User Review : The Order: 1886

Bloody Brilliant

Gaming is a massive foray of different ideas and designs that makes the medium quite interesting. On the dartboard of the whole market, some aim for specific genres, hoping for their throw to be the next big hit with the audience. With games becoming more and more realistic, some have been going for a more intricate story while also balancing their gameplay. However, some games have also sashayed into better blends of cinema for their games, such as Metal Gear Solid and the TellTale’s collection of games. The Order: 1886 is another game to put up on that list, and Ready at Dawn is going all in for its cinematic gameplay. The only question is if it hits the bull’s-eye.

The story circulates around The Order, which is a conglomerate as old as time itself, and the original generation was known as the Knights of the Round Table, created by King Arthur himself. The current knights are warriors that are not the original knights, but have taken their names as the previous ones passed on. Thanks to the Black Water found by the original Sir Perceval, these knights are given special strengths and near-immortality, making some knights recent additions or ones old as time. As the name indicates, The Order: 1886 takes place in the year 1886. Technology has hit a boom with the collaboration of Nikola Tesla, in a faster way than what history tells us. Zeppelins and other aircraft pepper the skies way before their historical time, and weapons are given special traits to help out with the baddies. The Order’s main job is to keep the world from turning on its head, but also to keep in line the Half-Breeds, people able to turn into monsters such as Lycans and Vampires.

The player takes control of a character named Grayson, aliased Sir Galahad, fighting in a steampunk London. Galahad has been a knight for supposedly centuries, fighting as a loyal warrior and not one to joke around too much. His traits include extraordinary field experience and an enviously spectacular mustache. His partner, Isi, aliased Lady Igraine, also boasts expertise in the field, but has a bit more fun making light of situations, some death-defying and some about Galahad’s age. Together, the team take down rebels and half-breeds alike. Things get interesting when Sebastien, aliased Sir Perceval, informs Galahad along with Igraine and General Lafayette of the recent occurrences of rebel and half-breed activity centering on the area of Whitechapel. The Grand Chancellor in the hammiest way possible condones the idea, his phrase of the week being “circumstantial evidence” apparently, so they have to go in under the radar. More and more mysteries unfold the further the story goes on, indicating surface elements may be hiding a much more sinister truth.

All objects are in place to pass it off as a video game story, but a synopsis doesn’t do the game’s story any justice. The story in the game isn’t one that’s written up on a napkin during lunch break, any movie-fanatic will notice veteran cinema techniques to make the game all the more immersive. This is probably one of the first instances where a game really feels like a movie. The only issue is that if you’re not a fan of movie-games, then The Order can be a little much. Cutscenes surround the game in almost every instance, some sequences of gameplay lasting for literally seconds before it goes to another cutscene. Another problem is actually with, oddly enough, continuity. Not information missing by ways of plotholes, although there are a few deliberately left in for the sake of a sequel, but actually what is left out of the beginning. The plot centers around specific themes, and without giving away spoilers, themes that are effective points for a story that has had time building itself. The Order thankfully doesn't fistful you with information for the sake of following the plot, but it also slightly backfires as later occurrences feature plot concepts that would make for fantastic story…if it had been used on a media that already has two feet firmly planted on the ground. The Order consists of great plot points, but ones that ultimately don’t work simply because it is a newly established IP. There has not been enough time for this franchise to breathe to establish any connection that would give the player that emotional sting when things hit the fan. Not that the plot or characters are bad, far from it. It’s just what the writers wanted to make players feel didn't come across correctly, simply due to a poor choice of story direction. Despite that though, the story and characters are way above your average shooter, and is definitely worth watching at least once.

The gameplay is where things get interesting for all. The Order 1886 is a 3rd person cover-based shooter. You’ll sprint through the streets of London, blasting away filthy rebels and pretty scary monsters with the latest guns and weaponry. Shooting in this game is astoundingly amazing, as shots have excellent sound effects, the controls are tight and responsive, and the physics of an enemy going down from a headshot exert both disgust and excitement. Galahad can slip into cover at the press of a button, and lean out to get a better view for a better shot. There have been a couple times though, where Galahad will get slightly confused and get behind the wrong thing, but it rarely happens. Weapons don't vary too much, with classic shotguns and rifles to fill up the weapons list. There are a few unique ones though, such as the Arc gun, the Thermite gun, and the Falchion autorifle. The Arc gun shoots a charged electricity blast, disintegrating your enemies with one shot. The Thermite is an interestingly designed device that shoots magnesium pellets, which then can be set on fire with the help of the ignite device on the top of the gun. The Falchion autorifle, while shooting fast and furious, also comes equipped with a compressed air blast to stun enemies if you have to conserve bullets. These guns stick out from the rest, but outside of fun design and usage, don't offer much versatility other than looking cool killing. The Black Water also comes into play, acting as a revival in case Galahad gets downed, but only when you’re out of the line of fire for a period of time, and gives the knights Black Sight. Black Sight temporarily slows down time and allows Galahad to auto-aim and shoot up any enemy within his sight. Again, though, this power is very limited and is better used as a last resort.

The Order’s gameplay can be quite difficult, though, as it does different things for its own approach to the shooting genre. What’s different here is not something revolutionary, and not even that ingenious. It’s so forehead-slappingly obvious in fact that it’s unbelievable that other games didn’t do it. Instead of adding things to the game to make it more difficult, they simply took away current genre staples. When Galahad gets into cover, the camera shrinks to show only Galahad and a bit around the cover he’s hiding behind. No longer can you abuse the unexplained omniscient isometric view to get good sight on the field. There’s no radar of any kind nor is there the mystical “sense” genre staple to tell you where all your enemies are, so you can say goodbye to assurance. Lastly is the absence of auto-aim, outside of the previously mentioned Black Sight. This may’ve been a problem if the game’s general shooting wasn’t up to snuff, but not only is the lack of auto-aim a non-issue, but downing enemies is an absolute joy. The rise in difficulty from sheer absence of handicaps gives the game its own style, basing progression by pure skill.

The problems come in when the game isn’t letting you shoot up the streets. Between the heart-pumping segments are segments where Galahad pretty much walks around and finds collectables. These moments are just as, if not more frequent, than the shooting segments and have Galahad doing either collection, climbing across roofs, or venturing through long, corridor sections. While these sections certainly don’t ruin the experience, for people not too into story and still running off the high of the shooting, the portions can feel a bit dragged on. Not only that, a third of the game is story and cutscene, which are undoubtedly entertaining from a viewer standpoint, but specific points like the intro can really make you look at your watch. Thankfully, though, it does pick up its pace and manages to relatively maintain it throughout the play time. All-in-all, the gameplay has fantastic setpieces and moments that make your heart pump, you just have to get through some layers of plot to get there.

Graphics are definitely a forefront of criticism nowadays, and the Order 1886 is not afraid to become the pack leader. Cinematics would be fruitless had the game not been visually appealing, but the game is certainly a monster when it comes to graphical fidelity. A stylistic gray is draped over the entire game, giving a sense of dreariness and sorrow that not a lot of games opt for. The city of London is as detailed as ever, with nooks and crannies designed with the utmost care, bar Galahad’s lack of a reflection. Clothing and such fall with realism and hair on both the characters and monsters looks stunningly realistic. The odd thing is that black bars are on the top and bottom of the screen, assumingly for sake of cinema. At first, it may seem glaring, but those mystical bars suck you right into the game and you forget all about them until someone else literally points it out. The game also runs at a 30 frames per second with nary a drop for almost the entire playthrough. The music is angelic, Jason Graves of Tomb Raider and Austin Wintory of Journey teaming up to deliver a mix of orchestral with a very somber theme to them, complementing the game’s overall dreary design. The voice acting, besides the ham master Grand Chancellor, is fantastic, giving believable performances from all the cast, besides a couple awkward screams from Galahad. The Order may be a little shaky when it comes to other features, but one front it completely masters is the presentation.

The Order 1886 is a different beast altogether. Its direction in story and cinema isn’t necessarily unseen, but so far is the closest shot to the perfect blend that I’ve ever experienced. The gameplay, when you’re killing baddies, is exhilarating, removing genre staples to give you a genuine experience of panic and skill, with progression earned. It does however slow down when it comes to the corridor segments, which aren’t ruining, but can cause a little discomfort after the shooting segments. The presentation is astoundingly amazing, with a complimenting soundtrack and dreary style to give the game character. The Order 1886 certainly isn’t the game to end the hunt for cinema in games, as there are still problems that persist within it. But for my worth, it got damn near close to it.