When it comes to shooters, I’m not a difficult gamer to impress. I’m looking for something that’s accessible yet satisfying; a game where you can move between cover, plan your attack and pick off your targets as you go along. For some gamers, this might seem fairly repetitive, but as one of those people who finds enjoyment in racing around the same track over and over trying to shave down lap times, it’s good enough for me. For this reason, The Order 1886 is looking good.
Set in a unique re-imagining of London during the Victorian-era, you play as Galahad, an experienced member of the Knights of The Order. The preview involved clearing the streets of London of rebels, a group opposing The Order and their ideas for a police-state city. Combat involved little more than moving between cover and shooting at enemies, but it was fun, enjoyable and exactly what I’m after from a third-person shooter.
Combat in The Order 1886 revolves around the use thermite, an element which explodes when ignited. During the preview I found myself using a strategy where I’d use my primary weapon (the Thermite Rifle) to weaken enemies, then switch to my pistol to take then down while they were stunned from the flames. There’s some ingenuity in how you shoot and spray the thermite and then ignite it, allowing you to take down multiple targets at once, and even trigger elemental events like explosions from broken gas pipes. My only gripe was that it was difficult to judge the range of the thermite clouds, where I was never quite sure if it had travelled far enough to reach the enemies I was attempting to defeat.
Moving on, one of the most noticeable features about this game are its visuals, which are nothing short of unbelievable. Games have certainly improved graphically with the latest generation, but The Order truly is unlike anything I’ve seen before. The entire game looks like a running cutscene and the level of detail on the characters and environments are on a whole other level.
The preview ended with an enemy covering the battlefield with a large cloud of thermite before it was ignited. It appears that you’ll be progressing through the game with other members of the Order, however like most games with friendly AI, you’re still left doing most of the work. The Order 1886 doesn’t seem to be revolutionizing the third-party shooter genre, but it still delivers on fun. It’ll be interesting to see what strategies and differences the combination of mixing traditional firearms with the thermite weaponry will do to the combat in this game.
The Order 1886 will be released for the PS4 on 20 February 2015.
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