Did you catch the brand new trailer for The Order: 1886 last week? Perhaps you read some of the new press coverage around the first full gameplay reveal? Well, in case you missed anything, we’ve picked out a few things you might not have picked up on…

1. Melee combat as you’ve never seen it before



Gunplay will obviously form a key component of The Order 1886’s gameplay, but close-combat melee encounters are every bit as integral to the experience. Developer Ready At Dawn is taking a fresh approach here, incorporating split second decision paths allowing fights to play out in a number of different ways. In the clip above Galahad goes for a knife, but it’s not the only way to tackle the situation…

“For melee, we’re leveraging some of the things we’ve learned in the past, even from the platformer days. We want to supplement ranged combat with something that players don’t expect. You’ll see more melee modes that will give you some complex options,” hints Creative Director Ru Weerasuriya.

2. High-concept weaponry that’s grounded in real science



While the weaponry at your disposal in The Order 1886 might seem out-of-this-world, every single design in the game is based on bona fide Victorian technology.

“The more you get to see of the weapons, you’ll realise that they’re actually not that outlandish or futuristic. They feel grounded,” Ru says. “We don’t twist the actual technology itself – what we twist is its use.”

3. A different take on cover combat



At its core The Order: 1886 is a third person action game, complete with cover shooting mechanics. While you might think you’ve seen these before, Ready At Dawn is putting its own twist on convention.

“Yes, there is cover as you might have seen in other games, but we’ve added traversal modes,” says Ru. “You’ll go seamlessly from ‘full cover’ into ‘soft cover’ as you move away from an object. Imagine you’re in cover, you’re shooting at something and you want to pop out. You don’t just stick your head up, right? You’d still stay low. So we’ve tried to build a bit more reality into the cover system.”

4. The Order don’t mess about



Expect combat to be brutal…

5. Gadgets are important as guns



Alongside an arsenal of weaponry that offers a huge array of combat options, you’ll also have a number of gadgets at your disposal. Here, Galahad is surveying Victorian London with a monocular in search of a fire fight.

“The Monocular was built for multipurpose use,” explains Ru. “We haven’t talked about all the different modes of gameplay in which it will be implemented, but what we showed in the latest demo is it being used as a looking glass, and to send Morse code. You can flash a signal to the airship to give your location.

“We have a lot of other devices like this that we’re trying to implement. Of course, there are always more ideas than we can fit into the game, so it’s a question of which ones will stick…”

6. You’ll use the Dualshock 4 in some unexpected ways…



As mentioned above, one sequence sees you using the DualShock 4’s touch pad to tap out a Morse code message to a nearby airship. Will there be other creative uses of the new controller?

“We’ve worked with the controller to test all the different things we could do with it,” says Ru. “The issue is that the more complex and involved controller inputs get, the more it removes you from the immersive core experience. We don’t want to use it too much; we’re only using it for actions that feel natural. Tapping out Morse code just worked so well.”

7. Atmosphere you can cut with a knife



Ready At Dawn’s extraordinary tech plays its part, helping to sell the rich cityscape with fully interactive environments and advanced lighting tech. Look how the torchlight flickers against Galahad’s face as he passes. Impressive, no?

8. These are characters you can believe in



As hinted at in the trailer released earlier this month, Ready At Dawn is creating a truly ‘filmic’ experience, both in terms of how the game looks and the story it tells. The game’s four primary protagonists are nuanced individuals, with different roles to play in the twisting, layered narrative.

“The four characters have very different story lines – their past, how long they’ve been around, what they’ve done, who they’ve fought,” Ru explains.

“Mallory is the squad leader in many ways; Galahad is someone who’s been involved in the conflict for a long time; Igraine – she’s younger but still confident’ and Lafayette is the rookie of the squad. He’s the one who jokes around. He’s a little jovial, happy-go-lucky, doesn’t worry about too much. It’s a nice balance between the four characters.”

9. This is London like you’ve never seen it before



Ready At Dawn’s “neo-Victorian” vision of the British capital offers a universe unlike anything you’ve experience in a videogame. Dark, dank, dirty and dripping with atmosphere, it’s a refreshingly different setting, and one that boasts huge potential for both edge-of-your-seat suspense and widescreen action set-pieces.

10. My oh my, it’s beautiful



Enough talk, just look at it…

Want to see more? Check out the video below to see new footage of the game in action.

