The Order 1886 Review

First we would like to say, that we do not want to be part of the ongoing controversy on different Web Pages about The Order 1886. You will see that after having read our review there will be two parties of players. Some will say that the Order is too short and does not have innovative gameplay and does not rise to the same level of gaming as we find in Gears of War or Heavy Rain. Others might add that The Order 1886 looks spectacular, the graphics should be the standard for upcoming games, those will love the QTE (Quick-Time-Events) and cutscenes as they merge into one another. Both groups are right but they both have to admit that we were well entertained by the game. You are asking yourself why? We are happy to tell you that. Unfortunately, this game has only got a Singleplayer mode, NO multiplayer, NO Co-Op mode etc.

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The developers captured Victorian London well. The Order allows PlayStation 4 owners to play the games’ story throughout this incredible setting. If you take a closer look at latest games you can see that games with a Victorian Steampunk theme are not daily business. Fact is that “Ready at Dawn” made such an great job with the visuals that we think this is the best looking game since Ryse: Son of Rome. This should be the only game to compare with The Order 1886.

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You play the knight Sir Galahad, but his friends call him by his real name Grayson. He is one of the members of the Knights of the Round Table widely known as The Order. The Story takes plays in 1886, as the name of the game indicates. The members of the Order live longer than others because of the Holy Grail. The black water does not only lend a longer life, it also heals your wounds in the game. Those members are definitely not immortal. It may happen that the wounds you get are too deep so that you die.

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Global Exclusive 2_1382451597Galahad, his mentor Percival, Igraine and the french knight Lafayette are working together as a team. Their mission is to protect the British Empire. Rebels, Half-Breeds (Werewolves) and other enemies are terrorising and killing the people in Whitechapel a London slum. There are also some troubles with the United India Company, known from many movies, books, etc. as the East India Trading Company.

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The games starts in the headquarter of the Order inside the prison. Sir Galahad has been tortured by his own man. With his last ounce of strength he is able to escape out of there. The Story switches back a couple of weeks and the real game begins after this ten minute sequence. This is a great narrative style but it is already well known and has been used very often. We have to declare, that this keeps us playing because we wanted to know what Galahad did to end his prison sentence. Step by step you will find out what happens.

SHIPThis ends in a surprise. The successfully implied characters, their motives and verifiable actions, their gorgeous and highly detailed look, the fantastic movement animations, facial expressions and gestures, the localization and the converted theatrical art should be an example for upcoming games. Those features gave us the right playing feel as if we were really controlling actors on set.

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Many reviews are talking about the end of the game and it’s story now. We do not want to do that. We think of that as a spoiler. We want you to get your own experience with the games’ storyline. We just want to say that there is enough space for upcoming Story-DLCs or The Order 1887, based on the story of this game. We played the game on the difficulty level ‘medium’. WE NEEDED MORE THAN 5 HOURS! Sorry, but we are tired of listening to this anymore. If players would enjoy the game more, the incredible graphics, the different tactics to get to the goal and play like the game deserves it they would definitely need much longer.

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CITYSlumWe want to be serious with our readers. As long as price, quality and the content is right, we would buy anything that is (nothing announced until today) released related to this game. We would prefer more DLCs with a great story than to get the hundredth map-pack or skin. Unfortunately, we think that players who do not like DLCs would argue against that.

We think we cannot say anything bad about the layout of the games’ world. The virtual London seems really alive for us. Even objects in the far distance are looking fantastic. The decently placed Sci Fi Elements gave the visuals a special touch.

TeslaNikola Tesla (Image left) is also a member of the Order. He is like the Quartermaster ‘Q’ known from the James Bond movies. Nikola builds and supplies weapons and equipment for us. These gadgets look like a mixture of Sci Fi and Steampunk. This gave the game a unique look. We like that the game is not overloaded with the Steampunk theme. The developers made the right deal, it is not to much neither too little. We also think that the game sets a new level of how graphics should look like in the future. Gamers can enjoy high detailed character models, exact textures, great lighting effects, and smooth animations. The characters’ hair and clothes blowing in the wind. If you take a closer look at the weapons you can see the custom wood grain. Incredible!

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We think that players might not like the blur effect and the cinematic aspect ratio that puts black bars on the top and bottom of your screen and limits the players’ field of view. We do not know why the developers put the black bars in the running game.

BlurWe do not see any legitimate reason for this. The black bars also lowers the view on the enemy while you are taking cover. Anyway, it did not matter to us after a few minutes. Not only the sound of the game, the cast of english speakers, the sound effects and the music are excellent as well as the graphics. All this fits well into the unique setting of The Order 1886.

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The Order is surprisingly bloody especially when we are using the experimental weapons. We are able to tear enemies into thousands of pieces. game_informer_screenshots_009_1382451595They may miss a leg, their head, an arm or the complete left side of their body.It is the same with the two Werewolf Duels which are Close Combat Takedowns. Grayson uses his knife like a pro. From time to time the level design is also very bloody. In a dark subway station full of Lycans mutilated bodies, individual body parts or guts are lying around.

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It is time to talk even more about the gameplay. The enemies AI is not the best. The enemies have a good aim and you cannot take a lot of hits. You have to sneak through some parts of the game. In our opinion considering the great atmosphere we can only say that the gameplay is solid. The classic Third Person Shooter style is the basic theme of The Order 1886. Players have to run from one barricade to another, cover themselves and fight against numerous enemies who are not very smart. The controls are quite good, but from time to time you can get stuck.

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Unfortunately, it is only possible to automatically run to the barricades on your left or right. It is not possible to run and take cover at the barricade in front or behind you. The game gives you a great weapon feedback and has a great level of difficulty. Grayson is not the strongest. It is very important to take cover and take enemies down as fast as possible.

The Werewolves Hit & Run Tactics provides more variation to the game but does not occur very often and only in certain areas. The game does not include many different types of enemies. After a few hours there was nothing special that was surprising to us. There is no innovation within the fighting or gameplay in general.

Between all the cutscenes and shootings there a some climbing passages, even some rare Minigames and LOTs of QTEs. We have not seen any innovation in all these passages though. The climbing reminds us of Uncharted but is not very challenging.

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TESLA-STHINGIn one of the Minigames you must destroy some electric circuits with the help of a tesla construction. Having that players may open doors or turn the lights off. In other Minigames you must put specific buttons or sticks in the right position. You are pushing the exact buttons you can see on the screen. In addition to that players get rewarded with beautifully choreographed action scenes. The game is built extremely linear. There are only a few moments where you can take a different course. Which means most of the time you will run through a closely designed world. Because of that the desire to play the game again decreases very quickly.

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We have to admit that players who were hoping for a great gameplay will be disappointed. On the other hand players who love the mixture of an amazing looking game, QTEs, Minigames, gorgeous animated cutscenes and a good gameplay will be very happy with this game. It is wonderful to see that the individual segments of the game overlap into one another.

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Global Exclusive 1_1382451596The Order is not a game for everyone and it will split the community in half. Gameplay lovers will hate it, atmosphere lovers will recommend The Order 1886. This has to be understood: The gameplay has no innovation but it is solid. There are also many cutscenes and QTEs that players may not want.

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On the other hand there is this beautiful looking game with its convincing atmosphere. We have to say how WONDERFUL this game looks, how TERRIFIC the animations are and how great the story is. This game is definitely more like a cinematic blockbuster than an action-shooter. We definitely like it. ONE THING SHOULD BE CLEAR: We think players who love games like Heavy Rain, Ryse: Son of Rome, other games full of QTEs or cutscenes and admirable graphics should buy it. Others should wait until the price falls but then they should get it, too.

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