The Order: 1886 Reviews

The Order: 1886 is ranked in the 20th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
GamesBeat
Top Critic
70 / 100
Feb 18, 2015

The Order is thrilling and frustrating.

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Mar 3, 2015

The Order: 1886 is a graphically stunning title bogged down by tired combat scenarios and a lackluster story.

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6.5 / 10.0
Feb 18, 2015

The world built by 1886 is an engrossing one, and if nothing else the way it's presented is fantastic, especially when it comes to the strong vocal performances and beautiful character animation. As burly English people yell at each other, one could feel they were watching something from the Sharpe series of televised adaptations, even if the dialog is intensely cliched at times – for example, there's a cringeworthy "not so different" speech from an antagonist, including a bromide, "maybe one day you'll understand."

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7.5 / 10.0
Feb 18, 2015

At times Ready at Dawn's latest title is so efficient at seamlessly blurring the lines between gameplay and cutscenes, it's difficult to tell what portions of the game are actually interactive.

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Feb 19, 2015

'The Order: 1886' is bursting with creativity when it comes to design, narrative, and setting, but its gameplay is far too linear and derivative to be worth a full price purchase.

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95 / 100
Feb 19, 2015

Literally no game has ever looked this good. It's strange to even write that, but The Order: 1886 raises the bar so far above its contemporaries that it stands in a class by itself. Joined by a soundtrack that perfects the mood, The Order is a cinematic masterpiece. If you want to show off your PlayStation 4 to your friends, this is the title to showcase.

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Feb 25, 2015

The Order: 1886 is a spectacular visual showcase, but its muddled narrative and gameplay make for a wasted opportunity.

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4 / 10
Mar 2, 2015
The Order: 1886 Angry Review video thumbnail
Don't Buy
Feb 24, 2015

The Order: 1886 is an incredible tech demo for the PlayStation 4 and, like Ryse: Son of Rome on Xbox One, will likely be one of the best-looking games on the system for quite a while. It stands tall and should be commended for that. The flat characters, paint by numbers story, and strictly workable mechanics, though, keep the game from being anything more than just a technical demo of the engine Ready at Dawn has created.

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7.5 / 10.0
Feb 19, 2015

Like Resistance: Fall of Man, The Order: 1886 comes early in a console lifecycle to set new visual benchmarks and give us creative, compelling fiction. As a game, it's significantly less ambitious.

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9 / 10.0
Feb 22, 2015

The Order: 1886 is a remarkable achievement. The team at Ready at Dawn should be applauded and given the chance to bring their complete vision to life in its entirety. Breathtaking visuals, top notch performances and industry leading motion capture animate a great story to create a very special and unique gaming experience.

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Feb 18, 2015

The Order: 1886 is bland gameplay wrapped in admittedly gorgeous next generation graphics. It's not bad through and through, it's just disappointing.

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6 / 10
Feb 18, 2015

The Order: 1886 is an antique that's aged ungracefully. The presentation is sublime from the release's rousing start right the way through to its anticlimactic finish, but several shoddy design decisions detract from its otherwise exemplary gloss. The developer's crafted an incredible universe, but outside of the title's core cast, it's failed to do much of note with it. This is a property that's begging for a sequel to realise its undeniable potential – but only time will determine whether it gets that opportunity.

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Feb 18, 2015

The Order: 1886 isn't easy to recommend, but it isn't impossible to endorse, and despite its familiarity, is a game we enjoyed our time with. Here's hoping The Order: 1887 pushes for greater.

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Justin Celani
Top Critic
8 / 10.0
Mar 2, 2015

Just like mustaches, not everyone can appreciate what The Order 1886 was trying to accomplish, but if you know what you're going into, you just might walk away loving it as much as I did flaws and all. The Order 1886 joins my list of story driven games I'll play again and again.

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86 / 100
Feb 19, 2015

The Order: 1886 is not a perfect game by any stretch but it certainly wasn't deserving of the early criticism it received. Now that the release is finally here and you can play through the whole game yourself you'll find that despite some very minor misses in gameplay, Ready at Dawn sets a very high bar in terms of both presentation and story offering up one of the best experiences to date on your PS4.

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2 / 5.0
Feb 19, 2015

The Order: 1886 isn't a terrible game by any stretch of the imagination; it's just a massive disappointment that failed to break new ground. It's a shame because you can tell that a great deal of effort went into building this alternate version of 19th century London, and boy is it gorgeous.

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Unscored
Feb 23, 2015

It is an unfortunate irony that a game offering a glimpse into the future of video game graphics should be so hamstrung by its limited, conventional gameplay. This is one anachronism too many — even for a steampunk game.

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5.5 / 10.0
Mar 2, 2015

Though impressive in some ways, The Order: 1886 fails miserably in its most important goal of keeping the player entertained for any significant length of time.

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Will Greenwald
Top Critic
Mar 18, 2015

The Order: 1886 shows just how good games can look on the PlayStation 4, but it's not an example of how fun or satisfying they can be.

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