NOTE: As of January 12th, 2015, please note that this offer is only available for online pre-orders.
If I was given a choice of aesthetic, a genre style, to truly explore the graphical and processing power of the PlayStation 4, I like to think I’d have gotten to ‘Steampunk Macabre’ in a few moves. I suppose at this point some gamers might stick their nose up at the ‘alternate history’ branch of game design, but honestly it’s such a boss move for an art team. And I don’t think I’m out of line for saying that, if you’re going to have monsters, Victorian England is basically a perfect setting. Which brings us to The Order: 1886, an alternate history of earth, where fight as a legendary Knight of Arthur’s Court, fighting evil with with your trusty clockwork buggies, laser cannons, utility grenades… you know, the usual.
Consoles: PlayStation 4
Release Date: Feb 20,2015
Rating: M
The hordes of a dark branch of humanity, half breeds, part man, part beast, have been at war with an order of knights since time out of mind. Despite purity of heart and nobility of their cause… well, the monsters are winning. Rise the Legendary King, Arthur himself and his knights of the round! Along with a discovery of a mystery liquid (that’s mysterious… seriously, we don’t know much about it yet, but it seems important) that lends power and longevity to the beleaguered knights, then, Science! Industrial revolution, spurred on by the unnatural war brings about an explosion of what amounts to ‘Gearpunk’ (and if that’s not already a thing…’called it!’). If you get the feeling like this is just a mish mash of otherwise awesome things being crammed together, you’re right. However, in this case I think the end result will be less ‘child’s baking experiement’ more ‘peanut butter, chocolate chip, and M&M cookies’.
The setting and environments, from aesthetic to design, pop as soon as you lay eyes on it. If you’ve had enough of the Steampunk (Gearpunk!) thing, I get it, but even in the brief footage the ambiance has a fantastic texture. Though I’m sure it is going to lead to a great deal of tension, creeping through some narrow corridor, or foggy graveyard, it looks like exactly the right place to be creeping if you’re hunting unholy terrors. The weapon design, what we’ve seen of it, shows a group of designers having fun with the open field of steampunk monster hunting equipment. Lightning, explosives, fully automatic rifles, all with that stylishly brutal ‘retro sci-fi’ thing that some of us love so well.
Speaking of which, pre-order The Order: 1886 to receive exclusive DLC ‘The Knights Arsenal’. Packaged items include two alternate (and rather sharp) costume skins, the Arc Rifle Prototype and Arsonists Rifle. Whether its lighting or flame you fancy… or a sprinkling of both, that slick ‘alt history’ look is all over these beauties.
What it amounts to, I think, is a much needed bold step in the direction of new PlayStation exclusive Intellectual properties. It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Gears of War when you think about a third person shooter of teammates taking on monsters, with a very particular aesthetic and a love of heavy weaponry, but it’s probably apt. Though we’ll have to wait until February of next year to know for sure, we may have a new powerhouse franchise on our hands.
The Order: 1886 is due to release February 2015, pre-order now for bonus ‘The Knight’s Arsenal’ DLC
NOTE: As of January 12th, 2015, please note that this offer is only available for online pre-orders.
Pre-order link for the PlayStation 4
