(EXCITED FOR) THE ORDER: 1886
So usually I attempt to make my posts well-thought out and interesting. Not today! Today, I just need to tell the world how excited I am about an upcoming game. It is called The Order: 1886. Anybody who is a regular reader of Game Informer magazine will have seen the delicious cover story in the November issue. Let me frame my enthusiasm for this game - until I read about The Order I was fairly disinterested in both of the next-generation consoles. I was vaguely considering a PlayStation 4, but only because I know that if a new Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy game is to come out it is almost certainly going to be released on PlayStation rather than Xbox. And certainly I would not be pre-ordering the console, instead waiting a year or two until the price dropped significantly. Now? Now I am not so sure that I can hold off that long because this game looks too amazing to miss!
The Order: 1886 is set in an alternate history world centered around London. Hundreds of years ago a handful of mutated half-beast half-human creatures mysteriously emerged and although they were greatly out numbered by the humans, they were perceived as a threat and hunted. Their superior strength (and breeding) led to a war between the humans and the beasts. This conflict drags on for centuries until a hero emerged - this alternate world's Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The knights then (somehow) discover a substance called Black Water which gives them the ability to live for decades longer than normal humans and recover from injuries in a similarly unnatural way. With Black Water and weapon enhancement technology, by the nineteenth century (the setting of the game) the humans are starting to win. However little to nothing is known about the beasts, how they live and why they came to exist in the first place. Nor is much known about how or why Black Water works. These are just a handful of the intriguing mysteries early previews have revealed about The Order.
This plot does intrigue me, but it is not why I am so excited about the game. What stands out about The Order, even in this very early stage of its production, is the mechanical and design quality of the game being created. The development team Ready at Dawn has been developing their own games engine for a number of years, and with the release of next generation consoles on the horizon they have finally decided to use it to make The Order. Consequently the in-game footage looks amazing - far beyond anything I have played before. This year's E3 showcased many graphically impressive games, but The Order is exciting (for me) because it is a single player, available for PS4. This means that I do not have to rely on bad quality Australian Internet speeds, or my potentially insufficient computer specs to get the most out of this game!! Apart from looking stunning, the camera work in the game is unique. Instead of the typical first or third person view, The Order employs a kind of over-the-shoulder third person technique to give the game a deeply cinematic feel, enhancing the narrative quality of the game and allowing us to view their world through the angles very familiar to us through film.
The Order has given me a lot to be excited about - and a reason to start saving for the PS4! Obviously, this is only the first reveal and over the coming months there may be both good and bad news about this title. However, at the moment things look very promising and I cannot wait to know more about this game!
PS. Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Game Informer for their cover story on The Order this month. If you are interested in this game I would highly recommend picking up a copy as the information available online is nowhere near as detailed or informative. Although the trailers are very pretty to watch.
The Order: 1886 is set in an alternate history world centered around London. Hundreds of years ago a handful of mutated half-beast half-human creatures mysteriously emerged and although they were greatly out numbered by the humans, they were perceived as a threat and hunted. Their superior strength (and breeding) led to a war between the humans and the beasts. This conflict drags on for centuries until a hero emerged - this alternate world's Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table. The knights then (somehow) discover a substance called Black Water which gives them the ability to live for decades longer than normal humans and recover from injuries in a similarly unnatural way. With Black Water and weapon enhancement technology, by the nineteenth century (the setting of the game) the humans are starting to win. However little to nothing is known about the beasts, how they live and why they came to exist in the first place. Nor is much known about how or why Black Water works. These are just a handful of the intriguing mysteries early previews have revealed about The Order.
This plot does intrigue me, but it is not why I am so excited about the game. What stands out about The Order, even in this very early stage of its production, is the mechanical and design quality of the game being created. The development team Ready at Dawn has been developing their own games engine for a number of years, and with the release of next generation consoles on the horizon they have finally decided to use it to make The Order. Consequently the in-game footage looks amazing - far beyond anything I have played before. This year's E3 showcased many graphically impressive games, but The Order is exciting (for me) because it is a single player, available for PS4. This means that I do not have to rely on bad quality Australian Internet speeds, or my potentially insufficient computer specs to get the most out of this game!! Apart from looking stunning, the camera work in the game is unique. Instead of the typical first or third person view, The Order employs a kind of over-the-shoulder third person technique to give the game a deeply cinematic feel, enhancing the narrative quality of the game and allowing us to view their world through the angles very familiar to us through film.
The Order has given me a lot to be excited about - and a reason to start saving for the PS4! Obviously, this is only the first reveal and over the coming months there may be both good and bad news about this title. However, at the moment things look very promising and I cannot wait to know more about this game!
PS. Many thanks to the wonderful folks at Game Informer for their cover story on The Order this month. If you are interested in this game I would highly recommend picking up a copy as the information available online is nowhere near as detailed or informative. Although the trailers are very pretty to watch.
