The Order 1886 was introduced to the world during Sony's 2013 E3 presentation as the platform exclusive on PS4. The game showcased PS4 graphical prowess with an interesting alternate reality Victorian-era London.
The game was met with mixed reviews from the gaming press, with a large percentage of them low to middling grades. In my opinion, the game suffered more than it deserved from the critical reviews perspective. One of the reasons perhaps is how the game was introduced to the world as a third person cover based shooter.
Here's what I think ready-at-dawn succeeded and where I felt the developers should have given more time to improve on the game.
YES
The Order 1886 has trumped in the graphical fidelity department, from the lush Victorian-era environment, the dinghy London slums and unique settings in Tesla's lab, the hospital, all have been crafted to the highest quality and detail.
The
mood, the story, character models, music and the voice acting all blended to create a 'filmic'
gaming experience that is truly amazing.
In fact, it is so top notch
that it makes you want the game to be better in the department where it matters for a majority number of gamers.
NO
I believe ready-at-dawn may have: "Hey, here's a cool alternate reality story that we can tell. Let's infused some gameplay elements in there and make it a game on PS4, yay!". That, may well explain why the game is what it is.
Stealth Instafail
There were several sections requiring stealth but detection means instant fail. These could be redesigned to support recovery action such as a throw-knife kill or melee knowdown. In a game where quick-timed events are used liberally, this would be a good fit. Additionally, during the garden stealth section, Sir Lucan could be of better use as a lookout for guard patrols.
Instead, that section was a lot of frustrating trial-and-error gameplay due to the constrained anamorphic view.
Instead of punishing failed stealth, reward when stealth takedown is successfully executed.
No Non-Lethal Methods
No non-lethal take downs for stealth...for many sections Galahad just seems to be a mass murderer, killing every guards along the way
NPC banter
Non-playable characters could have been used more to shed more background story to further enrich the story
Lock picking
Seems out of character for Galahad (suited for Lafayette or Isi)
Lack of Gameplay Rewards
The game should encourage repeat playthroughs (eg. Tesla incendiary lock breaker, alternate costumes for infiltration, throwing knifes)
Other nitpicks by other game critics
There are several general areas that was mentioned by the gaming press. While their points maybe valid, their points are really indicative of general expectations of what are must-haves for every game this generation. Otherwise, your game will be regarded as not moving with the times.
Short game, lacks replay value - there are many debates about how long a game should be and a popular measure is the compared it to the movies. Let's say, a two-hour movie experience costs about RM20, so a RM200 game should offer around 20-hour experience. So if a single playthrough is 10 hours long, a game should at least have either a worthwhile second-playthrough, or a multiplayer experience. In the case of The Order, it is indeed a slightly short because it did not offer any compelling reasons for replay unless you are trophy chaser.
Corridor shooter, no open-world activities - this does not bother me at all, in fact my fear is that every game will want to use the similar template to check all the marketing boxes that may undermine the developer's vision of the game. Not every game needs open-world design. However, a little bit of open-ended gameplay will benefit The Order 1886's sequel.
Lacks Character or Weapons Customization - this is not a real concern here as not every game needs this. I didn't miss that at all.
Quick-Time-Event Fest - QTEs have been the bane of many games and I can see why The Order 1886 is such an easy target for its over reliance on QTE. In order to improve on its sequel(s), ready-at-dawn must realize that a better balance must be made between actual gameplay vs QTEs.
OVERALL
Overall, The Order 1886 is a worthwhile experience on the PS4. I find the story more interesting and compelling, compared to Killzone Shadowfall. The presentation and production value is top-notch only to be let down by a lack of satisfying gameplay elements.
As critical as I am of the game in many areas, you may think that I hate this game. On the contrary, I find the game largely enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend anyone with a PS4 that likes a single player game to experience the game. I hope this new IP will become a successful franchise in the future.
