The Secret World Gets New Content July 31

The Secret World is set to receive its first dose of promised monthly updates with the “Unleashed” DLC pack, releasing free for all players on July 31.

The Secret World sets itself apart from the MMO pack by being set in the modern day and focusing on horror/suspense over fantasy. The world is dark and some of its inhabitants are even darker, making for a nice change of pace for folks who have grown a bit tired of the Shire or Azeroth.

Just to show off how different it is, Funcom isn’t calling its DLC, well, DLC. Instead, each batch of additional content is releasing as an “issue;” imagine an old-school horror comic and you’ve got the idea. The first issue, Unleashed, is set for a late July launch and its coming packed with all sorts of new goodies.

Players will first gain access to a number of new missions. After collecting countless pelts and mining untold tons of ore over the years, it’s really hard to wrap my brain around the type of content The Secret World offers.

In Unleashed, players will visit the Innsmouth Academy to get to know an especially gifted, and I’m guessing dangerous, student. They’ll also investigate the crazed fan of a famous horror author, help an elderly woman handle her ghost problems, and dive into the past to discover some of Egypt’s darkest secrets.

Along with a handful of new missions, players will also have access to the hardcore Nightmare Mode for the Ankh and Hell Fallen dungeons, offering bigger challenges coupled with greater rewards.

Finally, a new “cross-dimensional” Marketplace will allow players to sell their goods across all servers.

Honestly, this seems like a pretty sweet deal to me. Rather than waiting for massive updates every year or so, I like the idea of getting small chunks of additional content to keep bringing me back to my MMO of choice on a regular basis.

For those interested in finding out more about this first “issue” of DLC for The Secret World, head on over to the game’s news page.