Funcom's co-publishing agreement with EA suggests that fans of The Secret World could have some good news to look forward to this year. Chris "Pwyff" Tom takes a look at what we know about this secretive game.

As the game's name suggests, There doesn't appear to be a whole lot of information about The Secret World floating around. Funcom does intend for the MMO to include some aspects of social networking and, while this might make a few of you hardcore gamers groan out loud, I'd like to remind you that it's almost obligatory to create some kind of social network when you're dealing with a real-world setting where players can, literally, wander the streets of their home city (albeit with a few more zombies than normal). Also, Funcom has been using cryptic tweets and forum posts from fictional characters to keep players invested in the game's storyline.

Funcom is also taking a rather interesting approach to combat with The Secret World, as they have noted (thus far) that players will be able to mix and match all of their skills to create some very customized characters, tailored to their needs. According to some interviews, Funcom has said that they will limit players to bringing seven passive skills and seven active skills to a fight, and they have stressed the concept of "collecting" skills, as opposed to simply grinding out levels to get more.

In combat, there have also been promises of creating some great spell interactions between players, as many skills will change the "state" of the enemy. While this has not been confirmed, my guess would be that all spells and abilities have an associated "state" that they inflict in addition to their damage, and when multiple states are inflicted, different effects can take place. Either way, this adds a unique dimension of party play to The Secret World (although raiding must be a headache…), and Funcom has stressed that they want to encourage team cohesion during fights. This comes as a welcome stance in comparison to other MMOs that have made big shifts away from party cohesion and have all moved toward strong and independent classes.

Finally, what gives The Secret World its greatest appeal is the secret societies that dwell within it. Players can choose between joining the Templars, based out of London, the Illuminati, based out of New York, or the Dragons, based out of Seoul, as a secret society. Through these societies, players will create their identities and can form "cabals" (guilds) in-game to vie for guild rankings and notoriety. All in all, it seems as though Funcom is really stressing the interactive society of The Secret World, and if they can get to enough players out the door, I'm hoping to see some tight-knit communities form.

At the end of the day, however, no amount of new game information can really beat the news of this new co-publishing partnership between Funcom and EA. The fact is, many MMO fans I have spoken to have been waiting patiently for some kind of prod to keep on believing in The Secret World, and it's certainly great news to hear that a big player like EA also shares our belief in the game. I suppose all that remains now is to wait for Funcom to get their PR machine rolling again or, barring that, to at least set a date when these underdogs will finally step up to compete for the MMORPG limelight.