Secret World has three starting cities, one for each faction. The Dragons start in Seoul, the Illuminati start in New York, and the Templars start in London. That guy up there is in London’s Haitian market.

After the jump, guess what he’s selling

I hate going to London, because for whatever reason, it wreaks havoc on my framerate, no matter the graphics settings. My system with a GeForce GTX 460 can usually run the game comfortably at the high settings. But as soon as I get to London, even if I dial the settings all the way down, I can barely move without periods of slideshow framerate. Is London like that in real life?

Unfortunately, after finishing the obligatory training missions and leaving London, I’ve had to come back here a few times. Templars have to come back to London the buy the speed upgrades. These pass for Secret World’s money sink where other games have mounts. You just dump a load of cash you didn’t need anyway onto one of the vendors milling about the main hall, and then you can run a little faster. This will happen three times during the life of a character. Then there are times when you’ve leveled up so far that you have to come back to do missions that push you around the various starting cities, including your own. If you care about the achievements and the lore, you’ll find snippets of those in the cities.

The only worthwhile thing I’ve found in London is the guy in the above screenshot. He’s in the Haitian market in London, manning a stall. If you mouse over him, you’ll see that he’s a vendor you can interact with. What’s he selling? Tacos. That’s right, tacos. They’re effectively useless, providing a minor healing boost. But there’s really no reason not to buy them. I mean, tacos. What else are you going to do with your money?

Tomorrow: heartbreak house
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