Chaos Theory: The Secret World’s Halloween event haunts our dreams

It’s finally here! This is truly the holiday I wait for all year, and The Secret World has the MMO event I anticipate all 12 months! And now through the 17th of November I can immerse myself in Halloween done right with an all-new mission that brings together many parts of the past in a whole new way. And it ups the creepy factor of my holiday a few notches.

Called The Seven Silences, this year’s mission is tied to Funcom’s TSW offshoot, The Park. Now, as much as you may want to jump in and experience the new content ASAP, Lead Designer Romain Amiel issued me this warning: “You should really play The Park before you play the Halloween event; storywise, it’ll link better.” He went as far to tease that he’d suspend my account so I didn’t peek! Luckily, there are the previous year’s events to tide me over. If you can resist the urge to jump in, or if you are new to TSW (or simply missed events in previous years due to illness, travel, or not being able to access certain zones), you have the chance to complete The Broadcast, Spooky Stories, and The Cat God now for all the thrills, achievements, and goodies.

Oh man, whom am I kidding: I can’t wait! Holding out until Halloween night to stream The Park is hard enough. I am not going to deprive myself of The Seven Silences as well. So in I go! Here’s a slightly-spoilerish-but-not-a-full-walkthrough guide to get you going. For full spoilers, watch our Stream Scream Team mission walk through on Thursday, October 29th, at 8:00 p.m. on OPTV.

Discovering darkness: The Seven Silences

Halloween in TSW has never fallen on the cutesy side of the scale. In fact, the game explores darker themes, and this year’s event is no different. It starts with a text from your faction handler telling you that one of your kind, the bee-blessed, has managed to kill herself. Yah — suicide is not exactly a fluffy topic. The big deal here is that you can’t die once you swallowed that bee, and folks want — nay, need — to know what’s up! You are sent to the Tabula Rasa just outside of Ealdwic Park in London to investigate. If you need to pick up the mission again for any reason, just head right to the door of said establishment and you will find it there. For those who have never been in this particular business before, click here for a spoilery hint.

And now, in true TSW-style, you wander nightmares. The mission chain pretty well runs the gamut of traditional nightmare scenarios that we’ve all had at some point or other, but there are also a few TSW twists, such as when you are given a glimpse of missing pieces of your story. You will hear familiar voices and see some familiar faces, including reliving an encounter that may give you nightmares of your own! I am not willing to give much away here because experiencing The Secret World for yourself is the whole point of this game. But I will say that there are most definitely a couple of “Oh, whoa” moments as you traverse these dreamscapes. (You’ll see them if you watch the stream!). Also, the coloring in the amusement park was just fantastic! I might have taken a few dozen — or more — screenshots to add to my collection. I also strayed off the beaten path everywhere I could in all the instances, not just to hunt for lore but because I didn’t want to miss a single thing!

Oh, and if you don’t have directional/surround sound on your speakers or headphones, you are totally missing out here. And I might add, you will hate the sound of a ringing phone before the end!

If you don’t like investigation missions at all, you might be a bit disappointed; on the plus side, The Seven Silences is not as taxing on the grey matter as most, so I think everyone can finish it relatively painlessly. It mostly involves looking around and keeping your eyes open! In true Halloween-style, it’s always a good idea to look over your shoulder. There are nine separate steps, a couple involving a maze or two, but the whole shebang can be run in just a couple of hours. Important note: This year you will have to have completed the story mission of the up through to Tokyo in to be able to do the full mission; players do have to travel into Kaidan for one leg of the journey.

The treats

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet, give me something good to keep! That could be a mantra all TSW fans chant in their hearts around Halloween. Why? Because the game lives and breathes Halloween, so who wouldn’t want more goodies that celebrate this particular time of year? And what better time to collect more pieces so you can dress up in your most creative outfits?

This year there is the new mission reward bag, called the Haunted Sundries bag, that players can also buy in the item shop for new Halloween outfits, masks, witches claws, jewelry, and more. There’s even the chance for a super-sweet fire-breathing motorcycle called the Geist Rider Bike. Of course, that’s the rare one, so count yourself lucky if you nab it! Players can also buy the party bag to open and share with others; opening the Sack of Samhain Revels around 10 other players will grant the spooky dance. Check chat channels (especially in Agartha) for loot opening groups to get the most bang for your party bag.

Looking for lore in all the wrong places

It’s a fact: Lore hunting is a compulsion for many players. Those little squares of golden goodness give snippets of the story and should not be overlooked; they are worth reading. Now you may insist on finding each little hidden tidbit of information yourself, and that’s totally fine! Just skip all the little spoilers here and don’t click. However, if you are pressed for time, or you are ready to punch your monitor because one little shiny keeps totally eluding you, then go ahead and take a peek at these locations (just click to reveal them).

Warning: Looking at the lore locations for this year’s event will give parts of the story away, so don’t look unless you want the spoilers!

Worth the wait

Every year I wonder how the devs will outdo themselves. It always seems like everything has been done before, but the devs still manage to pull something unique off. Just as I was last year, I am slightly disappointed that we had to wait until so close to the end of the month to actually start on the Halloween celebration in game, but I am not disappointed in the outcome. And I certainly understand wanting to have the tie-in with The Park! I think that for sheer awesomeness, my personal favorite would so far be Samhain 2014 with the old radio shows, possibly because old radio shows are close to my favorite entertainment ever! But this year definitely has its charms. Just wait until you uncover the truths yourself because I am certainly not going to spoil the ending for you!

Is it real? In The Secret World, rarely is it not. Conspiracies, ancient legends, paranoia, secret societies, chaos — they all swirl together in a cacophony of reality. In Chaos Theory, MJ Guthrie infiltrates this secret world, exposing the truths that lurk beneath the surface. The big question is, can you handle the truth?