The man behind Funcom's The Secret World thinks that reality is the perfect backdrop for an MMO

The game's creative lead Ragnar Tørnquist spoke exclusively to games™ about the upcoming title and its basis in reality. "We're giving it a twist, but that was always the idea," he explained of the Abrahamic, Mayan, Buddhist, Nordic and Lovecraftian mythology that permeates the game's story and visuals. "We have the real-world setting, but we also have these elements of fantasy, of occult, of magic, and that had a lot of appeal."

Tørnquist also cited some of his inspirations: "I love Vertigo comics – urban fantasy stuff. I like Buffy, Angel, The X Files – things that take root in reality and use legends and fairy tales and mythology and history as a background, a playground for all these ideas." For the full in-depth feature check out issue 89 of games™ available in outlets imminently.