The Order: 1886 – Round Table gaming's all right on the knight

Tactical manoeuvres

I enjoyed fiddling with the steampunk weapons and gadgets, such as the Tesla Arch Rifle – which is useful when I am firing behind cover – and the ingenious lockpick, which uses vibrations to break open locks.

Were would you be without a Stamford Lockpick?

The Order: 1886 is stunning and surely the best-looking game that I've seen on the PlayStation 4. Well done! Ready at Dawn, Fellini would be proud of your cinematic devices, the grainy imperfections and constantly changing depth of field make the visuals truly immersive (and almost make you feel like you're playing on your PC).

Familiar real world locales such as the London Underground, the Palace of Westminster, Big Ben, Mayfair and Whitechapel are all given a sinister makeover. The character models are suitably impressive, every whisker and eyelash is brought to life with an unnerving level of precision, as is the lip-syncing and voice acting, which sports a breathtaking attention to detail.

"Bloody coffee machine's on the blink again"

The Order: 1886's gameplay mechanics depend heavily on cutscenes and quick time events (QTEs). When mixed with combat, I found these surprisingly enjoyable and exciting. This may be controversial, but I wish more games had them, as it stops me zoning out. For example, early on, while picking my nose, I missed a QTE cue and some arsehole cockney redcoat snatched my gun.

The combat mechanics should be familiar to everyone, as it’s a basic system of moving behind cover and aiming or blind firing. There’s not much stealth involved and it really had more to do with the narrative than gameplay mechanics but allowed me to pull a Wolfenstein – plunging a dagger into people’s heads.

Sticking it to the man... er, Lycan

The combat, when fighting the rebels and the Half-Breeds, is very different as there’s no hiding behind cover when fighting agile dog soldiers. You need to take them out on the move and dodge when they get too close, then move in for a lethal execution.

One of the disappointing aspects of the gameplay was that I was constantly in a team of two or four but there was no combat or tactical control over the team. Are they just narrative characters or actually participating during combat? I wasn’t sure. It would have been more fulfilling and immersive to feel more of an interactive team.

"Looks like she's just getting out of the bath now..."

One of the more memorable combat experiences was calling in an air support dirigible to drop sonar bombs – scaring off the werebeasts – so I can run into a dilapidated hospital in Whitechapel. Having dropped my gun, I have to fend for myself using only a blade and whilst pushed against the wall, I see Isobel get her back snapped.