[HTML1]

When we played The Order: 1886 back at E3 2014, we were very impressed by what Sony Santa Monica had on display. Up until that point, The Order was seen as a mostly macabre, atmospheric title, whose splashes of combat were never entirely clear. But after playing the game, it became much easier to see that The Order is, at its heart, a third person shooter, albeit with a very creepy atmosphere.

To that end, Sony has released a new teaser trailer for The Order: 1886 that is completely devoid of gameplay. In fact, the footage doesn’t even feature any of the game’s main protagonists – members of the Knights of the Round Table who, by taking a special serum, have lived far beyond their years.

Rather, this new trailer tells the story of little Bobby Paige, a young boy living in the 19th century who comes into contact with a creature of some sort. That creature eventually bites Bobby and in turn transforms him into a monster. The trailer doesn’t outright say it, but past footage of The Order tells us that this monster is a werewolf, or some variation on a werewolf.

Ultimately, the trailer is nothing more than a quick tease, but it does well to set a creepy tone. Moreover, its use of old-timey cinema presentation evokes the time period in which The Order is set.

The Order Bobby Paige Trailer

So far it’s been hard to get a solid bead on The Order in terms of what type of feel and tone the game is going for. Some trailers have made the game seem more survival horror while others, like the blimp sequence featured at The Game Awards, are very action heavy.

It’s worth pointing out these two different approaches if only because our concerns about The Order stem mostly from its third person shooting. Visually the game is gorgeous and its narrative and world are such that we only want to know more. But the gameplay hasn’t done much to inspire confidence, primarily because the encounters seem so linear. Almost every section that we have seen has been fairly straightforward for a third person shooter and although the weapons in The Order seem inventive, they weren’t creative enough to override the lack of gameplay variety.

Obviously that can all change, and again these trailers really do have us interested to see more of the world. We just hope that the gameplay can live up to all the other intriguing elements.

What do you think of The Order’s creepy teaser trailer? Does the game strike you as more horror or action oriented?

The Order: 1886 releases February 20, 2015 exclusively for PS4.