The Order | 1886 (PS4 Review)

(All screenshots in this review have been captured from the PS4)

The Order has been under recent heavy fire from critics and consumers alike for various reasons. The most damning criticisms have been its heavy reliance on storytelling over gameplay, the lack of replay value, and the length. While I somewhat agree with these complaints, I also consider these complaints expected as the developers have long stated that the game's intent was to provide a cinematic experience over gameplay. The Order is a competent piece of work that set out to do exactly what it intended to do. Consumers should decide for themselves if this is something worth checking out, though I would recommend waiting for the game to lower its admission fee.

A game should always be judged on its gameplay and I think that this is something that will be on the forefront of anyone's mind. The Order has gameplay and what it does is entirely average. There's nothing spectacular about the combat outside of the graphics - it works fine and there aren't any real complaints worth mentioning. Shooting feels tight and responsive, the combat and stealth segments are mindless fun, and they try to make the quick time events as little of annoyance as possible. It does a reasonable job of pacing the gameplay along with its story segments but it's not enough.

The player is provided most of the story through cutscenes that cannot be skipped. Visual storytelling elements outside of cutscenes are empty in comparison to exposition that you'll be provided through admittedly strong voice performances from every actor. You'll see a lot of gorgeous things, but the world is lifeless in contrast to the characters that inhabit it. You're never provided a meaningful way to interact with the world around you and the linearity as well as the incessant lack of control can break the fourth wall. Players can find a few collectibles that are scattered around the environment but none of them carry any sort of significance whatsoever. I believe that this is The Order's greatest missed opportunity. A sense of the player's individuality is inherent in game design, so to rob the player of that is a fault that deserves heavy criticism. The story may take precedence, but the player should still feel as if they're driving the narrative in a game, otherwise the story suffers.

The Order is, and I mean this as kindly as I can, the most well-polished tech demo that has ever been released. It feels like a game that should've been a pack in with the PlayStation 4 when it launched. There's a lot of things in here to love, but the gameplay will easily be forgotten and as a consequence the story has difficulty supporting the weight of its cons and heavy handed design. There's nothing about the game that's bad - its's just that there's nothing about the game that comes out of the experience as wildly memorable. I remain hopeful that this series will continue because I like everything that they've managed to create. The Order's greatest task going forward will be finding a way to provide a better paced story with better gameplay and less reliance on its cinematic prowess. It's the only hope it has if it ever wishes to be taken seriously as a system-selling exclusive.

Grade: C