For those assuming that Secret World Legends will be only slightly different from the existing MMO, it may be best to rip off that band-aid early to get used to the truth. While the game is currently under NDA in closed beta, that doesn’t stop information from leaking out that appears to show a vastly changed title in the making.
On the new Secret Worlds Legends subreddit, a beta tester has unloaded a ton of information and screenshots that mostly center on the action-RPG’s combat system. With the understanding that this is beta and all may be changed, the tester claims to shows how the different combat weapons have been streamlined and modified (for example, shotguns now have different types of shells that perform various tasks and assault rifles have grenades). The tester notes that most classes should self-heal now as in most other MMOs. Players will use a reticle system for combat and will need to worry about overheating at least some of their weapons.
Other changes noted include an Agartha that has a lounge area, auction house, and jump pads that take you to different portals. It’s also mentioned that investigation missions have been streamlined somewhat so that using a browser isn’t always necessary to complete them.
We stress that none of this information has been confirmed as accurate by an official source as indeed it comes from an anonymous leak on Reddit from someone who appears to be breaking his or her NDA to deliver it. We will update when we know more, but for now, treat it all as rumor.
Update 1:20 p.m. EDT: Funcom’s Romain Amiel has issued a statement to Massively OP suggesting that not everything in the leak is accurate or permanent and asking that players and press have patience with the studio while it tests and tweaks the very much in-progress game. We’ve included it below in its entirety:
The Closed Beta is under NDA as we are still doing changes, additions, tweaks, and improvements for what will be in the release version. Nothing is set in stone yet and many of the details here are still in development and were planned to be made ready to test for future beta updates.
There is too much here to address individually, but one example of misinformation is the idea of the investigation missions having changed: they haven’t. We added one investigation mission tutorial. Combat is another thing we’re heavily focused on right now. Only a few weapons are currently available in the beta, to give everyone a chance to give feedback, to make sure each feels fun and balanced. For example, the information released about Blood is invalid, since the weapon isn’t currently available on the beta servers.
We have always made sure press and influencers have access to pre-launch betas so that they can report from our games before they release. We will do the same for Secret World Legends, but need the chance to polish the silverware, put up the lights, and sweep the floors before we lift the NDA and open for everyone to evaluate the game and judge us on what we’re delivering.
I should also mention that we’re doing another edition of our biweekly developer stream tomorrow, April 7, on Twitch.tv/Funcom in case anyone wants to tune in! We’ll be discussing more about Secret World Legends, specifically about the content that we feel is ready to talk about. :)
We’d like to thank Funcom for addressing the leak and quelling some of our readers’ worst fears. We’ll set our Secret World columnist loose in the game just as soon as the flag drops.
