Fighting the Half-Beasts
A lot of people were looking forward to playing The Order: 1866 this holiday season. Unfortunately, the game has been delayed until February 2015. Just what are the guys at Ready At Dawn using this extra time for? Well, we aren’t really sure. However, we do know quite a bit more about the game since its appearance at E3 2015. Here’s what we know, and what you have to look forward to next year!
First of all, we have more details on the story. This is about more than a generic hunting troop gunning down supernatural beasties. Rather, this game tells a tale of King Arthur and fucked up evolution.
Around the time of the seventh century, some humans began taking on animalistic traits. These humans were granted wonderful abilities, like super strength, super speed, superhuman senses, and phenomenal regenerative abilities. Unfortunately, these abilities also came with a craving for human flesh… oops. Instead of looking for a way to peacefully co-exist with these half-animal, half-human creatures, the pure humans called them monsters and half-breeds and decided to start a war with them. Unfortunately, humanity mostly failed, given that they were smaller, weaker, and didn’t have the tools to triumph over physically superior beings.
This was how life was until the time of Arthurian legend. King Arthur and his knights of the round table fought back valiantly against the half-breeds, but they still weren’t quite powerful enough to overcome them. That is, until they found the secret of Black Water, a mystical liquid that extended their lives and granted them remarkable healing abilities, like the half-breeds. Still, the humans remained on the losing end of the battle for a very long time, which is until the industrial revolution. Now, human kind’s ingenuity starts to outpace the strength of the wilds. From rifles, to thermite, to night vision goggles, humanity uses their technology to begin winning the war. The result is the steampunk world of 1886.
Now, humanity faces even more problems. The order serves the nobility, but the peasant class is rising up in revolt. All the while, half-breeds lurk in the background, ready to overthrow the human race. By your hand, the future will be forged, and the next chapter of humanity will be written.
The game itself is your pretty standard third person shooter with a steampunk twist. Cover is once again a central mechanic, and you will frequently find yourself ducking behind walls to avoid enemy attacks. However, half-breeds can sometimes rush you down, making your cover useless and for that you need to use your almost Batman like arsenal.
From thermite rounds to gas clouds, repeating rifles to stun shots, you have a tool for practically every situation. Each gun tends to have a primary and secondary fire, one that does damage, and another that is used for a more utility purpose. If a beast man is bearing down on you, you can blow a cloud of thermite dust in its face, confusing its senses. This does little damage but you can then fire a flare into it, igniting the cloud and dealing an incredible amount of damage. You will find several other combinations of tools like this, each of which aids in the fight against different styles of half-breeds.
You’ll also have to be crafty to take down your half-breed prey. Simply rushing in headfirst will likely get you killed. You will have to use stealth and the environment to your advantage in order to get the upper hand. In the story, humanity started winning because their brains outperformed half-breed’s strength and you’ll have to play accordingly. Attacking half-breeds from vantage points where they can’t reach you is one way to do it. Setting traps is another. There is going to be a lot of kiting and terrain management in this game, so anyone looking to feel like a steampunk god of weaponry should probably look someplace else.
It’s also worth noting that the graphics of the game have improved dramatically since it was first announced. This was one of the first titles that was announced for the PS4 and while they graphics were originally impressive, it shows that Sony has learned how to develop a next, or should I say current, gen game. Newer builds look darker and foggier, with improved lighting effects. Models also seem more heavily detailed than they did when the game first came out. This may seem trivial, as if I were just praising the game for its graphics, but on the contrary, the presentation is very important. Seeing shadows around the corner or hearing footsteps in the distance are both ways that you can get the jump on a half-breed.
Unfortunately, there still isn’t a lot of new information about The Order: 1866 because we are so close to its release. So for now, we just have to wait and see what it will be like when it launches next February. Don’t worry – it’s only a few more months away. We will bring you more information on its release as it becomes available.
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