Tash’s E3 Interview: The Order 1886
Hello folks, it’s me, once again braving the insanity of E3 to bring you the stories you want to read. This time, it’s a lovely chat I had with Nathalia Chuben, Senior Brand Manager at SCEE for The Order 1886. We talked about Lycans, the importance of lighting, and whether or not trenchcoats improve gameplay. Read on for the interview.
Tash: So we’re talking The Order 1886. For people who have never seen the game before, and they’re looking at it, and they’re thinking “Should I pick it up?” How would you sell it to them?
Nathalia: So, the cool thing about The Order is that the first time we started doing consumer testing on it, we showed them the main sort of building blocks of what it’s all about. I think the thing that people felt the most excited about was that you get to play in this alternate history, this really distinctive universe. It’s set in London, but you can sort of see that it’s a London gone wrong. There’s airships, and there’s alternative weaponry that they use, and there’s characters from history like Tesla, they’re quite big parts of the game that create a really distinctive universe. It’s not just your run around third person shooter. It’s got a lot of character to it. And I think the Order as well, people were quite intrigued as to who they were, what were they about, and what was their role in this alternate history. I think that’s the main draw of the game.
Tash: Is it a steampunk themed type game, or how would you describe it?
Nathalia: We don’t quite call it steampunk, but a lot of people alluded to it. It’s its own universe, really. I think when Ru came up with a vision for the game, he had a very strong idea of what the universe looked like and held. And it’s sort of this evolution that went wrong, and part of this E3 for us is showing more of the Lycan enemy. This part werewolf, part human, subspecies of man that has evolved in a certain direction. That’s what we really wanted to put in front of consumers this time. How that world has created this sort of confusion and disarray. That’s what we’re hoping people pick up on.
Tash: So obviously with the type of game The Order is, you’re going to have a lot of dark areas, with dark colors. But I noticed with the demo that you’re showing off at the moment, you’ve got the thermals, so you’ve got the very bright colors going on as well. Can players expect to see a variety of locations when they actually end up playing the game?
Nathalia: Yeah, we’re really excited about it, actually. The lighting has been such a huge part of it. The cinematics, and the commitment to making it very much like a movie. The particles you can see in the air, and the way different parts of it are lit are gonna play a huge part in creating that kind of atmosphere. Obviously this is only one section, the first playable section you see, but there’s quite a lot of other bits to the game that do look and feel quite different, and there’s still that sort of mysterious atmosphere, dark and brooding. Especially when it’s that White Chapel East London dirty , grimy atmosphere. There are little bits that feel different, but it’s all part of the same murky world that we’re trying to portray.
Tash: Will you be getting to play as different characters?
Nathalia: No, just Galahad.
Tash: So it’s all about how he interacts with the rest of The Order, I suppose?
Nathalia: What we tried to allude to in the trailer that you may have seen at this E3, is that you get to meet a lot more of Galahad, and you get to see his struggle with the Lycan, and you can see his loyalty to The Order, and how he acts that out. But there’s a lot more to come about him, himself, the way he deals with the other members of The Order, the way that his loyalty to The Order and to his cause, gets called into question very much, which we’ll be exploring later on in the year at Gamescom. I think the story, when you play through it, as we reveal more and more, you’ll see more of why it has to be Galahad as the main character.
Tash: So how many hours are we talking through single player?
Nathalia: We haven’t really spoken much about the hours yet, but we’ll hopefully be sharing more once we get closer to the end of the year.
Tash: And what’s the release date?
Nathalia: 20th of February, 2015. Global release date.
Tash: That’s good for us Australians. One final question. Is the gameplay improved if you wear a trenchcoat when you’re playing it?
Nathalia: Isn’t every game improved when you wear a trenchcoat?
Tash: And sunglasses, I suppose. Alright, well thank you very much.
A big thanks to Nathalia Chuben from SCEE for spending some time with me today, and to Joe for once again transcribing.