The Order: 1886 Review (PS4)

The Order: 1886

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SCE is out with another exclusive and that is my favourite time of the year! I still remember when I saw this game revealed last year at E3. I was blown away by the uniqueness and the feel this game had then. I couldn't wait for it to show itself and it finally has. We all know that games tend to be different from their trailers. So, how has this game fared? Is it worth all the hype? Let's find out.

THIS ARTICLE MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS.

• Platform(s)        :   PlayStation 4 (Exclusive)
• Runs at               :   1080p, 60FPS
• Developer           :   Ready At Dawn Studios, Santa Monica 
• Publisher            :   Sony
• Genre                 :   Action Shooter
• View(s)               :   3rd Person
• Release Date        : February 20, 2015
• Price                    :   ₹3,999 / $59.99 / £45.70 

REVIEW:

You play as Sir Galahad in an alternate version of Victorian England. He is an expert tracker and hunter. He has immense experience fighting, especially Lycans (The Order was established by King Arthur to fight these Half-Breeds). He is calm and cool with great skill and instinct. That, my friends, is a deadly combination. Sir Galahad is also a mentor to Igraine (the female protagonist).

This game is reportedly inspired by Unchartered 2: Among Thieves. So you will find it to have pretty similar elements, just done better. The gameplay is extremely smooth and the interactive cinematics adds to the charm of the game. The cinematics are truely beautiful, almost movie-like. 

Interactive Cinematics

Interaction with Objects

One thing that requires our close attention is the Character Modelling in the game. The characters are so gorgeous, sometimes it feels like watching a scene from an actual movie. The expressions and delivery of speech are very much believable, making the experience even better.

Sir Galahad

Igraine

Sir Percival

Other Characters in the Game

The graphics and the detailing is very much accurate (the only kind that matters to me). This is some of the best graphics I've seen on a console in a very long time. The ambiance is really beautiful. Moreover, Sony claims that this game is just touching the surface of the graphical capabilities of the PlayStaion 4. I really can't wait to find out what more this system can do (excited!). But I've got to admit - the transition between scenes can be a little bit wonky sometimes. Nothing to be alarmed about because it is fluid most of the times.

Another thing that makes this game stand out is the authenticity of every little thing. The clothing, words used, environment, painting on the walls, the weapons, the newspaper, lighting, reflections, personality of the characters, their haircut, everything reeks of the ways of the Englishmen from the 19th century. A special round of applause to the voice actors in this game. It is not easy to convince someone of something that isn't real, especially of an imaginary world. But the acting is so natural, it feels like we are at the center of it all. Brilliant job done there! The soundtrack is engrossing and the audio effects are precise.

Sir Galahad Scouting the City

Sunlight and Shadows

The Famous Painting of Lady Godiva

A Newspaper

Rappelling Down From An Airship

Inside of the Airship

Burning

If you like a game because of its guns, you're gonna love this one. By now I'm sure you would've had, at the very least, a glimpse of the weaponry in the game. So there's no need for me to tell you that these people (the characters in the game) have some crazy technology at work.
The weapons are loud, powerful and really cool. You will enjoy using each and every one of those. The gunplay is super smooth, aiming is what you'd expect it to be (landing head-shots is pretty easy) and there aren't too many weapons that would get you all confused. You'll just be left wanting more. The destruction, blood, smoke and fire effects are magnificent.

Pn83 'Falchion' Auto-Rifle

Essex M2 of the Combo Gun (Secondary Fire)

Arc Gun

M84 Marksman Carbine (Sniper)

Thermite Gun (bad-ass)

Frag Grenade

Repeating Arbalest (Crossbow)

There are a few gadgets that have their own application from time-to-time. The developers have also implemented the use of the DualShock 4's touchpad (as seen in the image below). Here, it is used to send a morse code to an airship above (which is pretty awesome).

TS-28 Monocular (Binoculars)

Stamford Lockpick

The Half-Breeds in this game are pretty horrific, I must say. Lycans, is what they are called. Though the small ones are easy to kill, the Elders require a lot of fire power to take down. The sad thing is we don't get to fight a lot of Lycans in the game. Then what's their purpose? Well..let's just say yhey are important to the story. Combining the shooting and the cinematic interactions, this game gives the player one hell of an experience.

Lycan

The Elder Lycan

The Elder Lycan Can Sniff Out Its Prey

The Elder Lycan's Scary Eyes

Fight Sequence

An Intense Battle

The AI is pretty weak, according to me. Sometimes an enemy (human) won't shoot you if you're standing right next to him and sometimes the enemy won't even notice you if you run past him (LOL!). And the Half-Breeds (the small ones) are pretty stupid. They have only one move (i.e) pounce, which can be easily evaded by mashing the 'X' button at the right time. The combat with these Lycans is repetitive, which is a little boring. But these are really minor mishappenings. I wouldn't say no to smarter enemies, though. Makes it a little more realistic and challenging. It's all very exciting nonetheless. The story progresses pretty nicely with a load of twists towards the end, some of which can be foreseen easily, the rest, staggering. The ending is great, which a lot of games fail to deliver.

VERDICT:

This is no 'The Last Of Us', let me be clear. I don't think there has ever been any game that can come even close to that game's perfection and I don't see any in the near future as well. But Sony is on the right track with 'The Order: 1886' and it is definitely up there. And like any game, this has it's own pluses and minuses.

+ Immersive story
+ Exceptional visuals and sound
+ Smooth gunplay
+ Great ambiance and overall feel

- No replay value
- Expensive
- Needed more Lycan Enemies

There have been a lot of reviews giving negative remarks to this game just because they felt that the game wasn't long enough. I strongly disagree with that kind of mentality. It's the quality and the story and the immersiveness that matters, not how long the game is. Yes, it is a little short but that shouldn't necessarily make a game bad. Sometimes it's the opposite that's true. Like in Alien: Isolation. That game is gorgeous! But I feel that it overstayed its welcome. It would've been great if it was a little shorter. Reason?  Because it gets all repetitive. Do the same things over and over and over again till..well..till the end, whenever that comes.

This game has no multiplayer so from that perspective, it is expensive.  But what can you expect from a AAA exclusive? They will always be expensive! That's one area where the companies can show off and let their competitors know how cool they are.

I haven't played a game with such an incredible story in quite some time now. This game reminds me of the many reasons why I got into gaming (story, gameplay, experience, graphics). The quality of this game is something that no other game on the market has at the moment. It feels very royal.

So if you are one of those people who can afford it and are looking for a game with a package of fun, ease of play and solid experience, then this is definitely one of the better games available right now. If not, you can always wait till the price goes down and since this doesn't have multiplayer, you won't be missing out on much. Because its campaign won't change and the DLCs (if they will have any) will be available when you decide to get the game. But you must give this game a shot, either now or in the future when the price comes down. You will not regret it.