Sony PlayStation and Ready at Dawn Studios released another behind-the-scenes video for The Order: 1886. The new featurette showcases one reason I am so excited about the game: Victorian-era, steampunk gadgets and weaponry. Based on the new video, the developers at Ready at Dawn put a great deal of thought and effort into designing concept weapons for the alternate version of history presented in the game. The Order: 1886 mixes Arthurian legend with werewolves (the Half-Breeds) and steampunk. In short, the narrative is right up my alley. The design of the concept weaponry represents this style to a T.
The playable demo for The Order at the Electronic Entertainment Expo was rather scant in terms of the type of weapons available experimentation. The thermite rifle, which is showcased in the video below, and Galahad’s standard service handgun were on hand there. Conceptually, the thermite rifle is a cool weapon. It fires off thermite rounds that can then be ignited in order to rain down fiery mayhem on rebels, enemies and dissidents.
The new video delves more in-depth for the conceptual weaponry designed for the game. All the weapons look realistic and are based on science and concepts for weapons that were being developed at the time. However, the game, a steampunk-esque story, allows for more fanciful developments of weaponry in the 1880s. Case in point: Inventor Nikola Tesla is the weapons maker for the Knights of the Round Table in the game. The idea of Nikola Tesla taking such a role in narrative fiction is not an original one; but it is an interesting prospect and a great idea to use for a game with this setting. I love stories set in Victorian London, even more so if the story has a sci-fi or steampunk twist. That is why I find all the advanced weaponry being used in the game’s time period so very interesting.
The coolest new weapon depicted in the video has to be the arc gun. The arc gun is an electrical weapon that shoots arching bolts of electricity that are so strong, the bolts “atomize” their targets. The developers also stressed the idea that some of the weapons were designed to look as if they would not even be very safe for the users to handle. In terms of narrative, this is another interesting idea. Mankind is in such strife in its conflict with the Half-Breeds, that the knights are rushed into battle with unsafe and untested weapons. From a narrative perspective, it shows that this is a very desperate conflict.
The Order is due out on February 20, 2015. The game will be released exclusively for the PlayStation 4.
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