The heavily anticipated PlayStation exclusive The Order: 1886 has just been released, and reviews are starting to trickle in. And, going by the general opinion in the gamerverse, it isn’t exactly the masterpiece that developer Ready at Dawn was hoping it would be. Although we haven’t yet played the game firsthand, we have rounded up the reviews from some of our favorite gaming sites so that you don’t have to.
The majority of reviewers praised the game’s production value, graphics and technical achievements, while criticizing the game’s length, story, gameplay, replay value and the player’s involvement in the game. The Order: 1886 currently has an aggregated score of 63.20% on GameRankings based on 38 reviews and 65/100 on Metacritic based on 55 reviews.
Erik Kain of Forbes has already predicted this game would be one of the biggest disappointments of 2015 before its launch, and now, having played it, he stands by his word. “It’s not a bad game, but the inexplicable game design decisions that bog it down, and the relatively short amount of time you actually spend playing, make it a tough sell at $60. It’s one of those games I find myself liking, but even more so wishing were something more—more the game it could have been, and less the game it is.” He gave the game a 6.5/10.
IGN also gives the game a 6.5/10 noting that “The basic conflict at the heart of The Order: 1886 is that considerations for a cinematic approach are prioritized above the needs of basic gameplay.”
In a review that starts with,”games like The Order: 1886 are why I don’t pre-order games anymore,” Polygon’s Justin McElroy notes, “”The Order doesn’t offer much that other games aren’t doing better. Galahad’s story, such as it is, concludes so rapidly and with so few loose threads tied off, it’s hard to shake the feeling that someone somewhere decided that it was time for the knight and his cohorts to get out into the world whether they were ready or not. Though it nails some of the fundamentals, The Order: 1886 has been released without answering the essential question of what it offers that other games aren’t already doing better . Everything about the game’s final shot screams ‘sequel set up,’ but unless The Order finds some non-aesthetic reasons to justify its existence, it’s hard to imagine coming back for a second adventure.”
Kotaku’s Kirk Hamilton, in answer to the question, “Should You Play This Game?” states an empathic “No.” “The Order: 1886 doesn’t feel like the product of someone’s grand vision; it feels like the tatters of that vision have been gathered, taped together, and presented as complete. The best I can say of it is that its premise is just novel enough to feel wasted. As I played, I kept wishing for some hint of inspiration, a dash of spirit to warm me against the chilly downpour of mediocrity. I found none.”
From The Verge’s Andrew Webster, “The Order, on the other hand, is refreshingly linear. There are no branching paths to distract you from the main quest, and you will never find yourself getting lost – the levels are essentially funnels that keep pushing you in the right direction. But the action is so brisk that I didn’t really mind…The Order feels like a much bigger game boiled down to the essentials, a complete experience without any filler.”
EuroGamer says, “The Order: 1886 isn’t a disaster, nor is it a particularly good game. It’s a hollow diversion, entertaining but outmoded and caught somewhere between a medium it repeatedly fumbles and one it fails to effectively embrace.”
GameSpot gave The Order 5 out of 10, stating, “What, then, to make of The Order: 1886? It is, at best, perfectly playable, and lovely to look at and listen to. But it is also the face of mediocrity and missed opportunities. A bad game can make a case for itself. A boring one is harder to forgive.”
Stating that ‘The Order: 1886’ is the latest in a long line of beautiful, boring games, Engadget says, “The cover-based shooting is adequate, but I just can’t shake the feeling that I’ve done it all before in better games. What’s more, the narrative is incredibly dull: non-interactive scenes plod on for too long, helmed by characters I have zero connection with, spouting rote dialog that’s difficult to decipher more often than not. Its just not very good. But it is pretty!”
So there you have it, one of the most hotly anticipated PlayStation exclusives for 2015.
