The Order: 1886
Ready At DawnSanta Monica Studio
Sony Computer Entertainment
― Thomas Mallory, Le Morte D'Arthur
The first thing one must know going into The Order: 1886 is that this is exactly what I described above ― a straight, narrative-driven, single-player game. There is no multiplayer, co-op or or otherwise. There is no branching story and there is but a single ending; no moral choices to anguish the player. And, while the world RaD have created is gorgeous, it is very much closed. If you're looking for any of the things this game isn't, you won't be happy with it.
That said, if what you are looking for is what RaD have created, you will be more than pleased.
The Victorian Knights of the Round Table
You play as Sir Galahad (the knights' names are more of a title that is passed down when a new knight replaces a fallen one), a loyal knight for a very, very long time (any more would be spoiling things). Along with your fellow knights, you are charged with keeping London safe.
Graphics
There aren't enough or adequate words in the English language to relay how beautiful and technically marvelous this game is. RaD clearly had a vision and that vision was excruciatingly detailed. The game runs at a silky smooth thirty frames per second and is loaded with eye candy. The smallest details have received the utmost attention. From a visual standpoint, I have never seen this game's equal.
Fluid, varied animations cement the player in the world. Particles float through the thick atmosphere, objects have weight and solidity, and cloth ripples in the wind (and deforms remarkably accurately under foot). Several times during my play through of this game, I stopped to marvel at what I was seeing. The game uses real-time, in-engine graphics for all of its cut scenes. Frequently, when handed control back from a cut scene, I didn't realize that I had control. The transition from cut scene to game play is often totally seamless. On rare occasion, there is a slight hiccup during that transition, which is the only tell-tale sign that something out of sorts has occurred.
The lighting in this game is ridiculous
The texture work is unparalleled. Stone streets, gold braid on a soldier's uniform, the wool of said uniform, the side of a blimp, the curves of a copper steam tank - all look as one would expect them to in real life. Subtle use of chromatic aberration makes appearances at suitable times. Subsurface scattering makes flesh look so real you think you can reach out and touch it. Guns blaze with violent muzzle flashes complete with lingering smoke and particles. And there is nary a jaggie to be seen. The anti-aliasing is superb. I screen captured some of the most mundane objects because they looked that good.
While I'm not a graphics programmer (though I do consider myself an artist), I at least try to keep up with the basics of where the tech is heading. But after watching a very good technical breakdown of the processes RaD used to bring this world to life, I felt inadequate as a tech person. So many different techniques were employed that it's difficult to believe it works as well as it does.
Perhaps the first thing you'll notice when control is initially handed over to you as a player are the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. Normally reserved for cut scenes in games, do not expect these to disappear at any point during your play through. And this was a decision made by Ready At Dawn very early in the development process. The first bits of concept art were all in the 2.40:1 aspect ratio in which the final game appears. It should be noted as well that the game is rendered at native resolution. There is no scaling happening here. And while it occasionally does obstruct the vertical field of view, it's rare. And the expanded horizontal field of view more than makes up for it. It also, as RaD claims, lends a more "flimic (their word)" look and feel to the game. Along those same lines is the thirty frames per second frame rate mentioned above. RaD claims this was an artistic choice made to increase the "filmic" vibe of the game. I don't know if that is truly the case, but what I can say is that it doesn't detract from the experience in the least. And, while I may have adjusted to a higher frame rate, I suspect there is at least a sliver of truth in RaD's claims.
Suffice it to say that this is currently the best looking game available. There are games with higher resolutions. There are games with faster frame rates. There are games that may best The Order in any individual area. But none come close to the whole package presented in this game. If you were wondering when games on the current generation would show enough of a graphical leap to warrant taking the plunge, wait no longer (though I'd argue that Driveclub was the first title to push that envelope).
Guns reverberate with satisfying, explosive sound.
Sound
No good game, regardless of its graphics, is complete without equally excellent sound. And I'm happy to report that The Order: 1886 delivers in this department as well. Guns vary from small pistols, which sound appropriately whimpy, to hand cannons, rifles, shotguns, and some special weapons that must be experienced to adequately explain. All sound magnificent.
Attention to detail has been carried over from the graphical presentation here as well. Walk down a stone street and it sounds exactly as it should. Step in a puddle on the same street and the sound mirrors your activity. While the sound isn't the thing that will remain with you when you've finished the game, it is on point and well done.
Voice acting is some of the best you'll likely ever encounter in a game. The characters are believable and lines are delivered perfectly.
Finally, the orchestral soundtrack is sweeping and moving. When it should be. The lack of music at all plays well in the places the composer made such a choice. The soundtrack is available on the PlayStation Store, and once I determine whether it's playable outside of the actual PS4 (which was not the case with the inFAMOUS: Second Son soundtrack), I'm definitely going to purchase it. It is truly top notch.
The terror that is the Arc Rifle
Gameplay
Games are games and, as such, are meant to be played. And a bad game with pretty visuals is not a good thing. While The Order: 1886 isn't a traditional game in many respects, it does have plenty of fun, engaging gameplay. This isn't immediately clear, however. The game starts out with a highly quick time event (QTE) heavy sequence. One that lasts a relatively long amount of time. This QTE-fest takes the player from the beginning of the prologue all the way to the opening title sequence. At this point in the game, I was concerned. I do not mind the occasional, well placed QTE, but I was not looking for Heavy Rain when I purchased The Order: 1886. Fortunately, once the game gets going in earnest, there were regular scenes involving third person, cover-based shooting, each more chaotic than the last, culminating in some truly difficult shootouts in the final chapter. In addition to the third person shooting, there is some minor traversal, excellently executed stealth elements, more QTEs, and yes, lots and lots of cut scenes.
Those cut scenes are all well worth sitting through, which is a good thing, since they cannot be skipped. You can pause them (a nice touch that should be present in all games), but you can not skip them. And honestly, I don't understand why anyone that would be playing this game would desire to skip them (at least not during the initial playthrough). One would, reasonably I'd argue, assume that if you're interested in a story-driven game, you'd consider the story important. The cut scenes are more prevalent than game play in the early going, but the balance is much more even as the game progresses. They're still there, and there are still plenty of them, but there are also more periods of game play to even things out.
The shooting mechanics, while not bringing much new to the table (outside of a couple of special weapons, as I mentioned above), are solid all around. The peashooter pistol Galahad starts out with is one you'll want to replace quickly, but it does come in handy in a pinch and seems common around the environments. The heavier guns, on the other hand, have a heft and bulk to them that matches the fury unleashed when you fire them. Being hit by enemy fire can have similar effects. Certain weapons require you to be out of cover for a good bit of time as they charge up. Being hit by small arms fire, while inflicting damage, does not interrupt this firing action. It is a different story when you are being hit by something like a shotgun (or something nastier). This will fling the player's character backward, stumbling to find his footing.
Take too many hits, and you will go down. But all is not lost, thanks to Black Water, an elixir with power imparted to it by the Holy Grail. Tap triangle to trigger the drinking process, then hammer the cross button to actually do the drinking. This will get you back on your feet, but you must still avoid taking damage for a short time to regain your health. Take a hit during this time and it's back to the checkpoint for you.
Which is never a big problem, as the checkpoints are plentiful. There is no user-controlled save system. The game does an automatic save at each checkpoint. This can be disconcerting initially, but if one learns to trust the game, it works out.
The stealth sequences of the game are quite well done, even if it does ape the "get seen and you're dead" trope from many other stealth games. It doesn't ever feel oppressive, though. Only during one such sequence did I ever approach aggravation. And even that sequence was easily completed when I broadened my chosen approach. Initially, I was intent on completing it without firing my weapon at all. But stealthily sneaking through a courtyard garden, while staying in cover as much as possible and keeping track of where guards are proved to be a daunting task.
One thing that I found rather odd was how much I liked not having a map or radar. This is something that has become expected in games and personally, I would have said it was a flaw to be absent here. But after getting into the game, I became enamored by the lack of such a device. Instead of glancing down to the bottom left corner of the screen to pinpoint the exact location of every enemy I was about to face, like my digital avatar, I had to look for them. It made the game much more immersive. Not something I would have expected going in.
There are two kinds of QTEs in the game. Combat related, and environment related. Many of the environment related QTEs could probably have been excluded. The game frequently prompts the user to push the triangle button to do things like examine a newspaper or object, which makes sense. It also does this to prompt the player to open doors. One could probably make the argument that this is the only way to determine which doors can be opened and which can not, it still manages to disrupt the immersion to an extent.
Combat QTEs are well executed, evoking God of War more often than not. Despite how well they are executed, though, I am glad they are not more prevalent. They only come into play a handful of times throughout the game. Any more than that and there was a real risk of them becoming a burden (unless more diversity were introduced).
Make no mistake, 1886 exerts a tremendous amount of control over what the player can and cannot do at any given time. In areas where you are to walk in order to advance to the next area, you will do just that - walk. Were the environments less engaging, this might be an issue. However, despite the lack of much in the way of collectibles, I still found myself walking around just to look at things. You are also prohibited from drawing your weapon unless there is an altercation on the horizon. I'm torn on this aspect of the game. There are downsides to it. For instance, a certain level of dread is removed from the game because you always know that if you are unable to draw your weapon, you are safe. On the other hand, RaD have an explicit goal with the game, which is telling a story. And giving players the option of drawing weapons just to shoot beer bottles or apples in the middle of London would certainly be counter to that goal.
Problems/Gripes
No game is without its flaws and The Order: 1886 is no different. There are several small things that bothered me about the game. For one, despite being able to explore many areas of the environments, there is little reason to do so. There are collectibles (newspapers, photos, wax cylinders, etc...). But the only ones that are truly collectible are the wax cylinders. Newspapers, depending on your eyesight and/or distance from your viewing device of choice, are really only readable at the headline level. There is more text in the main stories, but you would have to get close to the TV to see them. A nice touch would have been to add those to your Archives inventory and make them available to read in plain text the way you can listen to the wax cylinders and read their text.
Another area where the game fell short is directly related to presentation. As beautiful as the game is, and as well as RaD nailed the cinematic experience, the tutorial messages constantly take the player out of that rich experience. And they never stop. The game is sixteen chapters long and in chapter sixteen, the same tutorial messages continue to appear. By chapter sixteen, if you haven't figured out how to run, you probably aren't ever going to.
Lack of character reflections in mirrors. While this may simply be a technical issue (I realize that reflections have been done in several games, but the technical tricks RaD used in this game, as I understand it, may have made mirror reflections quite difficult if not impossible), I like to think that there is an, as yet unrevealed, story reason for the fact that your character casts no reflection in mirrors. On the other hand, he does cast reflections in other surfaces, so perhaps not. But it was a glaring omission at the beginning of the game. And considering the ridiculous attention to detail on display in every other aspect of the game, I can't help but think that RaD has a good explanation for it.
Black Sight. Relatively early on in the game, you're forced to use what is called "Black Sight." This is triggered by a tutorial that plays exactly once. During a rather hectic gun battle. And, despite repeating every other conceivable tutorial message ad nauseum throughout the rest of the game, this one never makes another appearance. Due to this, I never actually used the ability again. When I go back to get the platinum trophy (which is actually possible on a single play through), I'll have to learn how to use it.
Bottom Line
The Order: 1886 is a heavily narrative-driven game. It doesn't allow or encourage very much in the way of exploration. It holds the players hands and, at times, even drags the player along. But it is all in service of the story. And in this reviewer's opinion, it's a ride worth taking. The story, while not breaking any ground, is competent, well told, and well acted. It is a compelling story that, thanks to the impressive technical and artistic chops of developer Ready At Dawn, implies a much larger world that I'm anxious to explore more. The game is a throwback of sorts. There is no open world, there is no multiplayer, leveling system, nothing that isn't directly in service of the story. Twenty years ago, this game would have been considered an also ran (outside of the presentation). In 2015, it stands out amongst other titles that have embraced the things mentioned above. It's refreshing in its nostalgic insistence on making story the primary driver of the player's actions. Would I want every game to be like this? No. But I also wouldn't want every game to be like Grand Theft Auto or Call of Duty. And, outside of indie titles, we've been moving toward a gaming landscape where that was threatening to be the case.
That this story is wrapped in the most exquisite visuals you're likely to see for a while just makes it that much more compelling. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing where RaD takes this franchise. There are a lot of depths to plumb here and RaD obviously has the technical chops to make the ride quite an experience.
You may have noticed that, especially for such a story-driven game, I spent very little time on story in this review. That is not accidental, nor is it a commentary on the story itself. I am just not one to toss out spoilers willy-nilly, and getting into too much depth about the story of this game almost certainly would be in spoiler territory. I enjoyed the story quite a bit.
Pass, Rent, or Buy?
If you really enjoy narrative driven gaming (and want to own the best looking game available), it's a definite buy.If you want multiplayer or an open world game, pass.
The Order: 1886
Ready At Dawn
Santa Monica Studio
Sony Computer Entertainment
$59.99 MSRP Retail and Digital on the PlayStation Store
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