamesduncan6729]

Wow who knew I'd find such hard hitting truth in these comments

[@guyincognito7188]

or maybe he isn't

[@Mambo.Canibal]

Heroin go brrrrrrrr

[@alabanesuileabhain6613]

Man that dichotomy right there is dreadfully insidious. Never before had I experienced such intense cognitive dissonance as well as loss of mental/physical control. Living through it/objectively examining an animal/human in active addiction (heroin/other powerful opiates in particular) can teach you something about choice, like what it actually is and when the power of choice is gone. It was quite a ride I'll say that, it was a profound mindfuck being in a perpetual battle with your own mind about what it wants and what YOU want. Sorry for all the writing your comment got my gears turning.

[@Sleepy_zzzzz]

That's fucking awful.

[@ChrisLhamon]

The "pay once, play forever" promise reminds me soooo much of my employer. The company said, "We have no plans for layoffs." Later, they sent out a mass email laying off about 12% of the company. They keep saying, "We have no plans for layoffs," but they will never give any warning before laying people off. They're lying straight to our faces, yet they keep saying that they're trying to "regain our trust." They also claim that they did nothing wrong. Companies truly don't care at all about their employees. They used to be really well known for being great to their employees too.

[@CitizenKanevideos]

I'm waitin' on the candy, Ross! Where's the candy!?

[@ManOfAnswers]

+Citizen Kane look at the very bottom at 39:12 (may have to go to 39:11 or so possibly, but trust me it's there)

[@molt2482]

+Citizen Kane he said there was no obligation in the credits, wow do you even read?

[@CitizenKanevideos]

bag buss I don't know how to read, dad.

[@molt2482]

Citizen Kane clearly your teacher didn't hit you hard enough, so *i'll finish the job*

[@Rickbane01]

+Citizen Kane Wait a minute. Their is no cane in Citizen Kane.

[@raptorsentry]

This was my first introduction to Ross's Game Dungeon. A long time ago, I had just started playing TSW, and after sinking in a considerable amount of time, I wasn't sure what to think of it. So I hopped on YT to see what other people may have to say about it, and this was the first video that came up, and the only one that mattered as far as I was concerned. Subbed immediately, and the rest is history. Every now and then, I still come back and rewatch this. Of all the gaming critique channels, yours still remains among a single hand count of those that I'll continue tuning in to for the unforeseeable future. Thank you for all you do Ross!

[@ShogunMongol]

Oh hey, this game features Jeffrey Combs two separate times! First appearance in this video is as the Illuminati doc and the second time is as that headmaster guy with the gloves. For those of you that think his voice sounds familiar, but don't recognize the name, he was Brunt and Weyuon in Star Trek DS9 and Shran in Enterprise. He's also done a bunch of other voice acting and regular acting work, but I mostly know him from Star Trek personally.

[@HQ_Default]

Yeah, this guy can pump out 40 minute videos in the span of like a week, all of which are just as good as any other review So either other reviewers are being lazy, or they're trying WAY TOO HARD.

[@Accursed_Farms]

+HQDefault This is 100% me being a Halloween freak, it is totally not healthy to do these at the pace I've been doing them. I probably won't be doing this many Halloween ones next year, this month wrecked me a bit.

[@sotbs2641]

+Accursed Farms But we love you for doing it

[@MrFutago87]

+HQDefault No reviewer who can put out one or more videos a week is lazy. I think Ross was really doing these reviews and nothing else during this month.

[@HQ_Default]

***** At what point did I ever call him lazy.

[@MrFutago87]

HQDefault Not him but other reviewers.

[@TylerMcVicker1]

Incredible video as normal. The nearly 40 minutes honestly didn't feel long at all.

[@johnathantestimonial2921]

+Valve News Network Ayy Lmao

[@NiGHTSnoob]

+Valve News Network Holy crap. I legitimately didn't realize it was that long until I scrolled down and read this, then scrolled back up to check.

[@zeubersandvitch8882]

love your vids (:

[@chickenman1801]

Idk, this is my 3rd time trying to watch it

[@notyoursavior78]

I watched this again because I hadn't seen this in a while. Illuminati I still think is the best faction easily and I never thought the combat was bad as he and others made it out to be, this is a extremely good Game Dungeon. Made me chuckle and laugh so much. Brought back great memories of this game and playing it again. I could ramble longer about this game, but eh just wanted to say Happy Halloween to KZbin.

[@thedani4]

In some parallel universe, The Great Game Preservation battle would have been fought for this instead of the The Crew.

[@Blackout5871]

Y'know, Carmen Sandiego using hollow earth theory is an excellent explanation for how she can be in Cairo when you get there but then suddenly in Beijing or Laos when you get to her hideout.

[@Denizu]

"Where *in* the world is Carmen Sandiego" now suddenly has a different meaning

[@RealAfricanPatriot]

Wtf? Ross Lives in Poland, Krakow? I recognize those tags and places, TSW stands for "Towarzystwo sportowe wisła" (Wisła sport association).

[@slendy9600]

yeah he lives there because food and rent an stuff is cheap iirc

[@umartdagnir]

+Giovanii Yes, he has mentioned it before.

[@pakoti96]

+Giovanii You mean to say all those Secret World references are just some sports hooligan tags?

[@CrimsonSyco]

+Giovanii I'd have to say he lives near Bialystok, Poland.

[@RealAfricanPatriot]

+Peter DD Sadly, yes.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

28:08 Stalker references? Pripyat ferris wheel, shimmering and static? Cheeki? Breeki?

[@ReaderOfThreads]

Get out of here STALKER! Good observation, I never thought of it. Makes me want to play STALKER again.

[@fuzzydunlop7928]

Been obsessed with the stalker games lately so it could just be me making connections that don't exist. :p It's the shimmering that really does it for me. Anyone who's had to sift through an anomaly field can see a faint shimmer from a mile away, amirite?

[@dravem]

Well been 8 years, the game still up as far as I know, even if only available on their site now, since Secret World Legends the F2P less good version took it place, actually did not try in a while but till last time I checked it were still up and fine a good year or two since SWL launched. To be fair, Anarchy online, Funcon first MMORPG is online for more than 20 years now, so while not sure if would expect any updates, or even a lot of SWL by now, I don't think it's going anywere.

[@josephkokkinos9326]

I cant imagine how long these videos take. Thanks you so much.

[@gabby3036]

31:32 Just a couple lines of dialogue and I'm over here like, "That's Jeffrey Combs!!!" Then I realized, he's modeled quite similarly to his character Herbert West from Re-Animator (1985) - a film based on Lovecraft's short story - and the latex gloves could be a nod to the fact that West was a doctor. Or that could all be me reading into a conspiracy lawl.

[@scrow7752]

The guy who voices the professor in innsmouth academy is jeffrey combs apparently, the mad scientist dude from the reanimator, he's also acted in other lovecraft based horror movies and has an audiobook of the original herbert west reanimator. Nice touch.

[@cosmicspooky]

five years later, this game is still going and it's free to play

[@anderty4088]

Amount of voice acting Steve Blum just blow my mind. I've checked his profile and yep - he definitely put his voice over billion shows. This is unbelievable just by thinking how much work it requires from one man. I think he's synthesized AI voice, honestly.

[@heartysquid]

Know I'm 2 years late but LMAO and possibly I met him at a con once and he had a massive banner collage behind him with his favorite 200-300 characters on it. He was also cracking jokes, teasing fellow VAs (Mark Meer and D.C.Douglas) and generally a great guy. Kept slipping into character voices at the table.

[@Morec0]

It's not really THAT impressive when your characters all have basically the same voice.

[@sorrenblitz805]

@@Morec0 with him his voice more changes personality then it does actual like sound.

[@heartysquid]

@@sorrenblitz805 ^^^ entirely fair

[@JoshSweetvale]

8:25 Anyone who's played Anarchy Online can recognize The Grid. The digital world travel-hub from their _first_ MMO. Only with a Ygdrassil overlay. Even the giant golem dudes look like Unicorn Enforcer troopers. 13:30 That greyed-out Gun power also looks _familiar._ Is it Burst? Full Auto? :v 17:30 Yeah, that's Anarchy Online alright. :D

[@Ghost_Of_SAS]

The Monkey Island forest music during the manhole puzzle was a classy touch, Ross.

[@housevil2]

Holy shit! That's Jeffrey Combs doing the latex glove guy's voice!

[@Lithobraker]

7:00 It's the guy from Nyet 3!

[@KingLich451]

it more reminds me of Calo Nord from sw kotor 1

[@smilz7470]

Well I mean after all it is called "Where IN the world is Carmen Sandiego."

[@notyoursavior78]

This is easily the most memorable game I played in the last 5 years. I've played it for just over a year now, but it seems like I've been playing it longer. Anyhow I've enjoyed your review a lot and it's making me want to boot it up right now. I'm not sure why everyone is so hard on the combat. I like it just fine. Also they made combat a lot easier in all the zones (except for Kaidan). Solomon Island especially was made easier. For me it was typically the investigation missions that made me feel stupid a lot of times. That's probably just on me though I do think some are too hard to figure out without a lot of hints. It does seem like something is off with your damage because with blade you can decimate goons quite handily. It shouldn't take you that long to take out just some random Draug. I use Blade and Shotgun primarily and I could drop guys quick. You are right though about it being a single player mmo, even I don't feel confident running high level dungeons or teaming because it just feels so isolated despite adding group finder and stuff. I never beat the Gatemaster yet. I mostly just enjoy running solo though occasionally I'll join a lair or dungeon run if I know what I am getting into and see it advertised in Sanctuary.

[@scottroman9993]

Oh, god, Kaidan was a nightmare.

[@GeorgeMonet]

Eh I don't think it is as good as VtMB which is an extremely similar game.

[@notyoursavior78]

I just woke up. I didn't want to say shooting a lot heh but I don't mind firing several shots also on a damn game.

[@brian_sipe]

To be fair, the title of the game was Where IN the world is Carmen Sandiego.

[@TheRealGunfish]

the only problem with secret world is that its an mmo.

[@thebadger4040]

Well said.

[@stonium69]

Even if it wasn't an MMO I could see EA making it online only though.

[@Pekopekope]

Yeah I gave it like 3 days worth of my time and just gave up. I don't have the stamina for this kind of monotonous shit any more. It should have just been a singleplayer game it would have done much better tbh

[@Kanakotka]

That's not a problem. It is a brilliant MMO.

[@Kanakotka]

Yeah, no it wasn't, and it will not be. I also am glad i live in reality where they didn't, because the multiplayer components, such as dungeons and raiding, are brilliantly well done.

[@TheStealthX]

Guys, 'The Secret World' is on sale on Steam, 70% off!

[@alephnole7009]

since the MMO is basically dead by this point, just barley 100 players average. would love to see this completely reworked as a single player or 4 player coop game. overhaul the combat to be responsive to individual players. make enemies deal & take more damage. scaling with the number of players. add the necessary puzzle clues from outside the game into the game. a good overhaul like this could sell well and would be cheaper than making a whole new game from scratch

[@ChaosPootato]

I haven't played a lot of this game but I really liked how the puzzles were laid out. Really clever

[@Hidesinmud]

This games seems like it would meld well with vampire masquerade: Bloodlines, and Hunter the Reckoning

[@matthewcarson3736]

Is that cowboy voiced by Steven Blum?

[@T0mN7]

+Matthew Carson Not the first one he voiced either...

[@HelloChief117]

+Matthew Carson Sure is. Steve Blum is all over the place when it comes to video games and anime.

[@JKPancake]

+Matthew Carson yes it is

[@Fizbigibbins]

+Matthew Carson Even when he's trying to sound different, you can always tell it's Blum.

[@JKPancake]

Fizbigibbins THAT'S NOT TRUE IN DEAD ISLAND HE DID A REALLY GOOD AUSTRALIAN ACCENT, sorry caplock was on and i'm lazy

[@lead2546]

Hey ross, I thought you wouldnt do it this year, but you lived up to renevant still. Good job :D!

[@ducciboi]

The potential of this game was insane. Too bad it was cursed to be an MMORPG.

[@halfLime]

oh man, coming back to this gem of an episode im excited for this years halloween episode; that being said im always excited for new videos from ross

[@gasenkotsu]

It's too bad you didn't check out the dungeons, of all of the MMOs I've played TSW dungeons were the most interestingly designed. I agree with your verdict - dull combat, but the game just oozes personality and atmosphere. After playing TSW to completion (as far as solo content and dungeons go, never touched the PvP) a couple years ago I can honestly say that even despite the combat I totally got my money's worth out of it. It's a shame that it will probably die and fall into obscurity, all this time I've been hoping that they might make a sequel with a better, perhaps more actiony rather than RPG-style, combat.

[@datacentre81]

"This isn't going to be a thorough review" 6 minutes in, 34 to go. Sure, Ross, sure.

[@Slouworker]

Honestly it was just too brief. he didn't bother sith anything.

[@doomyboi]

+eedobaba7726 Most of it was a guided tour and a passionate rant about MMO combat in general.

[@GabrielOnuris]

That part about the Bible's book Kings 10:10 was even worst on my end, because I'm brazilian, and in the brazilian portuguese Bible it doesn't say 120 talents of gold, but 4200 kilograms of gold, which, by the way, is the same as 120 talents. Even if I could get that without googling the direct solution, there is no way I could guess it was a code of a basement BEHIND the priest's house. Even if I could, I would input 4200, because of what I said above.

[@Bad_Gazpacho]

Yeah, that tends to happen with games that use outside sources; they tend to be in the devs language only. It's worse when it comes to the Bible, since there are many different translations.

[@Quick-Silver206]

I'm glad someone other than me is wary of online only games having a limited lifeline.

[@maharg90]

Goddamn, Steve Blum's voice is instantly recognizable in this.

[@pldownes]

I've been a fan of TSW and your channel for a long time now. Great video. Keep up the good work.

[@JeffMakesGames]

I like how Ross keeps sidetracking away from anything to do with the fighting of monsters.

[@BrenTenkage]

HOW ARE YOU DOING THESE SO QUICK? Seriously I'm impressed

[@bigiron4387]

he probably does these at night

[@dooplon5083]

Black magic and coffee I'd say!

[@gamesinabit]

Making in bulk

[@heretic1157]

He probably pre-records a bunch of them, and stores them.

[@wildsonny1137]

16:14 "you are all equally worthless!"

[@slendy9600]

ooooh this is that game that the Extra Credits folks said had some super good quest design

[@Anxious_Bridge]

Got this game recently,and so far I've been having a lot of fun with it.You are right on the point that you do need some experience building your skills and such,but the investigative missions and the overall environment just make it really fun to play.

[@carolinec2073]

7 years later.... still love this game.

[@EvilOverlord1662]

"The Park" is a prequel to this? That's insane!

[@DivineFalcon]

The headmaster of Innsmouth Academy sounds a lot like Jeffrey Combs, but I'm sure it's just a coincidence...

[@agentalucard]

Nope it's him. Awesome in it's own wright. Good ear! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Combs#Video_games

[@Ossek]

Where's my candy you accursed hippie! YOU PROMISED ME CANDY! Good video, Ross. 10/10.

[@Kiezkollege]

This is my favourite video Ross has made so far.

[@Yabuturtle]

I like how his voice often sounds like a combination of happy/irritated. xD

[@umartdagnir]

This travel through the hollow Earth thing sounds so much like "A gamedesigner had to come up with an idea of fast travel, and he was given only a single morning to do this".

[@Chris_W]

+Dmitrij Bugajev Well... there aren't many original ideas around for fast travel. Most games just have a player pay for it in in-game money or they just use portals... this is at least a little more original than that. Any examples of fast travel done right in your opinion?

[@umartdagnir]

sheogorath19 I don't have enough MMO experience to tell. Just having planes in this game would do, since the main locations are not connected, as far as I understand. EVE online has a good system of _slow_ travel, where large corporations actually have players who specialize in logistics.

[@Chris_W]

+Dmitrij Bugajev I have no experience in EVE, but I see what you mean. Planes would be less original, though maybe more logical.

[@UndeadCookieMonster]

+Dmitrij Bugajev The Earth being hollow is a theory I found out a little while ago but apparently it's an actual thing and it's not obscure either.

[@ProfesserLuigi]

I don't know, I read a book about the varations on the myth of Hollow Earth and some of those are pretty awesome.

[@midorifox]

That's why Open source should be the standard, and not a once in a lifetime scenario, lol. Doom, Command & Conquer and Quake are open source, yet they're still selling decently.

[@mikitadou]

Ross really should try out ( The Sinking City ) for this Halloween Episode.

[@lopiklop]

I don't care for EA, obviously, but I've always felt that Funcom was something special. It's nice to see them receive recognition for their efforts.

[@Ryusuta]

I don't know why, but the part talking about the three factions at the beginning really put a smile on my face.

[@chrissy1045]

12:54 Oblivion had some interesting characters, but mostly with minor characters. Such as the cheese loving athletics trainer, most of the Dark Brotherhood targets, the runaway necrophiliac, and the indiscriminate nature exploding destruction magic master which come to mind.

[@ImperialCaleb]

Not really. They were one dimensional at best and practically none of them had dialogue that actually felt like it was spoken by someone with a personality, it was more like they were just reinforcing their one or two traits they had. The characters Ross is talking to in game could have their dialogue written out on a piece of paper and you could reasonably guess what dialogue came from who, whereas in Oblivion the only giveaway that dialogue came from a certain character is if it includes their one personality trait like "this character likes cheese" or whatever. I'd be curious what Ross had to say about some of The Elder Scrolls games, I know he doesn't really like them that much though and I can only assume it's because Bethesda generally aims for quantity over quality which doesn't seem to interest him.

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

I feel like "cooldown combat" has always been a compromise specific to MMOs from the start. It gives you enough time to sort of plan your moves, but it doesn't make you have to wait for another player to input their commands (while they may or may not be AFK or having connection issues). It's not quite action, but it's not quite turn based strategy either. I imagine it's also a lot easier to program when you're dealing with the typical MMO hassles such as kill stealing and players with very different connection speeds. This is mostly guessing because I don't really know much about coding, but I think the idea is that you're locking a number of characters into a combat encounter where all they do is essentially run timers against each other, which helps the game compensate for lag as well as keep track of which players were involved so that only they can receive the loot and experience. I'm not really a big fan of the style, I prefer either reflex-based FPS games or "make coffee while you consider your next move"-style RPGs like early FF and DQ, but the concept of a strategic yet fluid combat system in a game with hundreds or even thousands of players in the same area is appealing to me, and I like seeing different approaches to it. Edit: also, is that cracked stone table at 30:00 a reference to Narnia?

[@Samuitsuki]

You have eight different abilities, it's unlikely all eight of them are on cd at the same time.

[@cupriferouscatalyst3708]

@@Samuitsuki I'd hope not haha. Cooldown combat can be made really fun and intense for sure, I was mostly just guessing about why it's usually so specific to MMOs, which I think is because it's a very reliant system in an environment with hundreds of players with different internet speeds.

[@iosefka7774]

I'm surprised you didn't notice the "Overlook Hotel"

[@TheLORDMJ]

Wow... what an episode. I was very curious about TSW and I'm glad you made such a great video about it. Seriously Ross, you did an excellent job.

[@ZombieMurdock667]

got this game on humble bundle and i'm having a pretty good time with it. thanks ross for putting it on my radar. also, its been over a year and its still running along with a decent sized player base.

[@DylanDekk]

Not sure if you ever take recommendations, but as a fellow old game / DOS game nut, I would love to see you play William Shatner's Tekwar. I think I'm the only person who ever discovered that gem back in the AOL Games day, but I love how open it seemed at the time.

[@marthapozo4881]

I love ARG's, even if I'm shit at solving stuff. I guess I just like puzzles in general and don't mind looking up clues to get answers. Also, ARG can be an onomatopoeia in expressing frustration, coincidence? :P

[@Jesse__H]

Am I wrong that it's AUGMENTED Reality Game, not ALTERNATE Reality Game, as said in the video?

[@Sirtristepan]

@@Jesse__H A year later but nope, Google says ALTERNATE

[@MiseryLovesCompany263]

Man, it’s a shame you don’t like turn based combat, Ross because I think you’d LOVE Darkest Dungeon. The last location (the titular Darkest Dungeon) is one if the most metal locations I’ve seen in any game ever.

[@SnowPaw404]

around 32:46 you can hear faint music in the background that was used in "The Tunnel"

[@pescando]

This game has one of the best trailers. It wasn’t even that clever or well done, but the music matched so perfectly with the visuals, I still get a little choked up thinking about it.

[@Sewblon]

I stopped playing this game despite really liking the themes like Ross. Only for me the combat was fine. What I couldn't stand was the ARGs. For some reason I refused to just look up the solutions online. I was ashamed that I wasn't smart enough to figure out the answer on my own. But now thanks to Ross, I don't think that that shame was warranted.

[@XFanmarX]

So.... any people working on making this game possible to play without the central server? Would be neat to finally check it out.

[@slavinib6857]

lucky for you, the game relaunched last year as "Secret World Legends" and it's free to play

[@Vinterloft]

@@slavinib6857 It's trash though. Combat and skill system is even worse than it was. Now it's impossible to motivate oneself to get through the game anymore.

[@MsamaB3]

Wait, is the white-haired doctor from the Illuminati intro voiced by Jeffery Combs? The headmaster is too! Oh my hecc it is! That's cool. Jeffery Combs makes total sense in a game with so many references to Lovecraft. :D

[@Christian-wl5jg]

The Secret World was relaunched this year as Secret World Legends and from what I've read they've redone the combat.

[@Rawnblade13]

That voice actor is the prolific Steven Jay Blum! He holds the world record for being the most prolific video game voice actor. He's also real big in English dub animes as well.