Funcom's up and coming MMORPG The Secret World, if you don't recall, is not conventional -- it eschews the traditional olden days setting and characters for modern cities and (mostly) realistic-looking people, not to mention elements of conspiracy theories, pop culture, and mythology, among others. At the same time, many classic gameplay elements appear to remain intact, such as battling monsters, character creation, etc., though classes and levels are chopped, too.

Beyond these details, we haven't gotten much word on what else the game involves. Today, however, Funcom has revealed three "secret societies" which exist in The Secret World, each of which are said to be central to the gameplay and storyline, in part because you must eventually pick a side in the ongoing conflict.

Tying this in with the upcoming beta, you can visit the official website now to complete a personality test which will tell you which society you're best suited to -- the Illuminati, the Dragon or the Templars. Doing this makes you an "initiate" of that society and the game's community (meaning development updates), plus gives you a chance to win beta access to the game.

Funcom's Director of Communications stated he cannot give an estimate on when the beta will be ready yet, unfortunately, however look out for our hands-on preview with it in the future, as well our PAX features in the coming days, which should bring more details.

What's say we wrap this all up with another cinematic trailer and some artworks, hm?

See more images...