The other day, I tuned into my favorite gaming website, N4G, to see what could be known about the Order: 1886. There were the typical clickbait articles containing classic clickbait terminology: "graphics downgrade," "game is too short," "repetitive," and "generic." What, do these guys buy the same dictionary: "How to write clickbait, a primer?" It was then that I had an epiphany of sorts.
I prebought the game this week because I saw all the hate it is getting.
It seems that every time a new IP or game comes out for the Sony system, it garners incredible amounts of hate: Killzone: SF, Infamous: SS, (and the claims of graphics downgrades!!!!!) Dragon Age Inquisition. Since I bought everyone of those games and had an absolute blast, I am now basing my decisions to buy games on how much hate it gets. It appears that the more hate the game gets, is a direct correlation to how much fun I have playing it.
I've put in 9 days 10 hours on Destiny alone. Sure, that'll get me some disagrees in and of itself, but obviously, I'm enjoying the game.
Recently, I finished (quite enjoyably) AC Unity.
With that, I give you a review of the Order: 1886.
What to expect:
The game is a cinematic 3rd person cover shooter. It has elements of stealth as well as enemies that don't just stand out in the open for you to shoot them. Expect quick time events (QTEs) that seamlessly jump between cinematics and gameplay. Cut scenes keep the narrative fast paced and gripping, something that just can't be done in an open world FPS. It is set in an alternate Steampunk Victorian London. It is quite possibly one of the better Steampunk stories I have experienced.
The main character is Galahad, a Knight of the Round. His Order has been fighting the Lycans for years. His compatriots are varied and enjoyable counterparts.
Graphics
Impressive Coding. Right off the bat, and through the entire game it is obvious that this thing went through extensive alpha testing. The textures are solid, draw distances are perfect. There are no graphical hiccups, no stutters, no screen tearing. The characters are anything but generic. If I were to make a complaint here it would be the lack of non white characters. There are no gamebreaking bugs that I have encountered. Which makes me wonder about those review scores that place this below a BF4 or AC: Unity. I honestly don't believe anyone knocks this game for the graphics as they are stunning.
The set pieces are works of art. Every hallway, every room, every store front, every street appears to have been meticulously planned out. There are no generic graphics that are repeated over and over.
Sound
Sound effects are appropriate and match the weapons and the movements of the characters well. Ready at Dawn released the soundtrack and I can see why people would buy it. This soundtrack is definitely well done. The voice acting is spot on. The actors sound like they live in this awesome alternative history world. They believe what they are saying and not just phoning it in. Weapons sound as they should, even as fantastical as they are.
Gameplay
If you want to run and gun, do drop shots and quick scopes, you are going to be sorely disappointed. This game doesn't offer that. Instead, it forces you to *gasp!* actually take aim before firing. You won't be able to grenade spam either. The controls are easy to learn and intuitive. I was able to understand them within minutes of picking up the controller. Aiming is similar to most 3rd person shooters. I am not sure how you can change this to make it not feel like other 3rd person shooters or why you would need to.
Getting into cover and doing stealth feel organic and part of the game. It feels natural and the animations reveal that Galahad is an old pro at this. There are instances of parkour and they also feel genuine. There are no superhuman feats of daring, just simple jumps and grabs that make things exciting enough.
The Order also gives us a reason for why our character can heal himself in the middle of combat. It isn't just a "patch" that miraculously heels that bullet to the chest, but an actual tonic that is established as part of the mythology of the game and thus makes it far more "realistic" than your modern shooter where you can heal a severed limb by gauze. Sure, in the Order, you can heal by waiting, but it has more to do with this Blackwater tonic than anything else.
Fun Factor
I would definitely say this is a fun game. The story is an original take on werewolf hunting. It is perplexing to see people claim that they didn't enjoy this experience. Exploring feels like the Uncharted games, of which I am a huge fan. The levels are big enough to feel that you are part of a bigger city. But if you are looking for a GTA, Fallout, Skyrim open world experience, this is not it.
Conclusion:
This game has cut scenes and quick time events. That detracts from a game's score for some jaded people. For me, it enhances the experience. Not everything has to be run and gun, use enough fire power to blow up a continent, and kill enough people to populate a large country.
The low scores match games that are broken, are unplayable messes, and, in some cases, can't be completed. But when I see some sites rate this game the same as Wreck it Ralph (the video game) or some other game that should never have been published then it is obvious what those authors are trying to do. Those reviews reveal themselves as pure, unadulterated clickbait. I am not talking about the mid range review scores. I am talking about the ones that fall far below a 50.
And, as I stated before. The more a game is hated by in the media, the more vitriol that is aimed at it, I find that my experience is the complete opposite. Maybe because I understand what the consoles (and PC) are capable of and what they aren't. Maybe because I like unique experiences and enjoyable characters and storyline. Maybe it's because I am not some jaded person who hates this awesome hobby.
The Order: 1886 is a promise to the new generation of gaming. Here's to Gaming's New Golden Age, begun but a scant year ago, and already strong and gaining steam.
The sequel to Ready At Dawn's third-person action adventure game, The Order: 1886, was set to focus heavily on gameplay improvements.
I wish they were able to make the order 1886 sequel because I know the game would have been amazing like the first game but a lot better
Currently playing through this for the first time. Really enjoying it, it’s staggering to think this was a pretty early PS4 game. It’s on par or even better than some PS5 games
That's all it really needed because the setting, the acting, the story was consistent, it was great. There was never a moment in the game where it seemed something was out of place. Way too many studios shut down and games failing due to bs reviews, and of course everyone has to jump in on the hate wagon. They should've stayed indie, FB was goin to ruin em and they did. Can't believe SONY tossed them aside as if they hadn't brought out bangers during the PSP era smh.
Digital Foundry : Released in February 2015, The Order: 1886 was a stunning PlayStation 4 game at the cutting-edge of rendering technology, with visuals that still hold up today. The game's release pre-dated in-depth Digital Foundry coverage, something we're looking to address with this new video! Ready at Dawn's game never received a sequel and never received a PS4 Pro upgrade, but thanks to developments with exploited, older firmware PS5 consoles, we can now show you the game running locked at 60 frames per second.
And let's not forget,
Ready At Dawn showcased The Order 1886 running on PC at 60fps at SIGGRAPH 2015
https://www.dsogaming.com/n...
I still stand by my theory that this game just released at the wrong time. Almost every outlet spent a lot of time in their reviews ragging on the game for not being an online experience, everyone was in the Destiny hype train and at the time they wanted EVERY game to follow suit, bashing any game that didn't. If this were released after everyone realized how much that wasn't future, people would've appreciated it more. I loved it, and I'm always disappointed that we'll never get a sequel
People cried this game was too short. No people are crying because games are too long.
Ready At Dawn cut their teeth developing spin-offs for PlayStation Portable and porting games to consoles. When they got a chance to establish their own with The Order: 1886, its poor critical reception ostensibly halted their trajectory. Can one middling game really sully one’s reputation in the eyes of Sony?
Wanted a sequel for this game so much. It was left wide open for one with the ending it had.
Incredible graphics and presentation. Great use of photo mode. A really interesting premise. The actual gunplay felt solid. The game just needed to be longer, and the levels could have been a bit less constrained. More enemy variety as well. At full price it just didn't have the value, at least in my opinion.
I would like to see a sequel or reboot, which I think is more likely. It would need to be a new dev as Ready at Dawn are part of Oculus now
This is one of my favorite reviews! You gave specifics that i was wondering about. You didnt spoil any parts of the game but gave a thorough review. Again, although your opinion (thats what reviews are), I can appreciate the game more. Still may wait till I can find it used. AGAIN you don't spoil anything at all, you completely engaged the reader and it does exactly what its supposed to inform without spoiling anything. Thanks and I look forward to reading more of your reviews. thanks
One of the few reviews i've actually enjoyed reading. Nice format and content.
I just finished The Order and I agree with the score. But this game is not for everyone. I think the order actually fits a really small audience. Most reviewers complain about the lack of freedom but imo the orders restrictions only enhances the narrative.
I always think that a game with a good narrative weights up for the lack of gameplay. I often find the narrative to be what drives me to complete the game. As an example I never could finish Far Cry 4 because the story was unoriginal and uninteresting.
I still think The Order could find a better balance between narrative and gameplay in a sequel. TLOU made that balance brilliantly.
Great review for a great game
"I prebought the game this week because I saw all the hate it is getting.
It seems that every time a new IP or game comes out for the Sony system, it garners incredible amounts of hate: Killzone: SF, Infamous: SS, (and the claims of graphics downgrades!!!!!) Dragon Age Inquisition. Since I bought everyone of those games and had an absolute blast, I am now basing my decisions to buy games on how much hate it gets. It appears that the more hate the game gets, is a direct correlation to how much fun I have playing it. "
There's no conspiracy going on here. Just those that hate seeing their choice of console and its games getting mediocre reviews. There have been plenty of games that have had what you lot like to call 'hate' that I've absolutely loved too. And there have also been games that have been hyped through the roof which I've been quite disappointed by. I still don't believe that one or the other company is paying off reviewers to see them do bad. That's just a lame excuse. Have we forgotten what TLOU/Uncharted/GOW scored?
We're all quick to pick on the reviews that rate a game poorly but what if this game had 9s and 10s across the board. Would that imply Sony bought the reviewers?
That's a fine review but please let's stop the conspiracy theories.