The time is nigh for the release of one of Playstation’s big, announced exclusive; The Order 1886! This game has been a long time coming from game studio, Ready At Dawn, as it has been in development since 2010. When it was announced as a new IP at E3 2013, it was speculated to be a launch title but no time frame for its release was revealed . After a bit, it was given a release date, and then delayed, as all good looking games are. The wait is over though, as we will have our hands on it on February 20th.
The quick pitch of the game is this – a third person action shooter, with a heavy emphasis on a steampunk-like aesthetic. The story is that back in the day, there was an organization dedicated to keeping people safe from all kinds of nasty monsters. With an arsenal of some of the coolest guns and other gadgets, this order kept the nasties of the night from completely killing us all.
I really want to take a moment to say again that the weapons in this game look downright awesome. Within the context of the story, it is quickly revealed that the OG mad scientist himself, Nikola Tesla, has designed all of the specialty items. Too cool.
Something really exciting about this game is that this is a single player only experience. That’s right, there will be no multi-player component to this game. Shocking, I know, as most single player focused games these days have some tacked on, last minute online multi-player mode that adds nothing to the game overall. The reason why this gets me amped is that it means Ready At Dawn’s focus was solely devoted to the gameplay and story experience. They didn’t have to deal with the distraction of an online portion that makes no sense as to what they are trying to do.
And what a gorgeous game it is. If they do nothing else right, the look of this game is drool-inducing. Just watch the most recent trailer that has come out. It’s unreal.
Some early previews of the game were a bit cautious, and some were downright negative, saying the game felt nowhere near done, and that it was boring. At the recent Playstation Experience event though, the internet’s tune changed to something much more positive. Understandable about the early harsh criticism, as the pedigree for the game studio is quite good. Former members of Naughty Dog (Uncharted and Last of Us) and Blizzard (Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft) are the core team of Ready At Dawn. They started out making PSP games based on other people’s properties, and this is their first venture into brand new, untested waters.
If everything you have seen and heard here has sold you, well guess what?! There’s pre-order bonuses! The all-around bonus for pre-ordering pretty much anywhere is the ‘Knight’s Arsenal’ DLC. This pack is going to get you cool looking variant costumes, and a few different guns to choose from, such as something called an ‘Arsonists Rifle’ (DOPE).
If you pre-order from Gamestop, however, you get the Knight’s Arsenal, as well as a completely different DLC pack called the “Knight’s Endurance.” That will get you a sweet item to heal you and your team, as well as an ability perk to help you gun down those meanies in the streets.
The big collector’s edition comes with the Knight’s Arsenal DLC mentioned above, the official soundtrack for the game, some unreleased behind-the-scenes footage, a steelbook to house your game disc, a 7 inch statue of the main character looking rad and, most importantly, stickers!
If you have money to burn, there is also the Premium Edition. It’s essentially the collector’s edition but with even more stuff! A 13 inch statue with the main character fighting a monster, a special collector’s box, a 22 page art book that has a secret compartment in the back housing an in-game item as a necklace. Downright insane.
Still not wanting to purchase your ticket for this hype train? That’s ok! Your pals here at GeeklyInc will be putting up a review sometime shortly after it’s release.
A little skeptical of this one, apparently it’s only 10 hours long, but as long as the mechanics are decent I’m sure it’ll be worth picking up. Nice preview!
Quality > quantity. My favorite game from last year was two hours long. I’m excited to see what this has to offer.