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The Order: 1886 Review Roundup
Much of the discussion surrounding PlayStation 4 exclusive The Order: 1886 has been about its debatable duration, but how does the game actually play?
Ahead of its release on Friday February 20 across the US and Europe, reviewers have now weighed in on Ready At Dawn's debut PS4 project. See below for a roundup of review scores and editor opinions.
And for more regarding the critical reception to The Order: 1886, be sure to read GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
GameSpot -- 5/10
"It is, at best, perfectly playable, and lovely to look at and listen to. But it is also the face of mediocrity and missed opportunities. A bad game can make a case for itself. A boring one is harder to forgive." - Kevin VanOrd [Full review]
Polygon -- 5.5/10
"The Order doesn't offer much that other games aren't doing better. Galahad's story, such as it is, concludes so rapidly and with so few loose threads tied off, it's hard to shake the feeling that someone somewhere decided that it was time for the knight and his cohorts to get out into the world whether they were ready or not. Though it nails some of the fundamentals, The Order: 1886 has been released without answering the essential question of what it offers that other games aren't already doing better . Everything about the game's final shot screams 'sequel set up,' but unless The Order finds some non-aesthetic reasons to justify its existence, it's hard to imagine coming back for a second adventure." - Justin McElroy [Full review]
EGM -- 4.5/10
"The Order: 1886 is a paper-thin PS4 launch title delivered 15 months behind schedule. It's nowhere near as profound or innovative as it thinks it is--the epitome of all style and no substance." - Andrew Fitch [Full review]
Game Informer -- 7.75/10
"While The Order: 1886 is a fun adventure with lots of intriguing reveals about the nature of its world, it’s also clear that Ready At Dawn intends for this to be the first game of a grander story. Players should brace themselves for a lot of unresolved character arcs and unanswered questions. This is an origin story, but a fascinating one. 1886 goes against the current tide of open-world wandering and emergent sequences, and banks on the idea that players can enjoy a straightforward and relatively brief cinematic adventure – if it’s well told and original. I hope Ready At Dawn is right; I'd love to see what happens in 1887." - Matt Miller [Full review]
IGN -- 6.5/10
"The basic conflict at the heart of The Order: 1886 is that considerations for a cinematic approach are prioritized above the needs of basic gameplay. Its best aspects are its stunning looks, atmosphere, and style--which are truly fantastic--and entertaining fiction. But the shallow, slow, and generic quick-time event-riddled gameplay make it feel like an experience that would've been better served by a non-interactive movie than a game. With no multiplayer, and no reason to revisit the short and stunted single-player campaign once it’s been completed, there just isn't a lot to it." - Brandin Tyrrel [Full review]
Eurogamer (No Review Score)
"The Order: 1886 isn't a disaster, nor is it a particularly good game. It's a hollow diversion, entertaining but outmoded and caught somewhere between a medium it repeatedly fumbles and one it fails to effectively embrace." - Martin Robinson [Full review]
Videogamer -- 6/10
"The Order is a beautiful dud. Instead of building the core mechanics and then wrapping everything else around it, it appears Ready at Dawn made a movie and wondered how to put a game into it. By all accounts it still hasn't worked it out." Steven Burns [Full review]
PlayStation Universe -- 7.5/10
"Like Resistance: Fall of Man, The Order: 1886 comes early in a console lifecycle to set new visual benchmarks and give us creative, compelling fiction. As a game, it's significantly less ambitious." - Kyle Prahl [Full review]
Kotaku -- Should You Play This Game? "No"
"The Order: 1886 doesn't feel like the product of someone's grand vision; it feels like the tatters of that vision have been gathered, taped together, and presented as complete. The best I can say of it is that its premise is just novel enough to feel wasted. As I played, I kept wishing for some hint of inspiration, a dash of spirit to warm me against the chilly downpour of mediocrity. I found none." - Kirk Hamilton [Full review]
USGamer -- 3/5
"The Order: 1886 ends by leaving itself wide open for a sequel (The Order: 1887, one presumes), and I'm interested enough in the series' premise that I'll definitely give it a look. But I can only hope that inevitable sequel offers the sort of improvement we saw from Assassin's Creed to Assassin's Creed II. There's a decent game here, but it does little to set itself apart from those that clearly inspired it. Here's to the future, and to differentiation." Jeremy Parish [Full review]
DigitalSpy -- 3/5
"The Order: 1886 isn't easy to recommend, but it isn't impossible to endorse, and despite its familiarity, is a game we enjoyed our time with. Here's hoping The Order: 1887 pushes for greater." - Ian Dransfield [Full review]
Metro -- 4/10
"Ready at Dawn clearly object to the idea of interrupting their pretty graphics with something as trivial as gameplay, but despite their claims they don't seem to have any real interest in storytelling either. Perhaps their programmers should have taken their obvious talents to ILM or some other visual effects company, because they clearly have no appetite for interactive entertainment." - David Jenkins [Full review]
More...
Ahead of its release on Friday February 20 across the US and Europe, reviewers have now weighed in on Ready At Dawn's debut PS4 project. See below for a roundup of review scores and editor opinions.
And for more regarding the critical reception to The Order: 1886, be sure to read GameSpot sister site Metacritic.
- Game: The Order: 1886
- Developer: Ready at Dawn
- Platforms: PS4
- Release Date: February 20
- Price: $60
GameSpot -- 5/10
"It is, at best, perfectly playable, and lovely to look at and listen to. But it is also the face of mediocrity and missed opportunities. A bad game can make a case for itself. A boring one is harder to forgive." - Kevin VanOrd [Full review]
Polygon -- 5.5/10
"The Order doesn't offer much that other games aren't doing better. Galahad's story, such as it is, concludes so rapidly and with so few loose threads tied off, it's hard to shake the feeling that someone somewhere decided that it was time for the knight and his cohorts to get out into the world whether they were ready or not. Though it nails some of the fundamentals, The Order: 1886 has been released without answering the essential question of what it offers that other games aren't already doing better . Everything about the game's final shot screams 'sequel set up,' but unless The Order finds some non-aesthetic reasons to justify its existence, it's hard to imagine coming back for a second adventure." - Justin McElroy [Full review]
EGM -- 4.5/10
"The Order: 1886 is a paper-thin PS4 launch title delivered 15 months behind schedule. It's nowhere near as profound or innovative as it thinks it is--the epitome of all style and no substance." - Andrew Fitch [Full review]
Game Informer -- 7.75/10"While The Order: 1886 is a fun adventure with lots of intriguing reveals about the nature of its world, it’s also clear that Ready At Dawn intends for this to be the first game of a grander story. Players should brace themselves for a lot of unresolved character arcs and unanswered questions. This is an origin story, but a fascinating one. 1886 goes against the current tide of open-world wandering and emergent sequences, and banks on the idea that players can enjoy a straightforward and relatively brief cinematic adventure – if it’s well told and original. I hope Ready At Dawn is right; I'd love to see what happens in 1887." - Matt Miller [Full review]
IGN -- 6.5/10
"The basic conflict at the heart of The Order: 1886 is that considerations for a cinematic approach are prioritized above the needs of basic gameplay. Its best aspects are its stunning looks, atmosphere, and style--which are truly fantastic--and entertaining fiction. But the shallow, slow, and generic quick-time event-riddled gameplay make it feel like an experience that would've been better served by a non-interactive movie than a game. With no multiplayer, and no reason to revisit the short and stunted single-player campaign once it’s been completed, there just isn't a lot to it." - Brandin Tyrrel [Full review]
Eurogamer (No Review Score)
"The Order: 1886 isn't a disaster, nor is it a particularly good game. It's a hollow diversion, entertaining but outmoded and caught somewhere between a medium it repeatedly fumbles and one it fails to effectively embrace." - Martin Robinson [Full review]
Videogamer -- 6/10
"The Order is a beautiful dud. Instead of building the core mechanics and then wrapping everything else around it, it appears Ready at Dawn made a movie and wondered how to put a game into it. By all accounts it still hasn't worked it out." Steven Burns [Full review]
PlayStation Universe -- 7.5/10
"Like Resistance: Fall of Man, The Order: 1886 comes early in a console lifecycle to set new visual benchmarks and give us creative, compelling fiction. As a game, it's significantly less ambitious." - Kyle Prahl [Full review]
Kotaku -- Should You Play This Game? "No"
"The Order: 1886 doesn't feel like the product of someone's grand vision; it feels like the tatters of that vision have been gathered, taped together, and presented as complete. The best I can say of it is that its premise is just novel enough to feel wasted. As I played, I kept wishing for some hint of inspiration, a dash of spirit to warm me against the chilly downpour of mediocrity. I found none." - Kirk Hamilton [Full review]
USGamer -- 3/5
"The Order: 1886 ends by leaving itself wide open for a sequel (The Order: 1887, one presumes), and I'm interested enough in the series' premise that I'll definitely give it a look. But I can only hope that inevitable sequel offers the sort of improvement we saw from Assassin's Creed to Assassin's Creed II. There's a decent game here, but it does little to set itself apart from those that clearly inspired it. Here's to the future, and to differentiation." Jeremy Parish [Full review]
DigitalSpy -- 3/5
"The Order: 1886 isn't easy to recommend, but it isn't impossible to endorse, and despite its familiarity, is a game we enjoyed our time with. Here's hoping The Order: 1887 pushes for greater." - Ian Dransfield [Full review]
Metro -- 4/10
"Ready at Dawn clearly object to the idea of interrupting their pretty graphics with something as trivial as gameplay, but despite their claims they don't seem to have any real interest in storytelling either. Perhaps their programmers should have taken their obvious talents to ILM or some other visual effects company, because they clearly have no appetite for interactive entertainment." - David Jenkins [Full review]
More...