The Order: 1886 was supposed to be the PlayStation 4’s high-water mark, a game that would showcase the true potential of the console and set a new standard. But whilst there’s no denying that The Order looks good, like many games set on this course, it lacks overall substance.
As gameplay goes, you can’t really fault it. If you’ve played any generic third person shooter, you’ll know what to expect: chest-high walls scattered across the environment which notify exactly when the combat segments are about to commence, as well as numerous cut scenes and the odd platform puzzle to keep the player engaged.
The Order is hardly original – even the guns, despite the promise of its Victorian Steampunk settings, feel lacklustre and are for the most part generic.
The one thing The Order excels at, unsurprisingly, is cinematic feel. From day one, developers Ready at Dawn stated that they wanted their game to be as movie-like as possible.
They go so far as to have horizontal black bars across the top and bottom of the screen and a frame rate of 30 frames per second (fps) as it is closer to the 24fps that films are shot at.
Overall, for a price of around £50, The Order can be considered a miss. Playtime averages out at between five and eight hours with little to no replay-ability or multiplayer to extend the experience.
You can watch a ‘Let’s Play’ on YouTube, and it would be a similar experience to playing the game. It is cinematic after all.
Feature image Courtesy of PlayStation, The Order 1886, Ready at Dawn Studios, YouTube, ihurtado2000
