Lycan Combat Needs Serious Tweaking
Over the weekend the cat was let out of the bag and now it’s no secret that the lycan (werewolf) combat scenarios in The Order: 1886 are pretty dull. This isn’t for just one particular reason, but rather a bunch of factors that when combined really take the excitement out of the entire affair. What you have instead are lycans running directly at you as you fire away with whatever weapon you happen to be holding. Once they get to close all you need to do is tap x and the process repeats itself. You will pretty much only die if you drop your controller or just decide not to do anything.
The lycans are supposed to be enemies that you fear, enemies that force you to consider going the long way around because frankly dying just wasn’t part of your plans tonight. Instead you’re treated to nothing more than overgrown man puppies who pose no real threat when you get down to it. This is caused mostly by the heavily scripted nature of these rare encounters. The lycans always act the same in The Order: 1886, no matter where the fight is taking place, or what is going on around you. Adding to the problem is that you’ll never get to use the best weapons in the game during these fights.
Adding to the frustrating disappointment are the two “boss fights” in the game. Both pit you against a larger, stronger, more intelligent lycan which sounds exciting on paper. Unfortunately they are nothing more than you hitting the same button over and over while waiting for a prompt to dodge some attack. That is all. No real strategy, no sneaking around, no moving in fear hoping not attract the hulking beasts attention. Oh, did we mention that both of these fights take place with only a knife? Not that it matters since even if you managed to have a gun, the scripted nature wouldn’t change anything.
Whenever Ready At Dawn decides to get to work on the followup to The Order: 1886 they need to really consider treating the lycan enemies in the manner they approached their human counterparts. They need intelligence, and a sense of pressure as you fight them caused by knowing that one wrong move will cost you your life. Perhaps adding an actual melee system, or using the stealth and shooting mechanics afforded to you throughout the rest of the game will add a new dynamic to how people approach lycans. Using them only as a set-piece, a rather dull one at that, robs The Order: 1886 of its true potential.
