The Order 1886 game review

Here's what you need to know; it's an alternate 1886, Sir Grayson is a member of the Order, an ancient organisation sworn to carry the legacy of Arthur and his knights and protect humanity from  evil, but as the evil grows in strength, Grayson discovers a more dangerous threat that is much closer to home, and threatens the entire world.

I will, as usual, start with the positives in this game. This game is beautiful, genuinely beautiful; everything from the textures to the lighting to the character models and animation is absolutely jaw dropping, by far the best on console. And it portrays the aesthetic of it's alternate 19th century London perfectly, the City is grey, dark, smoggy, but has zeppelins flying overhead and werewolves crawling it's poverty stricken streets. As I said before, the character models also look superb, and they are accompanied very nicely by very good voice acting. it's also worth noting that the soundtrack is stunning too, a must truly be heard to be appreciated. The Order also does an excellent job of setting the mood, with the dark, spooky streets and tunnels of London, buried under the product of the accelerated industrial revolution, and lit only by candle and lantern. This alternate 1886 is also really cool, still retaining what is to be expected of the time and place, only with the addition of Zeppelins, radios and crazy sci fi weapons like the lightning gun and thermite gun. Though, this game only offers a very narrow view of this wold, which is the first negative I can say plagues this game. this is a world that begs to be explored, both with the story and with the world itself, but the game doesn't allow that, instead taking a look-don't-touch approach that is disappointing to no end and immensely boring. Story is also a mixed bag, being interesting enough to carry you through it's laughable 6 hour campaign, but again failing to explore the setting and ending on a disappointing and hollow note.

Here's where the tone  of this review changes, because it's gameplay where this game goes from a decent but forgettable adventure to a misery and a grind. The elephant in the room that must be addressed is the QTE's, of which there are far, far too many. The very first thing you do in the game is a series of QTE's, and the 2 biggest boss fights of the game, including the final boss, are nothing but QTE's, they're even in the stealth sections, with the 'clean kill' being an instant fail QTE, instead of an easy takedown that every other game with stealth mechanics has. Speaking of stealth, this game has terrible instant fail stealth sequences that will make you want to tear your hair out, this is why in games that aren't exclusively stealth games, stealth should strictly be optional, because it isn't fair when an enemy I can't see somehow sees me and instantly kills me with no warning or chance of escape, and it is fucking infuriating. The majority of gameplay is passable but  unremarkable 3rd person shooting. The combat is serviceable, but it is flawed as hell. First off, with the exception of the Lightning and Thermite guns, the guns in the game are boring, and the chances to use the more interesting guns are few and far between. A big hindrance is the aspect ratio, that, while very nice in cut scenes, is an issue in gameplay when you can't see over walls because of that pesky black bar at the top of the screen. While there is fun to be had in it's simple 3rd person cover shooting, all of that potential fun is crushed the instant one of your AI buddies yells "Shotgunner". The AI in this game is not inept, but still lacks competence.none are as annoying as the fucking shotgunners, who charge at you  full speed, then pump a shell right into your face, almost certainly killing you. The number of times I have got stuck in a death loop because of these dickheads, it too is fucking infuriating, and it's even worse that in a game with vampires and werewolves, the scariest thing you fight is a shotgunner.

This game is a tragedy, while by far the best looking game on consoles, with outstanding music and great voice acting, it is hindered by an intriguing but underexplored universe, a cool but ultimately underwhelming story, and completely crushed by frustrating gameplay, that only gets more frustrating when you get to the end of the crap 6 hour campaign and learn that your struggle has amounted to nothing. I'd only say give this game a try if you want to see what your PS4 can do, but there is nothing else this game does that I can recommend, just buy the soundtrack, much better value and it won't make you want to punch yourself in the balls for wasting your money on this mediocre mess of a game.