When I initially previewed The Order: 1886, I was left dumbfounded. How could anyone think that Ready at Dawn, the people behind some of the best handheld games, have made such a misstep? “People obviously just don’t understand Ready at Dawn’s vision,” I’d mutter to myself, assuring nobody in particular that the game would end up being incredible. How could it not? A steampunk, neo-Victorian setting? An order of Knights fighting an ancient, supernatural darkness? My confidence was sorely misplaced, because The Order: 1886 is one of the most profoundly disappointing games I’ve played.
The Order: 1886 is set in an alternate history 19th century, beautiful and painstakingly recreated neo-Victorian London. It’s a world in which the Knights of the Round Table – the very ones of Arthurian legend – now exist as the Queen’s elite forces. Having actually discovered the Holy Grail, the Knights use it as a magical means to extend their lives. Since the middle ages, they’ve been locked in conflict with mythological beasts of Lycan and Vampiric variety – but now, there’s a new threat; a human rebellion, because that’s much scarier than actual monsters.
The game starts you off in the… well, barefoot feet, I suppose, of the excommunicated Knight of the Order, the dapper and moustachioed Sir Galahad. For some reason or other The Order has turned against the good sir Knight, using that tired literary device of starting at the end, and then coming full circle to the beginning, before plodding its way to a conclusion – much in the same way that high-school children are taught to write essays. A series of cut-scenes and barely-interactive quick-time events later and I was unceremoniously thrust weeks into the past, embroiled in a rebellion, a fight against werewolves and a great deal of political and conspiratorial fluff involving the “United India Company.” I found it rather difficult to care.
For all its exposition and meandering dialogue, it wholly fails to explain why any of that Steampunk window-dressing exists. There’s nothing telling us why everything’s electrically operated, or why it is that everything’s bedecked in brass, or how it came to be that dirigibles litter the sky. Presumably, it all has to with Nikola Tesla, the real-life visionary who gave us alternating current – but it’s really never explained.
The game’s running time has been much maligned, with early reports suggesting it would take just 5 hours to play through. While that’s certainly possible, my own play through was closer to 8 hours – but here’s the rub, much of it is unremarkable and uninteresting, spent watching unskippable cutscenes and walking from point A to point B, shuffled along a miserably linear path. Every so often, a scene will be punctuated by a few button-presses to remind you that you’re not in fact watching a very long, very slow movie.
Sometimes, you’ll find a collectible; a newspaper, photograph or some other document that you can pick up and move about in your oddly-articulated hands, as you did in L.A Noire. They make some attempt at fleshing out the world that Ready at Dawn tried to create, but much like everything else you come across, they’re uniformly uninteresting.
That would all be okay if the core game was fun to play. It’s a dark and gritty, almost singular-palette third-person cover-based shooter, drawing inevitable comparisons to Gears of War – but now that I’ve played through the game, I find the comparison unwarranted. Gears of War at least nails the fundamentals of a shooter. The actual mechanics of it are merely serviceable, complacently competent – and not the sort of thing you’d expect from a modern shooter. The contextual cover system is neither smooth nor accurate, and the enemy AI is frequently laughable, never flanking or trying to present much of a challenge. And they can’t; the insipid level design dictates it. You’re almost invariably shooting at proverbial ducks in a barrel; the complete antithesis to Gears of War’s bowl-like arenas.
They’re seemingly all clones too, with just a handful of enemy character models. Whether they’re escaped prisoners, company guards or rebels, the enemies within each group all seem to employ the exact same model. Some levels break up the monotony of the “walk-talk-hide-shoot” gauntlet by making you stealth your way through, sneaking up behind lantern-carrying enemies and offing them, one-by-one by virtue of a QTE stab. Get spotted, and it’s instant death, back to the last checkpoint to do it all anew. That’s exactly as fun as it sounds, and yes – every guard happens to have the same model.
Sometimes, the action’s slightly bolstered by some of the less-conventional, more fanciful weapons from Tesla’s armoury. It’s undeniably fun, zapping an overzealous enemy with a bolt of lightning, and equally as enthralling to pepper an enemy with incendiary Thermite, and then cackle in maniacal glee as you set it all on fire.
Crucially, though – and this is one of the more upsetting points – is that the supernatural stuff is barely there. There are exactly three encounters with regular werewolves, and they all play out exactly the same; you’re caught in a warehouse and have a handful of them charging at you one at a time, and you’ve either got to kill ‘em or tap X to get out of the way. Rinse and repeat. You’ll have two encounters with a bigger, badder werewolf, and both of these play out exactly the same as well; nice looking, but barely interactive, QTE-laden knife fights. There’s very little about the actual playable game that isn’t boring, unfortunately.
That would be mitigated somewhat if the story itself wasn’t so vapid and uninspired. Overwrought and filled to the brim with predictable clichés, The Order’s story doesn’t really go anywhere. Every plot twist, turn and betrayal can be seen a mile off. The rest of Galahad’s crew; the stern mentor, Percival; the ladies’ man, the Marquis de Lafayette and the Lady Igraine, the um…token woman, I suppose all lack personality right until the very end, when the game unceremoniously comes to a close – setting itself up for the quite obviously planned sequel. There’s no real resolution. It should leave players wanting more, but I certainly don’t want any more of this.
There’s nothing to really do once you’ve hit the credits, not that you’d particularly want to. There’s no compelling reason to hunt for collectibles, and very little to explore. Laughably, the “extras” menu item on the game’s main screen leads to nothing but credits.
If The Order: 1886 does have anything going for it, it’s in its visual resplendence. It’s difficult to state how good the game looks sometimes, bordering on photorealism as it does. Its foggy London, so intricately detailed is incredibly atmospheric and the level of detail is mesmerising – right down to the stitching on Galahad’s gloves. It’s a good thing it looks as good as it does, because you spend more time staring at it than actually playing it. It’s clichéd and rote – with just about the bravest thing the game attempts being a display of male nudity. Yup, it’s got dicks.
The whole thing’s unfortunately been muddied by its cinematic pursuits, prioritising style and atmosphere over substance. Shallow, slow and downright generic gameplay do little to hide The Order’s most egregious sin as a video game: it’s just plain boring.
Last Updated: February 20, 2015
| The Order: 1886 | |
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Great visuals alone do not a great game make - and there's unfortunately very little in The Order: 1886 to elevate it beyond being a pretty, but shallow and insipid shooter. It commits the one sin no interactive entertainment should: it's painfully boring.
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| The Order: 1886 was reviewed on PlayStation 4 | |
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63 /
100
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ultraviolet
February 20, 2015 at 14:06
such a shame, i was hopeing for a grand game of epic proportions to go with the lovely art direction
Timmy_1988
February 20, 2015 at 14:06
Support DRM. The Witcher 3 is crap.
SojournZA
February 20, 2015 at 14:07
wow you finished it in one sitting?
Geoffrey Tim
February 20, 2015 at 14:20
Two sittings. 🙂 Played yesterday evening, and finished it this morning.
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:23
Well done man.
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 14:07
Hence why I point at games like this and say “Length and quality matter”
This is not a $60 worthy game
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:10
So when will we hear from the RoD mouth pieces, Monday?
“See everyone, we told you the games media was predisposed to hate our brilliant game.”
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 14:21
lol
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 17:04
yeah. Forget that half the gaming community agrees too
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:14
Doesn’t sound like length is the actual problem – its worse than that. Most reviews say same thing = Boring.
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 14:21
Boring yes. But if a game has so many unskipable cutscenes then you haven’t played 8 or 10 hours. Cut out the unskipable boring cutscenes and you probably end up with about 5 – 6 hours of just terrible gameplay
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:08
So it’s odoriferous 🙁
tee hee @ tags.
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:09
O U C H
Loftus
February 20, 2015 at 14:12
right in the goons!
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:13
Yeah man. Shesh.
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:12
What an unfortunate shame. It had all the ingredients for a spectacular game; seems R@D forgot to put one in? I will pick this up one day; just not now; had reviews been better I would have been sorely tempted.
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:12
*Makes note to crack 1888 Franklin Street joke if there’s ever a third one.
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:13
What a damn shame man. I was hoping they would be able to say ‘we told you! You were just being the INTERNETZ’ but alas…
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:14
I’ll say it again, there’s a shop that rents games to the public in my town. Ps4 games goes for R25 a day. Sorted.
Parkour
February 20, 2015 at 14:15
Is that legal.
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:16
I dunno, probably works on the same principal as DVD rentals.
Gavin Mannion
February 20, 2015 at 14:17
AFAIK it’s not…
Films for rental are priced way higher than films for sale. you cannot rent out a film you bought from Makro from your store
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:18
0_o
*Tries to close can of worms.
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:19
Say something about Nvidia being better than AMD.
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:19
LOL
Skoobaz
February 20, 2015 at 14:24
It’s not getting better, it IS BETTER!!!
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:25
http://i.imgur.com/nFSebim.gif?1
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 14:25
Android is better than Apple!
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:31
I meant say something controversial. 😀
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:34
Peter Molyneux > Gabe
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:34
That will work.
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:35
That is not controversial, that is just getting basic math wrong.
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 20:40
Uncle Pete can’t even keep one promise, at least Gabe always gets to two.
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 14:52
You go too far!
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 17:03
huehuehuehuehue
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:32
It sure ain’t – Apple > Android…
Ranting Raptor
February 20, 2015 at 17:03
You wish
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:21
Here I’ll help deflect – WHAT IS THE BEST PLACE FOR A CAPPUCCINO IN CAPE TOWN? Mine is Vovo Telo in Steenberg.
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:23
…
Mossel
February 20, 2015 at 14:43
Not really Cappuccino, but Origin Coffee roasting’s Flat White is and will always be the best coffee in town.
Pieter Kruger
February 20, 2015 at 14:53
So Hammer, where’s this shop exactly and what’s it called?……
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 15:00
I said enough
Parkour
February 20, 2015 at 14:19
Thats what I thought.
Loftus
February 20, 2015 at 14:16
What dorp is that ?
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:16
George
Mossel
February 20, 2015 at 14:42
Ek was die vakansie in George, was by Robertson brewery gewees. Nogal n legit brouery, hulle moet net asseblieftog daai viswinkel teels vervang met iets beter!
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:59
XD het so ‘n paar maande terug oopgemaak. Hulle sal seker nog plan maak.
Parkour
February 20, 2015 at 14:27
I assume this is a video store. It just irks me that they think well just because we rent out videos why not ps4 games, it is unacceptable.
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:29
Well Ps3,Ps4,360 and XBOX One games. Also you can pay and lay games in the store.
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:29
Game-whoring. Who knew it existed, right?
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:31
Hahaha Freudian slip – Hammer REALLY likes his games.
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:33
I do too. But I don’t hand R25.00 bucks to my local video store, take a game disc into some shady backroom, proceed to make sweet love to the disc and then Yell “Oh my Gods, WILLIAMS!” at the top of my uhm… voice?
CAE9872
February 20, 2015 at 14:33
ROFL
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:34
hahahaha
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:34
O_O
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:35
I presume he doesn’t do anything that oddly-specific no.
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:42
Yeah. I heard Hammersteyn loves taking his dirty games in the backdoor. So it’s label side forward. Though I have it on good authority the game shop have asked him to stop yelling “Hammer-Time!!!!” every few seconds.
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:32
Probably need to do it behind the dirty stained curtain leading to the back.
Parkour
February 20, 2015 at 14:30
Sorry is it just games or videos as well, Its even worse if its just games.
Travis
February 20, 2015 at 14:32
You can lay games in the store?
Loftus
February 20, 2015 at 14:15
if anyone has the game and really doesn’t wants it i’ll take it off your hands
*SLYLY CREEPS OFF TO GEOFF TABLE AND STEALS BACK BILTONG AND BEER*
Viking Of Science
February 20, 2015 at 14:20
@OddSockZA:disqus Wow, I was joking yesterday when i said you could have the review done today….
Geoffrey Tim
February 20, 2015 at 14:21
The things I do for you lot. 😉
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:22
You didn’t do much for Ready at Dawn 😛
Pariah
February 20, 2015 at 15:27
That’s mostly their fault though. No yachts, no scores. Simple as.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:26
[Salutes Exalted Overlord Geoffrey Tim]
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:25
QTE had its time already; all game dev houses should have the policy mention QTE and
http://media2.giphy.com/media/frNZmtLwVVhrG/200.gif
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:25
Women abuse?
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:26
Oh crap, the SJW is coming. Hide me Hammersteyn Hide me.
RinceThis
February 20, 2015 at 14:26
50 Shades of Grey?
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:26
GEOFF JOU MASJIEN!
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:27
Hy mag dit talk net vertaal as Geoff You Manly Asian!
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:27
Hy verstaan die mooiste taal in die wêreld baie goed eintlik!
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:28
Ek het nie geweet hy verstaan Frans nie… #TROLL
Geoffrey Tim
February 20, 2015 at 14:30
Qu’est-ce que t’as dit?
Dutch Matrix
February 20, 2015 at 14:31
Nes jy daar sê, swaer! 😛
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:32
Met ys asb
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:39
I love it when you talk foreign
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:41
lol – I even read that in the accent.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:53
Yoo laf it wen he tolk forrin?
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:27
Geoff jou ma se asian?
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 14:30
Wel geoliede masjien, wag nee, dit klink nie reg nie.
Blood Emperor Trevor
February 20, 2015 at 14:38
Ek sal so bietjie later wel geolie word, na werk.
Mossel
February 20, 2015 at 14:40
O_O
Cannot unsee.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:56
Ek dink ek moet huistoe gaan, internet raak net TE weird vandag
Mossel
February 20, 2015 at 15:22
Ja nee kyk… kort baie alkohol om daai prentjie uit my kop te kry!
Hammersteyn
February 20, 2015 at 15:01
Selfde
HvR
February 20, 2015 at 14:30
So they created this wonderful world, exciting new setting and era and then got Steve to write the story over a weekend.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:32
“It should leave players wanting more, but I certainly don’t want any more of this.”
BOOM, headshot
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:34
R900 for a 5.5/10
Yup, what a glorious state of gaming this is.
And here I was hoping 2015 would actually deliver something good!
CAMAAAAAAAN WITCHER 3!!!!
(speaking of which, did Ryanza disappear after his little spat with the troll earlier this week?)
Mossel
February 20, 2015 at 14:45
All my hopes and dreams lie with Witcher 3 to restore dignity in gaming.
Sageville
February 20, 2015 at 14:59
Wasn’t me.
Timmy_1988
February 20, 2015 at 15:23
Yes, he got owned, hes my b*tch
Support DRM
Boereraat
February 20, 2015 at 14:38
Ouch…
Sageville
February 20, 2015 at 14:46
My summary of this review:
Gustav Minnie
February 20, 2015 at 14:49
I really wanted this game to be good because it my excuse to buy the PS4.
I’ll add this to the overhyped exclusives PS4 Edition shit list.
Brings back old memories.. Lair, Haze ……
Thami Afurika-Jin HD
February 20, 2015 at 14:56
Please give this away in a competition.
Admiral Chief
February 20, 2015 at 14:57
Well, should not be a prize, should be a punishment?
Thami Afurika-Jin HD
February 20, 2015 at 15:00
haha! We’ll all pass it around each other every second day.
Jivesh Hanoomaun
February 20, 2015 at 14:58
I started playing it and liked it, by no means is this a great game but nevertheless I enjoyed myself. Although definitely isn’t worth R800.
Darren Peach
February 20, 2015 at 15:17
Heartbroken.
Pieter Kruger
February 20, 2015 at 15:35
Developers are trying too hard to get that immersive experience these days! a Good shooter with good game mechanics, good story and nice cut scenes will do that by itself, stop this Hard Rain/Ryse QTE BS nonsense and focus on the game!
L337J1MB0B
February 20, 2015 at 15:41
Agreed.. I’m also over this cinematic video game nonsense.. heck, there’s nothing cinematic about Mario.
Tbone187
February 20, 2015 at 16:00
I reckon it’s more the concept that had us excited.Imagine if Crystal Dynamics took this production…I say this without knowing who actually developed this though.
Gr8_Balls_o_KFM_Fire
February 20, 2015 at 16:43
This review gave me a serious urge to fix my xbox360 and play Gears!
Jeremy
February 21, 2015 at 00:48
Lazygamer is a perfect name for this place………
Jeremy
February 21, 2015 at 00:49
The sheep in the comments make me laugh, reviewers say jump, you ask how high.
mantas
February 21, 2015 at 01:42
I find it pitiful when just a few weeks ago people were comparing this pile to Bloodbourne, so to those people…the game is not even in the same league, GET OVER IT!!! March 24th cannot come soon enough…
Brady miaau
February 21, 2015 at 23:37
But, but. Bloodbourne is not out yet?
Darren Peach
February 21, 2015 at 11:49
So, I did a single playthough. 10 hours and some change . I think it was friggen spectacular . Good story, fabulous characters, visually unmatched . As a 3D artist, I am flabbergasted that this is a taste of how good next gen looks. Great soundtrack. Awesome weapons, Solid combat when played on hard. A few minor camera issues and the cover mechanics were a little iffy at first but got better when you put a hour into the game. The only QTE that was sucky was the beginning . I feel reviewers are far too jaded. I think this game deserves 7/10 at the least.
Geoffrey Tim
February 23, 2015 at 07:30
I absolutely love the setting, and the visuals are indeed incomparable. The game itself isn’t though; it’s an old, old gen game wrapped up in a new gen skin. The shooting mechanics are merely serviceable, the character models are recycled to the point where it’s actually ludicrous. It’s not a terrible game, it’s just…ok.
I didn’t find the characters themselves appealing at all, beyond perhaps for the pair in ladies you meet half way through. Everyone else was as cliched as you can get. Izzy and The Marquis develop a little bit of personality right at the end, where it’s too late to even care. With the story, it adhered to tropes so hard that I knew every death, every betrayal before it happened; that’s just not good storytelling.
I have no doubt though, that should a sequel be greenlit, we’ll have an exceptional game. RAD will have learned from their mistakes, and the framework that they’ve laid out in in this will be a great base to build a better game on.
Darren Peach
February 23, 2015 at 11:07
I hope a sequel does come. I guess my expectation was dulled by your review and I expected a broken mess. But at face value I enjoyed the game. Less QTE events and more supernatural would be cool.
Darren Peach
February 23, 2015 at 11:31
Another point, I could see what they were going for. My worry is that the negative feedback kills the franchise and we never get to see what they can do when executed well. This game would be insane as a open world experience .
Jonah Cash
February 21, 2015 at 17:11
Sooooo, I will just have to start The Last of Us again if I want a decent story game???? The disc is going to brake before I get a new story driven game it would seem!!
Guest
February 21, 2015 at 23:47
Parker . you think Sheila `s comment is unbelievable, I just got a new Land Rover Defender from having made $8355 this past 4 weeks and a little over $10,000 this past-munth . it’s definitly the easiest work Ive ever had . I actually started 8-months ago and practically straight away was earning minimum $75, per/hr .
i was reading this.___ SEE MORE
GTVDAD
February 22, 2015 at 08:56
I have now played about 3 hours and love it. It feels like it is a game for the more mature (30+)
gamer.
JustAnotherGamer
February 22, 2015 at 11:02
I’m experiencing the same thing. I’m about halfway through and I love it.
Darren Peach
February 22, 2015 at 12:37
Do you agree that the production value of this game is top notch.
konfab aka derp
February 22, 2015 at 19:18
R900 for 5-8 hours of 5.5/10 gameplay.
Well, for every Dragon Age Inquisition and Witcher Game, there must be a game such as this.
Why?
[In a Reaper voice]
“BECAUSE THE UNIVERSE DEMANDS IT”
.
.
.
really though, I blame the central limit theorem.
Mythryl
February 22, 2015 at 22:05
I’m at the start of chapter 7 and loving it so far. Maybe it’s down to the fact that I have been a huge fan of anything King Arthur and knights of the round table since I was a laaitie. One worrying trend though is that people aren’t buying games until reviews are out. I avoid reviews until I have played the game. There are soo many gems out there that got slated in reviews that I loved playing. To each their own I guess
Guest
February 22, 2015 at 23:11
??????????????
Arianna . I just agree… Maria `s st0rry is flabbergasting, yesterday I picked up a brand new Subaru Impreza after I been earnin $5864 thiss month and-just over, ten thousand this past-munth . it’s definitly the most comfortable work I’ve had . I actually started three months/ago and right away startad earning more than $72.. per/hr .
pop over to this site..
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Marius Nell
February 23, 2015 at 08:06
If short games and all out
combat are 90% of your score then yes I can see the reason behind a low score
but I have played for 6 hours and currently I am at chapter 7.
The world and characters
are amazing and really fleshed out by collectibles that give life and
background. The weapons and gun-play is intense and fun. The story is great and
it feels like a grand epic.
Granted I have yet to
finish it but if you like games like Heavy rain or the like and want an amazing
story and tense heavy battles in a beautiful environment (this game is such a
visual masterpiece) I would recommend it.
It’s a game that I can
understand the huge split in review scores since it has mechanics that a lot of
people won’t like the QTE’s and the areas where you spend time in an open
environment without combat.
Unless the final chapters royally
screw up the story I can wholeheartedly recommend it. It’s a great treat to
eyes and ears and is such an interesting setting and story that even non gamers
might sit next to you and enjoy the “movie” as you play.
Michelle
February 23, 2015 at 10:19
“Great visuals alone do not a great game make…” is Geoffrey being a Yoda?lol
Geoffrey Tim
February 23, 2015 at 10:23
Well, I am short, wrinkled, old and perhaps a little green.
WitWolfy
February 23, 2015 at 10:28
OUCH! So glad I didnt buy it yet. Will wait till it drops a bit first.
JustAnotherGamer
February 23, 2015 at 10:58
In the words of another poster “When a broken game like AC Unity with its’ age old mechanics and myriad of technical issues that are detrimental to anyone’s enjoyment sits at higher metacritic, you know there’s something wrong with the reviewing system.
I’m really glad I didn’t pay attention to the mainstream reviews. After completing The Order 1886, I must say that it has become my favourite new IP since The Last of Us. It’s nothing short of a finely crafted experience.”
Highland_John
February 23, 2015 at 20:05
I finished the game last night and I think your review is a fair one. I wish you’d discussed more just how poorly written the story and characters are. If a developer makes a narrative-driven game, they really should make sure that the narrative is written well. I don’t want to include any examples that might be spoilers, but I can say this.
1. I have no idea why some of the characters do what they do. Igraine and the Lord Chancellor are the prime examples of this.
2. There is almost no backstory provided for any of the characters so it’s hard to care about them.
3. There is very little information provided establishing the connection between the various factions in the game. You do find out why the rebels are rebelling, but that’s about it.
4. There is very little backstory provided for the conflict between the Order and the supernatural creatures who are in the game. When did it start? With King Arthur? Before then? We’re never told. Why has it continued so long? We’re never told. Why did it start? We’re never told.
All of the above could’ve been addressed with just a little bit of exposition, either through dialogue or journal entries–but wasn’t. I actually found myself yawning as I was playing through the third act. That’s the first time that’s ever happened to me playing a game.