The Order 1886 has come out and the reviews have been extremely mixed. The mixed nature definitely had an impact on how I approached this game. Usually I am itching to play a game that arrives through the post but the feedback made me wait. It was a “joyless and boring” [1] after all. It is only once I starting playing the game did I realise. The mixed vibe was created by two problems. The first problem being a developer’s issue regarding how this genre should be distributed and how it should be presented. The second problem was the media reluctance to go against the norm.
The Developer:
Ready at Dawn have clearly tried to make a game that was cinematic. The black bars, impressive visuals, strong emphasis on dialogue instead of set pieces, the entire game feels a big departure from what we are used to. By focusing on the cinematic nature of games, Ready at Dawn has carved a new genre out of something that was started by games like Fahrenheit. This focus has made the environment far more realistic and less gamey than any other game out there. It tried to take the jarring game feeling out of video games which is something I feel a lot of games suffer from. But Ready at Dawn have not thought nor explored how such a new, evolving, genre should be distributed and enjoyed. They have assumed everyone will be accept paying full price for an experimental game that hasn’t really been done nor have timed to establish itself. What I am really getting at is they should have gone for a less full frontal attack and gone for the more drip feeding, episodic, approach. It would have sold a lot of problems Ready at Dawn faced launching a new ip in a new setting.
Much has been said of its slow pacing, uninteresting finale and short length but Ready at Dawn shoved them into a corner making a cinematic experience as a full length game. Making the game longer would have killed pacing further. Look at nearly all lengthy games. The pacing has always been poorly done bar one example at that is The Last of Us. GTA, Dying Light, Red Dead Redemption and so on suffer from poor pacing. What drives you to carry on playing is the same sort of progression (unlock/see more stuff) and not what it actually going on. Shorter games have better pacing but suffer from another videogame problem which is story driven by set pieces. The dumbed down story of shorter games is a necessity to get from one set piece to another. The Order 1886 is clearly none of these things. It isn’t the dumbed down set piece nature that has plagued videogame storytelling for some time nor is it the extended piece of work that plods along in the traditional manner going nowhere meaningful until the final act/scenes. The Last of Us is the only game, which for me, got pacing right. That was because it took the formula of an episodic game but gave it all away as a complete package. It is almost like a Netflix’s series where the entire series is there from day one. The Order had no hope if it didn’t take The Last of Us or Telltale Games style approach to telling a story especially when it envisioned itself being a cinematic experience.
The Media:
This does not mean Ready at Dawn is fully at fault for such a mixed reaction. True it might have been received better if they thought about how such a game should be distributed but the general media reactions to The Order 1886 is also part of the problem that also highlights an industry wide issue. For example the Metro called it an “old-fashioned and ruthlessly uninteresting Gears of War clone” [2] and Digitaltrends giving a 1/5 [3] showed a narrow-minded traditional view of how games should be which leaves little room for variety in the big games. The Order 1886 shows no resemblance to Gears of War (apart from being a third person shooter) nor is the game broken (which can’t be said for some very high profile games out there). The lower scores are also a bit concerning when some scores fit in the same sphere as Ride to Hell: Retribution which couldn’t even get its own fundamentals right. By giving such absurdly low scores and weak comparison moves away from what the Order 1886 has done right and what it has tried (and in some ways) successfully done. Publishers will use The Order 1886 over reaction as an example of why risks should not happen.
Kotaku’s review highlights the irony of the media’s approach to the Order 1886 when it said “if it managed a single new gameplay idea over the course of its runtime, I didn't catch it” [4] because out of the biggest games, so far, this generation The Order 1886 is one the few games to try something different. It tried to take the game feeling out of games by giving the entire feel of the game a cinematic quality. You don’t run around a foreign lifeless world like a hardened grunt. The world feels like a place someone would actually inhabit. It also highlights the hippocratic nature of game reception. Complain about a game not trying anything new but allow high praise for Far Cry 4, the entire Assassin’s Creed series after brotherhood and every shooter to grace gaming since the beginning of the last generation. Is it right to question one’s perceived lack of including anything new but allow established franchises to keep pumping out reskins of previous games? Of course not especially when I felt the Order 1886 introduce far more new atmospheric gameplay elements than any previous game (the latter of have just been window dressing a blank slate).
Overall
The issue with the Order 1886 is a tale of two issues that have far reaching ramifications for developing games. The developers didn’t fully realise their ambition because they didn’t bother looking at how it should have been delivered. Though, this is a usual case for new ips that are trying to establish their niche and direction. The fear is the damming reaction from the media which I dread may have had a lasting impact of big publishers unlikely to deviate from the norm which has stalled AAA game development for some time now. This isn’t me saying the Order 1886 is one of the best games ever (I felt it is a solid 6) nor I am not going to pummel the game into oblivion as Ready of Dawn have made an interesting step into making games feel more real/cinematic and shake that jarring gamey feeling which nearly all games suffer from. I think it is safe to say goodbye to innovation amongst AAA game developers and it is a situation the media has created themselves.
Sources:
[1] http://www.forbes.com/sites...
[2] http://metro.co.uk/2015/02/...
[3] http://www.digitaltrends.co...
[4] http://kotaku.com/the-order...
Sony Group Corp. is shutting down Bluepoint Games, the PlayStation subsidiary responsible for developing remakes of video games such as Demon’s Souls.
Roughly 70 employees will lose their jobs amid the studio closure, a PlayStation spokesperson said, writing in a statement that the decision was made “following a recent business review.” Bluepoint will officially shutter next month.
They’d been working on a God of War GaaS game that got shut down I think. Had been hoping they would be taking the lead on the remake of the original trilogy as their next project instead.
damn, loved their work on the Uncharted series remasters. That would have been great as I missed the earlier GoW entries.
Go f*** yourself Sony
Your stupid management are the ones who made them waste years on a God of War live service title only to cancel it.
This is insane, they’ve really screwed up here, what the actual f*** man.
Sony has been sabotaging themselves for the whole generation. their focus on live service has been an absolute disaster for everyone involved, the gamers, the studios, the investors. where are the solo games? what did Bluepoint do to deserve this? they done a brilliant job remastering and remaking games for sony and this is how sony treat them? after years wasted for a crap GOW live service nobody wanted.
man, fuck sony. they're so dumb it's incredible.
I think we can sadly say that we are witnessing the PlayStation fortress collapse before our eyes..
This really sucks they couldve did Socom remaster or live service instead of milking gow to get shut down this sucks a good studio.
See which games topped Canada’s 2025 sales charts, how Canadian-made series shaped the list, and which older hits refused to drop out.
Sony won’t raise PS5 price despite rising RAM costs, aiming to offset higher memory expenses through software and service sales growth.
Hope that doesn't mean a blanket GAAS push like Jim did, a few studios is fine but not all. But i mean consoles historically are mostly sold at a loss with game/merch meant to recoup lifetime costs, so not unfamiliar ground.
Makes me thank the heavens I bought my current ram, ps5, and steam deck before this price increases nonsense lol.
but you're still going to incur the cost of the ram price increases bc the games you buy going forward are going to be more expensive to pay for the ram increase
so the console won't get more expensive... the games will. I'd almost rather it be the other way around considering the games and services cost increase would end up costing cumulatively more than just paying a bit more for a console. but I guess thats why they most likely made that decision.
It means when you buy digital goods from Sony its helping others not have to shell out big $$$$ for a ps5. No one wants consoles to become unaffordable.
What you said I agree with, but I believe RaD's approach was the wrong way to try innovation in the gaming industry. I can appreciate that they put a surplus amount of detail and care into the game world and the design and presentation is top notch, but when you look at the fundamentals of what games are all about, where do you take a step back and realize that you're just putting wedding decor on a homemade birthday cake? I feel they put too much work around everything that doesn't matter in a game and put less work in parts that do matter. I also think they were trying too hard on the story and it came off as the least interesting part about it. But aside from that I'm sure the inevitable sequel however they choose to present it will at least have a better fairing, hoping they don't resort to caving in to generic multiplayer with exp and loadouts, god knows I'm so sick of that.
"It tried to take the game feeling out of games by giving the entire feel of the game a cinematic quality."
Didn't Heavy Rain and it's producer say the same thing?
Your whole take on the media is what I find completely wrong.
"The Order 1886 shows no resemblance to Gears of War"
It does unfortunately, just like action games are compared to God of War or FPS games are compared to COD. Any game in it's genre is going to be compared to it's more popular equivalent and this one is definitely Gears.
"Publishers will use The Order 1886 over reaction as an example of why risks should not happen."
What risks though? This game did not take any risks at all besides being a new IP. It tokk the safest route in terms of gameplay, length and design. It didn't even have extra features to gamble on. RaD just made sure the game was as pretty as possible, it's like a Michael Bay movie with all his explosions, a feast for the eyes but that's it.
"It tried to take the game feeling out of games by giving the entire feel of the game a cinematic quality."
There is so much irony in this statement because how is that a good thing? I mean your statement right here alone should tell you exactly why it was scored so low.
They took the "game feel" out of the "game". And the cinematic quality is nothing but looks, what about gameplay, story, design?
"Complain about a game not trying anything new but allow high praise for Far Cry 4, the entire Assassin’s Creed series after brotherhood and every shooter to grace gaming since the beginning of the last generation."
Because those games have a formula that works and is considered fun by a lot of people and the reviewers. Again, why are gamers trying to knock other games that are doing things right just to make an excuse or argument for The Order?
Well, i am going to respond to part that you talked about the black bars in "The Order", to make the game feel more cinematic . I do not like when they do that, because it takes away from the immersion of the game . Movies are made for screens that are 30 feet wide and 15 feet in height for theaters . Video games are made for 19 inch to 60 inch TV's and monitors . That is a huge difference ! Developers and publishers please stop using blacks bars in your video games. Thanks
YOU DIDN'T LIKE A GAME I DID! I'M GOING TO START CRYING AND HAVING A FIT NOW AND DOWNVOTE YOUR BLOG AND REPORT YOU!
This website is full of children.
I agree with this article. When it comes to a cinematic, story driven game, the length is the last thing that comes to mind. What should be important is the immersion. Did it suck me in? Was the the story believable? And in this case, I believe the immersion is there. The atmosphere, music, voice acting, and even combat was created with extremely high standards.
What I would have like to see was some customization with the weapons or some type of skill progression such as learning to reload faster after doing it so many times. You know, little things like that would make sense.
I'd like to add one more thing I haven't had happen in a long long time. I didn't encounter a single bug in my first playthrough. Not one. Not only did Ready At Dawn create an impressive awe inspiring game, but did so with proper testing and debugging which is a really big deal to me. I'm not saying they're not there, but I didn't encounter a single one. Very impressive.