Hi
The Secret World is set in the modern world of today.
It supposes that the occult and mystical things of legend are really real and that there are organizations (kind of like men in black) that are tasked with managing them.
You are an agent of one of these groups.
You can only play as a human, but of pretty mush any race.
You can go from modern day New York and London, or Soul, (basically where your bases are) to a Village in Maine invaded by sea creatures that turn people into zombies, or to the Balkans where you have to deal with Werewolves and Vampires.
It incorporates American Indian lore and haunted houses, one of my favorite locations it a haunted amusement park, very creepy, and the guy who send you there drives a Rolls Royce.
The attention to detail is amazing.
Or modern day Egypt with terrorists and ancient secret societies and tombs.
There are a lot of other features that are much different then most MMOs.
There are really hard puzzles that require you to do research online, translate different languages etc.
There is a browser built into the games, (just hit the B key) so you can get online to look things up.
There are even fake websites on the net that extend the feel that you are talking about real places.
Check out the Kingsmouth web site.
http://www.kingsmouth.com/ As much as I like The Elder Scrolls Online, I'm not giving up on The Secret World, I've played it since it was in beta and I still have fun playing it, there's always something else to do or see.
And the graphics are still the best of any online game in my opinion.
It's an open world you can pretty much go anyplace you are tough enough to survive and hunt to make money to buy stuff, or work your way through a zillion quest stories to solve the mystery involved.
Great combat, with any thing from a katana to a AK 47, and a rocket launcher.
Real time, move and use strategy not like many of the stand still and shoot kind of thing like Wow that wont let you run and fire at the same time.
My favorite MMO of all time, and I've played practically every major MMO since Ultima Online.
http://www.thesecretworld.com/buy/ Mike