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The Order 1886 Review – PS4 – No, It Doesn't Suck - No Spoilers

An Honest Review from Desolate_9
Mar 12, 2015
6 min read

This is a game that had gained most of its hype through fantastic showing at events, and was all the rage for the PlayStation 4. However, after a Game Informer cover, and multiple press awards, someone decided to review the game after the first 2 hours, of a maximum 14 hour story (assuming you look for everything and explore the landscapes). Now yes this game can be beat in one sitting, big deal. How many movies can be completed in one sitting? What I thought. So instead of offering a complete review to understand the game as its medium, he started comparing it to something it wasn’t, and proceeded to slam it from there. It was more than likely a troll festival, and that is when it started to slide. The blogosphere lit up with 100,000 people overnight saying the game sucked since he said it sucked, and didn’t experience it for themselves.

Well damn skippy let me tell you I’m glad I wasn’t one of them. I went into the purchase of this game with the intention on launching my Twitch.tv account. I went through the event, beat it in 10 hours, had half of the trophies unlocked, and still wanted more. It’s an amazing game even more so multiple times through because it becomes about creating the action scenes of the movie in stylish and impressive ways while showing off your skill at timed events. All surrounded by what is an amazing story with NO graphical glitches I could see, not to say they aren’t there… Trust me I tried to look guys in every big scene and video.

So all of that said, let’s discuss the ideas The Order 1886 tried to pull off next. They wanted to immerse the gamer in an experience unlike anything we ever had the ability to see. The entire game is done in real-time so as if the only difference between it and a movie is handing you the controller in certain segments to give that feel of immersion. The story is based in London at a time where at first you think its hyper modernized, but it’s not. It has some interesting technologies, but it is all based in some form of fact or another. I mean common, the games tech revolves around Nikola Tesla and his amazing inventions! This isn’t the first time that a video game set in history has used a famous scientist or inventor, and the effect is still amazing every time. The first time you are let loose with the controller in his shop, the scientist in you will start geeking out like a madman, I know I had around 10 minutes of stills just in analyzing the amazing coils in the room. Speaking of history, the developers also used a serious number of tie-ins and neat events in history. One of them, a theatrical flyer mentioning Charles Dicken’s “A Tale of Two Cities” alongside other playwrights. The newspapers are also incredible finds, although I wish you could do more to explore them than just turn them over, but I can see why the decision wasn’t made. Who goes hunting, then stops to read the morning report?

Anyways, the game is centered on a fabled war that some believe still wages today. A war between Lycans (Werewolves) and Vampires. The Knights are tasked with hunting these abominations along with protecting the city from whatever may befall it. Through the story, you will learn about tragedy, heartbreak, betrayal, secrets, deceit, and lies… Not one thing was completely able to be figured out right away. Aside from the opening sequences, which clearly setup the great story, you can’t figure anything out… Unless your one of the writers. No spoilers though, but let’s say the gameplay does have the 3rd person feel of many other games like it, including cover mechanics that just worked. I think it feels akin to Resistance from PlayStation 3 in control, but the zoomed-in camera and effects going in and out of cover separate it from the rest. So all in all, you could draw comparisons, but don’t… It’s their own baby.

So in all, I have to tell you that when the game transitions from events to gameplay to cinema and back, the seamlessness is impressive. The game had some load points when I was playing, but they were in the background. Almost like the game stopped me to have a firefight while it loaded the next segments. The chapter transitions showed some hiccups too, but nothing I would judge them on… After all it’s gaming, I don’t expect perfection. The cut scenes though were so well done that you could feel like your jumping in there with them. Even with the noted downscaling in shows and otherwise, I didn’t think any of it looked bad. Gallahad is an amazing character, a Protagonist that clearly is set up for more. Do we see what’s happens as they venture into 1887? I won’t set it up, but trust me when I say it’s worth every penny of this amazing ride… And you’ll go again and again.

Break it Down Desolate_9!!

Graphics:

Do we really need to have this discussion anymore? It is PlayStation 4…

That said, the graphics are top notch. The landscapes painted are amazing, you want to explore them. And sometimes you do. The events early in the game have you look over a railing at the whole town. I felt like it was a chance to show off power of the console myself. That’s said, I feel they don’t take complete advantage of the systems power, but if they maxed out on day one, what would say the next one? Impressive to say the least. I played on a Samsung 55” 4K LED TV… AMAZING!

Audio:

The audio for an experience like this had to match what was put in front of you visually. And did they do an amazing job of capitalizing on all of the current technology. I experienced these in my Sony Gold Headset at 7.1 simulated surround sound. It made the fights against Lycans that much more intense. Then I turned off the headset on a subsequent play through with my true-sound 7.1 system from Klipsch, and just as amazing. I think I just compared Sony’s Gold Headset to Klipsch… Woah

Controls:

The controls feel like a legacy system for 3rd person shooters. Comparing it to Gears of War or Resistance is easy because of the feel. However with the change in camera angles from those other games, it somehow makes the controls feel more fluid. My only complaint is yet again Sony had the chance to make a flagship game utilize this amazing touch-pad, but ended up generic. Swapping weapons, or confirming things. I just hope that feature doesn’t become a glorified 3-button mouse.

Characters:

For a game to Star a cast versus a specific protagonist is a tough accomplishment when people want to get to know their cast. The team did an excellent job at giving each character their right to the program. From Gallahad to Izzy, to the Council members and beyond. Even the lady Marquis is flirting with at one point, you had a chance to know her, even if just for a minute. We see all too many times where we think, oh man what do I see now? And trust me when I say the announced (in GameInformer) relationship between Izzy and Gallahad doesn’t detract from anything, it only adds to the drama. And it’s very necessary. A great job of giving each member from the cast, even the NPC’s a chance to share the spotlight. Like Hollywood.

Execution:

In final thoughts, this game played great. No hiccups, or visual blemishes that were noticeable. The teams involved had a great chance to work hard and get this right, and they would have hit the nail on the head if they didn’t miss one glaring issue for me. The timed-button presses needed to be highlighted in more noticeable colors. I understand the need to keep them integrated and less “stand-out” then other timed events, but I can’t count how many times I missed one because I could read it, even at 55” in 4K on one of the best TV’s on the market. There I found a blemish, but I bet if someone reads this soon enough, the game will get an update.

Final Thoughts:

I know most of you want me to score this, but I hate scoring games on little scales. So let me start with this. On a scale of 1 to 100, I will rate these reviews in each category, and average them into a percentage. Similar to metacritic, but based on only my honest opinion. I won’t ever slam a game, especially not one as beautiful as this. This is a game you must buy if you own a PlayStation 4, forget the hype. It’s worth every hour… And it’s still cheaper per hour than a movie, go figure…