By now I'm sure you've heard that The Order: 1886 is herald of the PS4's doom; a testimony to the vanity and unoriginality of the video games of the eighth console generation. Well, this game is not perfect - in fact it gets a lot wrong - but it's nowhere near as bad people have been saying it is.
Let's get the obvious out of the way first: this game has extremely limited gameplay. The singleplayer campaign is the only mode present, something I would normally not take issue with if the singleplayer was long, in depth, and had high replay value (in fact I usually detest the multiplayer in games), but the campaign is uninventive in terms of gameplay. The entire game is third person, cover-based shooting a la Gears of War with occasional stealth segments and some vanilla platforming. Bland and undaring, to say the least. The game is also short, though NOT as short as you've heard it to be (if you complete this game in 5 hours you're rushing, and it took me one weekend to get through the game at a leisurely pace).
This restrictive game world and intermediate length are both disappointing, since the setting and story of The Order are really good. Actually, they're damn great. Ready at Dawn's vision of this Alternate History 1886 is a stunning cross between Steam Punk, gothic horror, and fantasy, rendered with truly marvelous graphics that are by far the best I've seen in the current console generation. The story is original and unpredictable, aided by top-notch voice acting and a surprisingly strong female presence. Again, the shame is that the game is restrictive and short, since this is a setting that deserves to be explored in detail filled with character arcs that you want to see resolved.
Ultimately, The Order: 1886 is at its core bland, functional, and basic, yet it is wrapped up in the kind of world-building we need in video games. Ready at Dawn obviously cared about their game, even if they faltered in terms of gameplay, unlike other eighth-generation, cynical cash grabs like Watch_Dogs and Destiny. I would rate this game 7/10. I bought it at full price, but no one will fault you for waiting until the price falls to, say, $18.86. I will, nevertheless, remain a defender of this flawed but well-crafted game.
VideoGame Great presentation, lackluster gameplay
By now I'm sure you've heard that The Order: 1886 is herald of the PS4's doom; a testimony to the vanity and unoriginality of the video games of the eighth console generation. Well, this game is not perfect - in fact it gets a lot wrong - but it's nowhere near as bad people have been saying it is.
Let's get the obvious out of the way first: this game has extremely limited gameplay. The singleplayer campaign is the only mode present, something I would normally not take issue with if the singleplayer was long, in depth, and had high replay value (in fact I usually detest the multiplayer in games), but the campaign is uninventive in terms of gameplay. The entire game is third person, cover-based shooting a la Gears of War with occasional stealth segments and some vanilla platforming. Bland and undaring, to say the least. The game is also short, though NOT as short as you've heard it to be (if you complete this game in 5 hours you're rushing, and it took me one weekend to get through the game at a leisurely pace).
This restrictive game world and intermediate length are both disappointing, since the setting and story of The Order are really good. Actually, they're damn great. Ready at Dawn's vision of this Alternate History 1886 is a stunning cross between Steam Punk, gothic horror, and fantasy, rendered with truly marvelous graphics that are by far the best I've seen in the current console generation. The story is original and unpredictable, aided by top-notch voice acting and a surprisingly strong female presence. Again, the shame is that the game is restrictive and short, since this is a setting that deserves to be explored in detail filled with character arcs that you want to see resolved.
Ultimately, The Order: 1886 is at its core bland, functional, and basic, yet it is wrapped up in the kind of world-building we need in video games. Ready at Dawn obviously cared about their game, even if they faltered in terms of gameplay, unlike other eighth-generation, cynical cash grabs like Watch_Dogs and Destiny. I would rate this game 7/10. I bought it at full price, but no one will fault you for waiting until the price falls to, say, $18.86. I will, nevertheless, remain a defender of this flawed but well-crafted game.