The Order 1886 is one of 2015’s biggest video game releases. It is exclusively for Playstation 4 and is developed by Ready at Dawn and Sony Santa Monica. The game is set in an alternate history of London, England and revolves around a group of knights who keep the city safe from half-breed monsters. You play as Sir Galahad, who is a likable and fairly interesting lead character. The story is mostly engaging with a solid group of characters and a wonderful setting. With The Order 1886, for every pro there is almost always a con, unfortunately. The voice acting is exceptional, but the pacing is horrendous. The weapons are awesome, but the enemies are uninspired. This trend sticks out as you play through, but it’s in the back of your mind. The important thing is the fact the game is simply enjoyable to play. I kept wanting more after a few 1-hour play sessions. I am not the type to play hours at a time, so this is how I played the game. The characters, weapons and setting are what kept me going. While the premise seems to offer lots of action, this just isn’t the case. We get lots of cut scenes, which are well-acted and great, but they pop in and out too often. That is where the horrendous pacing I mentioned earlier comes in. These transitions should have been much more seamless.
The gameplay in The Order 1886 is a mixed bag. While it’s nice to just gawk at the stunning graphics (which we will get to later), a game has to be fun, engaging and entertaining to be great. While The Order is fun, it isn’t something that you will be playing over and over again. The game is a mere 7 hours long for crying out loud. It’s a sprint, not a marathon. The gameplay consists mostly of walking in small corridors, button-mashing, quicktime events, shooting galleries and cutscenes. This is a very linear game that lets you look but not touch. The items you do touch are well-realized and interesting, but you can’t really do anything with them. I do like the newspapers scattered around that offer some leisure reading as you progress. The gunplay is above average, but nothing to write home about. It is not as satisfying as you might think shooting your enemies, at least not with standard guns. The more unique weapons are where the fun comes in. They are one of the best parts of the game. The enemies are about as average as it gets, with only the half-breeds being remotely interesting or imposing. Even so, when you fight them, it’s a quicktime battle. This leaves much to be desired on the combat side of things. The other enemies range from generic rebels to a couple insanely resilient shotgun wielders. Get ready for some frustrating deaths at the hands of those guys, the most terrifying thing in the game. Yes, more so than the half-breeds. I must also note that enemies have poor A.I. as they will mimic patterns over and over. This takes a lot of fun out of the gameplay.
Okay, let’s talk about the game’s primary strength, the graphics. This is the best looking game to date, on any console. The Order is brimming with visual splendor. From dark, grimy alleyways and corridors to the wonderfully beautiful time pieces you come across. The setting only helps the game’s visual case. It is a unique take on London in an intriguing time period in history. From the old wood stoves and shops in the street to the tall, gorgeous historic buildings, it is a remarkable graphical feat. the characters and their costumes are all well-realized and incredibly lifelike. Facial animations are especially impressive. With an excellent voice cast, everyone truly comes to life. The lighting and water effects are incredible, along with things such as fire, stone and wood. You have to see it to really appreciate it. The music and sound design are also major pluses for the game. It all culminates for a unique audiovisual experience.
If you want a cinematic, story-driven game with cool characters and an authentic, unique setting, you should definitely play The Order 1886. Even if you aren’t a fan of these types of games, I think you should still play the game once. After all, it will only take you a few hours. This was a very difficult game to review, because I was going back and forth between the gameplay, length and pros and cons. It is definitely one of those titles that will be hit or miss for gamers. It shoots itself in the foot, since it doesn’t give the player much freedom when it comes to gameplay or exploration. If you give us this beautiful and amazing-looking city we are going to want to explore and discover it! Overall, The Order 1886 is downright gorgeous, has a really cool setting and a solid story and characters. But it also has generic enemies, linear gameplay, a confining environment, divisive quicktime events and horrible pacing issues.