The Order: 1886 shows what's graphically possible with the PlayStation 4, but it fails to anchor those stunning visuals with engaging gameplay and narratives. That's the common thread that's unifying the gaming press right now.
In an alternate universe, London in 1886 is threatened by Lycans and it's up to an elite order of knights to squash the threat. Members of the elite order, connected to King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table, are equipped with small arms that run the gamut, from pistols to steampunk weapons influenced by Nikola Tesla.
As made apparent by its sleek graphics and further evidenced by its aspect ratio of 2.35:1, the same one that's used in theaters, The Order: 1886 has been packaged by its developer, Ready at Dawn, as a cinematic experience.
Viewing the game at full resolution shows that Ready at Dawn hit the mark square in the bull's eye when targeting a cinematic experience, but reviewers have indicated that those graphics are stapled to tightly linear progression that offers a standard serving of quicktime events and corridor shooting galleries.
Giant Bomb 2/5
Jeff Gerstmann over at Giant Bomb appears to have tried to avoid ripping The Order: 1886 apart, but each of the game's bright spots were negated by caveats. The game only has a couple of flashes of brilliance, he said, but those bright spots didn't appear in The Order: 1886's story.
"By the time you get the info dump about what's really going on, you're already halfway through the game. And the whole thing stops at what feels like the ending of a second act. There's a bad guy still out there, but he isn't big and bad enough to hang a cliffhanger on. Instead it just feels like there needed to be another hour or so in there to properly wrap things up," Gerstmann pointed out.
Gamespot 5/10
Gamespot's Kevin VanOrd makes it plain from the outset of his review that The Order: 1886 is "boring" and "devoid of closure." It just doesn't deliver on the form made by its graphics and its premise, according to VanOrd's review.
"'Boring' is the best word to describe The Order in general, actually. That this third-person action game turns a parade of steampunk imagery and Arthurian legends into a dull stew of modern games' most tiresome cliches is quite a feat, though hardly one worth celebrating," VanOrd said.
HuffPosts 4/5
Despite noting that The Order: 1886 characters lack the heart and frailty needed to evoke feelings of attachment, The HuffPost's Michael Rundle still managed to give a generally positive review of the game.
"The Order is still more or less essential playing for PS4 owners, just because it might be the first game to show what's truly possible with the console. It's also nothing less than a very entertaining, very exciting mixture of action and stealth gaming, which intoxicated me for the best part of a solid day," Rundle said.
