The Order: 1886 Reviews
Most of the time, The Order barely allows you to play in any meaningful sense. The parts where you aren't killing indiscriminately amount to little more than pushing a button to move on to the next charnel obstacle course. And while this doesn't make it any worse than hundreds of other similar shooters, it's particularly disappointing here, because The Order has the potential to be something more.
The issue of cost is an awkward one. £40 to one person might be a huge deal, to another it could just be another drop in the ocean. It's certainly a bit expensive for my tastes, but I don't think The Order should be judged wholly on that. Like any game nowadays you won't have to wait long to pick it up dirt cheap, and The Order: 1886 is certainly a game worth a playthrough. The worth of that playthrough however, comes down to you.
To sum it up, The Order: 1886 is best described as a vertical slice of gameplay. It shows off a lot of features but very few of them come together in a manner that's deemed as cohesive. Throw in the short gameplay length and the wasted potential of its setting, and you have a game that you should squarely avoid. Sony's exclusives are usually of high standard. This is not one of them.
Understandably, the short playtime and lack of replay value will turn off many gamers from wanting to delve into the title, but it's definitely something to try if you have the opportunity.
A playable third-person shooter with a laughably short campaign, pretty visuals and no substance.
Overall, I don't think you'll be missing out if you didn't experience The Order 1886. Weighing up the pros and cons results in a heavy tip towards the cons, and with that I would say save your money for something else. There was so much potential surrounding The Order, yet it hasn't lived up to the expectations. On a positive note, there is the scope for a sequel, or prequel that if it can utilize the good aspects of this effort, and incorporate some fun, then maybe we'll have reason to feel excited about visiting this world another time.
The premise is solid, the graphics are great, the voice casting is excellent, but in the end you have to ask yourself, are we buying games to watch them or to play them? This is something you need to ask yourself before picking up The Order. It's a shame, too. Werewolves are always getting a bum wrap in entertainment, and this game isn't going to help their cause.
A case of extreme hype and zero reward
After almost two years of anticipation and endless hype, The Order: 1886 introduces itself with the bravado of a dead fish. With a premise interesting at surface level, enormous backing from Sony and technically incredible visuals, The Order seems like it would be a sure-fire hit.
Despite being set one hundred years in the past, maybe what The Order: 1886 is actually doing is showing us our gaming future.
The lack of balance between gameplay and cinematics drags The Order: 1886 down. It's not a bad game but you will find better third person shooters on the market than The Order: 1886.
Entropy wins out in the end
The Order arrives as a short, decent game, not a console savior.
Regardless of quantity concerns (which is a valid complaint), where The Order more crucially falls apart is in regards to quality. It does not matter if a game is one or one hundred hours long, you need to enjoy playing it, and The Order fails at that most crucial of tasks. This is unforgivable, and instantly makes it impossible to recommend.
This is a game and a concept that could benefit from a sequel. And if we're lucky, it'd give us an even deeper look at this gorgeous yet squalid Dickensian London.
The Order: 1886 will embrace you in a unmatched cinematic experience and the shooting mechanics are solid. The overall short time you are actually "playing" the game is a major disappointment. There are no advancement options for weapons and the only collectibles in the game are audio logs, photographs and newspapers. There are trophies for finding them all, but no indicator of which items you may have missed. Let me be clear: I did enjoy my time spent with the title, but with no clear reason to trek through the adventure multiple times, combined with the fact it can be beaten in a single afternoon, The Order: 1886 is a rental at best.
The Order: 1886 is more cohesive than the 15-year story arc of Quantic Dream's last effort, but cohesion doesn't automatically result in a compelling experience. It succeeds so well in playing out like the middle episode of an unmade series that it forgets to delve deeper into the otherwise fascinating Arthurian lore and its 19th century context.
We need more game developers and publishers willing to gamble on made-from-scratch worlds and ideas, but The Order: 1886 feels like it might have fared better as a film, graphic novel or TV series. As a game, there's just not enough propping up this shining suit of armour.
"The Order" will likely become a long running franchise for Sony. It will be interesting to see how it evolves. It could stay in content with being a game that is only interested in presenting a cinematic story with gorgeous graphics, or it could evolve into a game that grants players with more creative freedom. Its current form is a step back from what modern games have become. "Shadow of Mordor," "Dragon Age" and "GTA V" achieved accolades because their settings were molded and enhanced by the player's freedoms. "The Order" feels confining. Galahad is trapped between the gorgeous buildings of London with nothing to do other than play out his story. The player has nothing to do but watch.
The Order: 1886 flaunts its interactive cinematic presentation, and it plays that card well. Despite this, it will continue to incite debate about overall length, being story heavy, and not allowing much freedom for the player. If these are things that bother you, then The Order was not developed for you. The decision will need to be where each player places value in their video games. This is an immersive game for people who want to sit back — or on the edge of their seat — and let themselves become engrossed in the story of a Knight in turmoil fighting against a supernatural force. Give The Order a go yourself, and perhaps you'll find yourself diving back into it as much as I've rewatched Jurassic Park over the last twenty years. It may not be perfect, but The Order: 1886 is an immersive cinematic experience and a damned good ride worth going back to.