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This trailer for The Order: 1886 is chilling
Not like, "That trailer is so relaxed, it's chillin'." This trailer for The Order: 1886 does away with fancy 3D cinematics and tells the terrifying story of Little Bobby Paige, complete with children singing in the key of creepy. [Image: Ready at Dawn]
Project SkyLight introduces themed PS4 faceplates
If you didn't manage to snatch up one of the 20th anniversary PS4s that went on sale yesterday, Project SkyLight can help your PS4 stand out from the crowd. A PlayStation Blog post explains that Project SkyLight will involve the arrival of hard drive faceplates, with designs featuring LittleBigPlanet 3 and The Order: 1886 kicking off the initiative. Both faceplates are currently available for $24.99 apiece through Sony's online store, but if you'd prefer to hold out for a different theme, the related post notes plans to launch additional designs "in the near future." Project SkyLight also involves plans for "a few other fun enhancements," with further details said to be shared "soon." If either of the announced faceplates pique your interest, consider making your purchase sooner rather than later: faceplates are being offered in "very small quantities," and considering how quickly PlayStation fans can deplete limited stock, Project SkyLight's original pieces could go quickly. [Image: PlayStation]
The Order: 1886's cinematic look is more than meets the eye
To 1080p or not to 1080p: that is not the question for Ready At Dawn's PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886. Running at a 1920x800 resolution in 2.40:1 aspect ratio, the game is presented like a film, with horizontal black bars running across the top and bottom of the screen. In an age where resolution is a selling point, is Ready At Dawn selling themselves short by giving up valuable real estate? The short answer: No. The longer answer: In fact, it may even be better.
Joystiq Weekly: Battlefield Hardline, Watch Dogs review, Evil Within preview and more
Welcome to Joystiq Weekly, a "too long; didn't read" of each week's biggest stories, reviews and original content. Each category's top story is introduced with a reactionary gif, because moving pictures aren't just for The Daily Prophet. With Sony upping PlayStation Plus to six games per month, we're pretty confident that the service is trying to ruin our lives. We're not obligated to tackle every single title, of course, but in the cycle of starting downloads for games "just in case" we ever feel an inkling to play them, we're losing track of which games we should feel guilty about not finishing and which games we should feel guilty about paying $60 for and not finishing. If not for the bills, assignments and the omnipresence of life's ever-ticking clock, we'd plop down in front of our TVs for a few years and knock out every game we ever felt intrigued by. To hell with "everything in moderation" - moderation wouldn't clear out our shelves of "yeah, maybe one day" RPGs, nor would it help us get the timing for our go-to Street Fighter combos down to the exact frame. Moderation is just a feeble admission that we can't control time (yet), and it ignores our potential to play all the video games, which we'll definitely get to. Eventually. Some day. Unfortunately, getting through every game we've ever wanted to play is still just a fantasy for now. Unless you find a way to break the laws of life's constants - if you do, you should totally let us know. We can do co-op or something. Until we reach that dream state, you can get a glimpse of Battlefield Hardline, read reviews for Watch Dogs and Among The Sleep, and dig into a neat feature on Watch Dogs that explains how legalities ruin everything. It's all waiting for you after the break!
The Order: 1886 delayed until 2015
The PlayStation 4's visually extravagant third-person shooter, The Order: 1886, has been delayed until "early" 2015 – or about 129 years after a group of gun-toting knights embarked on a quest that many excitable historians said would definitely, definitely be adapted into a video game one day. The Order: 1886 follows Sir Galahad and three other knights who have adopted the names of King Arthur's noble warriors. Relying on a mysterious substance called "Black Water" to extend their powers and lifespans, the knights must quell an uprising and battle the monsters that emerge from the foggy alleys of an alternate-history London. The game is being developed by Ready at Dawn, the studio best known for bringing the God of War series to Sony's PlayStation Portable, and Sony Santa Monica. For more on The Order: 1886, make sure to watch Joystiq's video preview featuring new footage and impressions of our time playing the PlayStation 4 exclusive. [Image: SCEA]
Video preview: Strategic use of a flare gun in The Order: 1886
After delivering a set of solid God of War PSP titles, developer Ready At Dawn is poised to unleash its first new intellectual property on the world. Set in an alt-history Victorian London filled with half-breed humans and monsters, naturally, The Order: 1886 spins a new yarn featuring King Arthur's Knights of the Round. While the game features a standard arsenal, it was the strategic use of a weapon that fired a cloud of thermite that we found the most invigorating. Painting a target with the flammable cloud and firing a flare into the dust made for some satisfying explosions of fire, raining terror onto Sir Galahad's enemies. Originally scheduled to arrive this fall, The Order: 1886 is now expected to launch for the PlayStation 4 sometime in 2015.
Sony to stream The Order: 1886 gameplay at 4pm ET
Sony will livestream PS4 gameplay for The Order: 1886 on its Twitch channel today. The console manufacturer teased a "sneak peek at new gameplay from an upcoming PS4 title" today via PlayStation Blog, sporting an image with The Order's logo. Unless this is one elaborate bait-and-switch, the game will broadcast at 4:00 p.m. Eastern (1:00 p.m. Pacific) this afternoon. The PS4-exclusive game was announced at E3 last year in June, and comes from God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta developer Ready at Dawn. The Order: 1886 blends horror and historical fiction by placing players in the role of Knights of the Round Table, who must battle human "half-breeds" that exist thanks to a twist in human evolution. [Image: Ready at Dawn]
The Order: 1886 dev video shows knights of the revolving chamber
The Order: 1886 may take place in Victorian-era London, but as developer Ready at Dawn reveals in this behind-the-scenes video, its in-game history traces back to the age of King Arthur. The characters in The Order wield lightning-rifles instead of broadswords, but hey, times change. [Image: Sony]
Sony shares more gameplay from PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886
If this quick gameplay clip from The Order: 1886 proves anything, beyond the moody visuals, it's that even alternate history, Victorian-era London can be home to quick time events and cover shooter mechanics. [Image: Sony]
God of War studio Sony Santa Monica hit with layoffs
Sony Santa Monica, the studio best known for its work on the God of War series, has suffered layoffs today. Sony representatives confirmed the dismissals with IGN, citing "resource re-alignment against priority growth areas" within Sony Worldwide Studios as the cause. The statement reads: "SCEA can confirm that we have completed a reduction in workforce at Santa Monica Studio. This is a result of a cycle of resource re-alignment against priority growth areas within SCE WWS. We do not take these decisions lightly. However, sometimes it is necessary to make changes to better serve the future projects of the studio. We have offered outplacement services and severance packages to ease transition for those impacted." Sony Santa Monica most recently shipped God of War: Ascension. Currently, the studios is working on three collaborations due to launch this year: Hohokum with Honeyslug; The Order: 1886 with Ready at Dawn; and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture with The Chinese Room. It's currently unclear how these layoffs will affect ongoing projects, so we've contacted Sony for clarification. We wish the best of luck to those affected. [Image: Wikimedia Commons]
PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886 unveils new trailer, gameplay video
We've not seen much of Ready at Dawn's PS4 exclusive The Order: 1886 since it was announced at last year's E3, at least not until today with Sony releasing videos showcasing its gameplay for the first time. The third-person shooter, set in a so-dubbed "Neo-Victorian" London, maintains its wide filmic aspect ratio between cut scenes and gameplay, and Ready at Dawn Co-Founder Ru Weerasuriya says there's "no disconnect" in transitioing between the two elements. Check out the gameplay footage below the break, courtesy of PlayStation Access. According to PS Europe's hub page, The Order: 1886 is slated to arrive on PS4 sometime this year, although it remains without a neo-concrete release date or window. [Image: Sony]
The Order: 1886 mixes horror with the Knights of the Round Table
New storyline details have emerged for Ready At Dawn's next-gen debut, The Order: 1886, that outline the game's blend of horror and historical fiction. The Order: 1886 puts players into the formfitting armored boots of one of the Knights of the Round Table, King Arthur's legendary 5th century order, according to the latest issue of GameInformer. In Ready At Dawn's fiction, human evolution has splintered and "half-breeds" have threatened the world's pure population. Thanks to the industrial revolution, The Order is finally equipped to put an end to the long-standing war between humans and half-breeds and the group sets out on a quest to put a stop to the half-breed's tyranny. "The game itself is a mix of all these moments that basically take you on a ride of adventure, suspense and horror," The Order: 1886 Creative Director Ru Weerasuriya said in a video interview with GameInformer. The third-person action-shooter is in development for the PlayStation 4 and, despite the developer's moniker, no release date has been solidified.
The Order: 1886 is not steampunk, Ready at Dawn boss says
The Order: 1886 debuted in a trailer at E3, showing three people in elaborate military formals, riding in a plush carriage through London's Victorian era. Dirigible-inspired hovercrafts float around Big Ben as the carriage rolls into Whitechapel, a dank, industrial part of town, and the trio carry heavy-duty weapons engraved with fleurs-de-lis. When they're attacked by a group of bipedal beasts, one passenger pulls out a gun that shoots lightning. These details caused us, and most other viewers, to casually label the game as "steampunk." The Order is not steampunk, Ready at Dawn co-founder Ru Weerasuriya told me during Gamescom. "It's a word that we don't use – it's the 's' word," Weerasuriya said. "We don't use that word purely because I think there's a connotation of 'steampunk' that's already been built into a lot of things out there – movies, anime, all that. That is not exactly the one we try to endear to. I think our world is a lot darker, grittier, dirtier and more real." If "steampunk" is the "s" word, then "fantasy" is the "f" word – Ready at Dawn isn't interested in creating an exaggerated, fantastical world full of things that could never exist. Weerasuriya wants The Order to challenge the validity of our real history, proposing an alternate timeline of events in Europe, specifically London, directly after the Industrial Revolution. "What if everything you know today and the events that happened did happen, but they didn't happen for the reason that you believe?" he asked. "What could be different in the way that we view our world? It's full of mystery and it's fun to see where those mysteries lie."
The Order: 1886 announced as PS4 exclusive [Update: Now with trailer!]
Sony just unveiled The Order: 1886 as a PS4 exclusive. The game was showcased in a brief debut trailer which was set in a Victorian yet futuristic-seeming London, complete with zeppelins, monorail, and an array of advanced-looking steampunk weaponry. The Order: 1886 is being developed by God of War: Chains of Olympus and Ghost of Sparta developer Ready at Dawn.
