‘Secret’ welcome change

The early 20th-century fiction of H.P. Lovecraft, which holds that our universe is filled with vast conspiracies and unspeakable cosmic horrors with the power to drive men insane and render human achievement insignificant, has been rich fodder for contemporary pop culture. Lovecraft’s dark view of the cosmos can be felt in everything from “2001: A Space Odyssey” to “The X-Files” and “Prometheus.”

Yet few pieces of pop entertainment wear their Lovecraftian influences as proudly as “The Secret World,” the new massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMO or MMORPG) from the makers of “Age of Conan.”

For players weary of MMOs’ tendency to plumb the same settings, namely “Dungeons & Dragons”-inspired fantasy and science fiction, “The Secret World” is a welcome change. Its settings, from London and New York to Transylvania and New England, are familiar to modern audiences, and its characters carry cell phones, visit laundromats and ride on helicopters.

Playing as a member of one of three secret societies, you’ll travel first to the New England town of Kingsmouth, an obvious homage to Lovecraft’s fictional towns of Kingsport and Innsmouth. And if you didn’t pick up on that tip of the cap, there’s a street named after the author and Deep Ones-like creatures straight out of “The Shadow over Innsmouth.”

As characters hop the globe in the name of unraveling conspiracies and figuring out why all manner of supernatural legends — from vampires in Transylvania to Viking spirits in New England — are coming true, they’ll engage in some typical MMO-style questing.

Yes, there are plenty of “Kill X number of monsters” and “right-click on three objects”-style missions, but sharp writing by Funcom and some ancillary activities mask the quests’ basic nature.