History VideoGame / TheOrder1886

''The Order: 1886'' is a third-person shooter developed by Creator/ReadyAtDawnStudios (best known for the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' prequels) and published by Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment. It was released for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4 in February 2015.

* ImposterForgotOneDetail: The Rebels dressed up as United East Indie Company guards to infiltrate the blimp to assassinate Lord Hasting. They used grey jackets, which Greyson can pinpoint due to the lack of the Company's emblem.

* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The developers expressed doing this in order to evoke a "cinematic" experience, they included film grain, LensFlare, a [[RealIsBrown desaturated palette]], [[MotionBlur motion blur]], and [[RackFocus depth-of-field blur]], and honest to goodness LetterBox bars. Most of these effects also significantly reduce the processing power required to render the game.

The Order: 1886 is a third-person shooter developed by Creator/ReadyAtDawnStudios (best known for the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' prequels) and Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment's Santa Monica Studio (known for the main-series ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' games) for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and was released in February 2015.

!!This game provides examples of the following:

* AbortedArc: '''Yes.''' The game abruptly ends at the beginning of the third act, leaving almost every major plot thread unresolved. Even the main plot- trying to stop [[spoiler:Lord Hastings from shipping vampires all over the world]]- is completely abandoned without a single hint that the main villain will be foiled or brought to justice. Sequels and DLC were planned to tie up the open plot threads, but none have materialized or entered development.

* CasualDangerDialogue: All of the four main characters do this, but Galahad and Isi are especially big fans.
* ChekhovsGag: The brothel you and Lafayette go through when you first enter Whitechapel appears to be there for a few laughs regarding Lafayette's womanizing. [[spoiler:In actuality, it's a rebel headquarters, and you'll be visiting it again several times during the course of the game]].
** also applies [[spoiler:when you find a leaflet for the brothel in the famously asexual Tesla’s study. Guess who’s allies with the rebels?]]
* CutsceneBoss: Several of the boss fights in the game (including the fight against the [[spoiler:first Elder Lycan]] and [[spoiler:Alastair/Lucan at the end]]) are comprised of quick-time event sequences punctuated by unavoidable attacks.
** These boss fights are actually an UnexpectedGameplayChange into an over-the-shoulder one-on-one duel similar to the ones in ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryIII'', except each attack, dodge, or counter-attack triggers a relatively lengthy mini-cutscene. The fact that this duel mechanic is used only for these two bosses have led to (inaccurate) accusations that the final boss fight is just a re-skin of the first boss fight, and that both are the same QTE.

* NoFlowInCGI: '''Averted'''. The ''entire'' game world is rendered with soft body physics, (i.e. "ragdoll physics") so things can move and flow quite nicely.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: [[spoiler:They do appear to be killed by conventional means like burning or impaling them through the heart, though it is unknown if they can be weakened or killed by garlic, holy water, crosses or sunlight. Lord Hastings appears to be able to walk in the sunlight just fine (Though it may be because he might be an Elder[=/=]Pureblood), but it is unknown if he is weakened during the daylight hours.]]
* PersecutionFlip: A minor one. Galahad can recover a phonograph cylinder from the warehouse in Chapter 9 which contains the diary of an aid to Sir Stanley, who is touring America in an airship. The aid notes that the "savages" of America have become more civilized, by which he explicitly does not mean the Native Americans, but rather the "guntoting, trigger-happy" cowboys of the Wild West.

* PuttingOnTheReich:
** The rebels that we see seem to invoke a mixture of Bolshevik, Nazi, and Jacobin influences, in particular given their heavy use of the colors red and black. Particularly those red armbands.
** ANaziByAnyOtherName: Ironically, it's the player characters who feel like this, what with their agenda to exterminate a different race of humanity out of fear of being overrun, and their lack of hesitation in KillThePoor. Not that they're corrupt, but they drink a thick black fluid that looks and acts like corruption itself, "for the good of mankind... and personal survival".

** In one of the houses in the initial raid on Whitechapel one can find a little sewn doll of Sackboy from [[VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet Little Big Planet]].

* SteamPunk: PlayedWith. It's part of the aesthetic of the game, yet they clearly use electronics. The trailer depicts a radio, and a ''railgun''!
** It's playing with RealityIsUnrealistic in that regard: Electromagnetism was discovered in 1873, so either the developments regarding radio occurred sooner than it did in our world (Hertz began formulating his theories in 1886), or Maxwell made the original discovery earlier.

* AlternateHistory: Quite a bit is different in this version of 1886. To start off with, King Arthur and Camelot existed in real life. Technology is far more advanced, humanity has been at war with the half-breeds for over one thousand years, and Arthur's Knights of the Round Table have expanded into the present day as soldiers fighting the lycan threat. Also a rather minor one is that going by the mention of a "Royal Army" that the English Civil Wars never happened (the reason there is no Royal Army presently for Britain is because the British Army is at the behest of Parliament, not the British monarch). There's also now the ''United'' India Company, rather than the East Indian Company that happened in the original timeline.

** also applies [[spoiler:when you find a leaflet for the brothel in th famously asexual Tesla’s study. Guess who’s allies with the rebels?]]

* KangarooCourt: The trial against [[spoiler:Galahad]]. Altough a bit less straightforward example than usual, with the prosecution being split between intentionally false accusation, half-truths and several cases of honest mistake in various degrees of understandability. It's also up for discussion whether the accused is not allowed to defend or was simply too dumbstruck to do so.

* SadisticChoice: None for the player, but [[spoiler:Galahad is presented one in the end - either to cut all ties to the order he's sworn loyalty to and the woman he loves and vanish, or let them all learn the truth and ruin them both in the process.]]

* KudzuPlot: Many of the background element sublots are [[SequelHook left unresolved]], [[LongList namely]] the mysterious hooded man seen talking to Sir Perceval [[spoiler:who ended up rescuing Galahad after his escape from Westminster]], Igraine's [[InspectorJavert hunt]] for the Rebellion, and, most obviously, [[spoiler:Lord Hastings']] KarmaHoudini act and disappearance from the storyline right before the finale.

* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler:Alastair]] attempts to justify his actions to Galahad in this way during the conversation before the final fight, even throwing in a NotSoDifferent for good measure.

* ActionGirl / LadyOfWar: Multiple. Isabeau, a.k.a. "Lady Igraine", being the first obvious choice. Lakshmi as the [[spoiler:leader of the Rebellion]] also qualifies, as does her [[spoiler:second-in-command]] Devi.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper killings occurred in London in 1888, a full two years after the events of the game, despite the fact that they are occurring presently in the game. Given the fact that the game is planted firmly in AlternateHistory, and that Jack himself turns out to be [[spoiler:Lord Hastings, who is also an elder vampire]], it's a JustifiedTrope.

* BadassLongcoat: Galahad and Lady Igraine.

* BilingualBonus: The motto woven into the patch on Galahad's shoulder as part of his coat of arms reads ''"Post Tenebras Veritas,"'' which translates roughly "through darkness, one finds truth." [[FridgeBrilliance Which pretty much sums up the general plot]]. [[spoiler:Nobody said finding the truth equals a good thing though.]]

The Order: 1886 is a third-person shooter developed by Ready At Dawn (best known for the ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' prequels) and Creator/SonyComputerEntertainment's Santa Monica Studio (known for the main-series ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' games) for the UsefulNotes/PlayStation4, and was released in February 2015.

* AlternateHistory: Quite a bit is different in this version of 1886. Technology is far more advanced, humanity has been at war with the half-breeds for over one thousand years, and Arthur's Knights of the Round Table have expanded into the present day as soldiers fighting the lycan threat. Also a rather minor one is that going by the mention of a "Royal Army" that the English Civil Wars never happened (the reason there is no Royal Army presently for Britain is because the British Army is at the behest of Parliament, not the British monarch). There's also now the ''United'' India Company, rather than the East Indian Company that happened in the original timeline.

* AlternateHistory: Quite a bit is different in this version of 1886. Technology is far more advanced, humanity has been at war with the half-breeds for over one thousand years, and Arthur's Knights of the Round Table have expanded into the present day as soldiers fighting the lycan threat. Also a rather minor one is that going by the mention of a "Royal Army" that the English Civil Wars never happened (the reason there is no Royal Army presently for Britain is because the British Army is at the behest of Parliament, not the British monarch).

* MonsterProgenerator: The Half-Breeds are turned monsters, while "Purebloods" are more powerful monsters who were born that way in ancient times and responsible for the creation of the Half-Breeds. By the time the game takes place the Purebloods are thought to be almost extinct. [[spoiler: However, it turns out they've actually infiltrated the highest levels of the British government under the guise of the United India Company.]]

* TheAgeless: It is made explicitly clear while the Blackwater might grant the ability to extend one's life and heal from even the most lethal of damage it does not make them immortal.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: The UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper killings occurred in London in 1888, a full two years after the events of the game, despite the fact that they are occurring presently in the game. Given the fact that the game is planted firmly in AlternateHistory, and that Jack himself turns out to be [[spoiler:Lord Hastings, who is also a vampire half-breed]], it's a JustifiedTrope.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The "science weapons" Tesla turns out tend to have drawbacks that match their power; the Thermite Rifle is effectively useless without its ammo-chewing alternate fire mode, and the Arc Gun needs to be charged for a few seconds to be fully effective.

* CutsceneBoss: Several of the boss fights in the game (including the fight against the [[spoiler:first Lycan]] and [[spoiler:Alastair/Lucan at the end]]) are comprised of quick-time event sequences punctuated by unavoidable attacks.

* DevelopersForesight: Rebels will comment if you hide or even retreat.

* FireBreathingWeapon: The Thermite Rifle, of course.

* HandCannon: Percival receives one early on. You can use it in game; it'll kill pretty much anything, but ammo is absurdly scarce.

* HeavilyArmoredMook: Shotgun soldiers wear metal armor that lets them soak up an impressive number of shots, and their main tactic is to stroll up and blast you in the face with their shotgun. It seems you're supposed to keep them at bay with suppressive fire or grenades.

* LightningGun: One of the weapons that can be wielded.
* MaleFrontalNudity: You stumble upon a man having relations with a prostitute in a sex scene when you visit the whorehouse early in the game.

* TheMole: It's hinted that there's one within the Order. As it happens, the Order is really bad at internal security, because [[spoiler:it turns out that there are at least 2 for 2 entirely separate factions. Alastair D'Argyll is secretly in league with the Half-Breeds (and is a Half-Breed himself), while Tesla is secretly in league with the Rebels, who are against both the Order and the Half-Breeds. Meanwhile, the leader of the Order is deliberately turning a blind eye to Lucan's shenanigans in the name of maintaining societal stability, and also because Lucan is his adopted son]].

* OlderThanTheyLook: Thanks to Blackwater, the Knights of the Order live to see centuries, with the possibility of Lord Chancellor being over a millennium old, should the in-universe tall tales about his deeds be believed.

* OurVampiresAreDifferent: [[spoiler:They do appear to be killed by conventional means like burning or impaling them through the heart, though it is unknown if they can be weakened or killed by garlic, holy water, crosses or sunlight. Lord Hastings appears to be able to walk in the sunlight just fine (Though it may be because he might be a Master Vampire), but it is unknown if he is weakened during the daylight hours.]]

* PostProcessingVideoEffects: The developers expressed doing this in order to evoke a "cinematic" experience, they included film grain, LensFlare, a [[RealIsBrown desaturated palette]], [[MotionBlur motion blur]], and [[RackFocus depth-of-field blur]], and honest to goodness LetterBox bars.

* CannotSpitItOut: Refreshingly averted. Despite the theme of suppressed feelings still being present, both of the pair are quite obviously aware of the other's affections and just take things as they are.

* AnOfficerAndAGentleman: All of the Order's knights are expected to be upmost examples of chivalry and gentlemanly behavior, even if they're [[ActionGirl not gentlemen]].

** These boss fights are actually an UnexpectedGameplayChange into an over-the-shoulder one-on-one duel similar to the ones in ''QuestForGloryIII'', except each attack, dodge, or counter-attack triggers a relatively lengthy mini-cutscene. The fact that this duel mechanic is used only for these two bosses have led to (inaccurate) accusations that the final boss fight is just a re-skin of the first boss fight, and that both are the same QTE.

* HistoricalInJoke: Even when he's playing lab rat to the Order, Nikola Tesla does ''not'' get along with Thomas Edison.

** [[spoiler: The leader of the rebellion is [[http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rani_Lakshmibai Lakshmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi]]]]

** One of your squad members is the Marquis de Lafayette (yes, [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution that]] [[FrenchRevolution one]]). He's the ''youngest'' of the Order's current membership.

** One of your squad members is the Marquis de Lafayette (yes, [[AmericanRevolution that]] [[FrenchRevolution one]]). He's the ''youngest'' of the Order's current membership.