PS4 Exclusive The Order: 1886 Delayed To 2015

One of the biggest 2014 releases for the PS4 won't be arriving this year after all. Today Sony announced that they're delaying the steampunk shooter The Order: 1886.

"As we look to bring this experience to the players, we have decided to spend some extra time to deliver on the promise we made when we first introduced the game," said Ru Weerasuriya, CEO and creative director at The Order developer Ready at Dawn, on PlayStation Blog. "As such, you can expect The Order: 1886 to come exclusively to the PlayStation 4 in early 2015."

"Early 2015" is awfully vague. That could fit any day between January 1st and June 31st. Unfortunately, Weerasuriya didn't narrow down that release window any further.

The delay comes just days after Ready at Dawn showed off a new gameplay video from The Order: 1886. Some fans claimed that the game's graphics were downgraded from earlier previews - a charge that Ready at Dawn obviously denied. I'm sure some will think the delay is linked to those complaints. I doubt Sony would push back the game by several months after reading a weekend's worth of forum arguments, though.

The Order: 1886 is set in Victorian Era England. In the game's alternate history, mankind is at war with Half-Breeds. Half-Breeds are violent men with animal traits that have warred against humans for centuries. The Order is an organization of Knights that keeps mankind safe from harm.

At the outset of the game, the Half-Breeds have been beaten back with Industrial Age technology. However, now the poor of England are rebelling against the ruling classes. The gameplay video from Friday showed the Knights fighting these Rebels in the poor district of Whitechapel. Galahad, the main character, uses a Thermite Rifle to incinerate his foes.

While I did think the video had impressive graphics, I didn't see any gameplay that hooked me. The story seems to be the only thing differentiating the game from droves of other cover-based shooters out there. Is that a problem that Ready at Dawn plans to fix in the extra months of development?

Fortunately The Order: 1886 won't go into stealth mode following the delay. Ready at Dawn plans to show off the game at E3, perhaps during Sony's press conference. They also released a new behind-the-scenes video today to talk about the inspirations of the game. You can watch it below.