The Order 1886

[fat_moogle]

So I've just bought this game but I won't get to play it until later tonight.

Graphically the game looks extremely impressive, but the game is getting very mixed reviews due to its length, cinematic nature and abundance of QTE's.

I've only seen the odd clip here and there since it was revealed, as I didn't want to spoil the story.

Does anyone else plan on playing this? Maybe you've already got it? Discuss.

[Jinx]

Ahahaha, enjoy your five hours of game and retextured final boss.

[fat_moogle]

I realise it's going to be a short game, I'm expecting that. I traded in a couple games for it, so I didn't pay full price. I wouldn't have paid the full £55 the shop I bought it from was asking for. I'd say £27 was reasonable though so I thought I'd play it and judge for myself.

[Skyblade]

I was interested in the game at first, but the commercials for it really left me with a bitter taste concerning the game. It became very clear to me that it wants to be a movie or TV show, rather than a game.

[Fox]

I couldn't even stomach watching a Let's Play of this, so nope! Won't be rushing to pick it up when I get my PS4 soon. As a game designer, I feel if I ever write the words "Tap X repeatedly when the prompt appears" I will have officially reached the lowest point of my career.

[Bolivar]

I stayed up until 3am last night playing the first half or so. I cannot emphasize enough that the criticisms about lengthy cutscenes and abundant QTEs are at best vastly overblown and at worst outright false. The cutscenes aren't any more prevalent than you would expect from any AAA action game and the majority of QTEs are like in Uncharted, where you move an object to get to the next part of the area. I would say the game design and pacing is most comparable to The Last of Us, with the emphasis on gunplay instead of stealth.

I honestly can't praise it enough. The atmosphere is on an entirely different level, with the most immersive and visceral shootouts I've played in years. It's very much a third person shooter but with a stronger story and commendable acting all around.

Just note the prologue does reflect the criticisms and that's why there's so many videos passing it off as representative of the full game. It really isn't at all.

[DMKA]

I stayed up until 3am last night playing the first half or so. I cannot emphasize enough that the criticisms about lengthy cutscenes and abundant QTEs are at best vastly overblown and at worst outright false. The cutscenes aren't any more prevalent than you would expect from any AAA action game and the majority of QTEs are like in Uncharted, where you move an object to get to the next part of the area. I would say the game design and pacing is most comparable to The Last of Us, with the emphasis on gunplay instead of stealth.

I honestly can't praise it enough. The atmosphere is on an entirely different level, with the most immersive and visceral shootouts I've played in years. It's very much a third person shooter but with a stronger story and commendable acting all around.

Just note the prologue does reflect the criticisms and that's why there's so many videos passing it off as representative of the full game. It really isn't at all.

That's good to hear. Are the graphics still as good as when it was first revealed? I still can't believe what's been shown to me as gameplay is actually gameplay and not pre-rendered.

I rented it and am currently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I've been looking forward to playing it since the first gameplay was shown off but I'm a lot less excited knowning how short it is (abundant cutscenes and QTEs don't bother me). Still, short game doesn't mean bad game.

Cautiously excited for it to get here even though the internet has been bashing it to hell and back for the last week.

[Bolivar]

That's good to hear. Are the graphics still as good as when it was first revealed? I still can't believe what's been shown to me as gameplay is actually gameplay and not pre-rendered.

I rented it and am currently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I've been looking forward to playing it since the first gameplay was shown off but I'm a lot less excited knowning how short it is (abundant cutscenes and QTEs don't bother me). Still, short game doesn't mean bad game.

Cautiously excited for it to get here even though the internet has been bashing it to hell and back for the last week.

I would say it's up there. Definitely in the top 5 best looking games of today, if not the best.

[Vyk]

Ahahaha, enjoy your five hours of game and retextured final boss.

Is that what they're saying? Good grief. Critics gave Alien Isolation a lot of trout for being too long, and now this? Critics can't seem to make up their minds what they want

[Fox]

Ahahaha, enjoy your five hours of game and retextured final boss.

Is that what they're saying? Good grief. Critics gave Alien Isolation a lot of trout for being too long, and now this? Critics can't seem to make up their minds what they want

That's silly. 'Too short' is just as valid a criticism as 'too long'. A three hour movie will be criticised as 'dragging on,' a half hour movie would be 'laughably short and not worth the ticket price'. There's a nice big sweet spot in between those two extremes.

You can have a really, really good short, focussed game. Just look at something like Portal 2, that was only 4 or 5 hours long in terms of the campaign. But that wasn't $60 and included a co-op campaign and mod support. And it was a very unique kind of game. Whereas The Order follows in the footsteps of a million third person shooters that have come before it. If you're a 'cinematic third person action' game coming in noticeably shorter than, say, Gears of War or Uncharted (which were generally paced pretty well) then you're probably going to get some stick for that.

[Skyblade]

My biggest problem with it was that it felt tired and completely uninspired.

"Ooh, look, we have a quasi-historical conspiracy involving people you've heard of, but have no idea what they actually did. They've been involved in a secret society that's shaped the world, created magical inventions that have somehow been lost to time, and yet all their big secrets are suddenly about to be uncovered just because you started playing."

Maybe that is completely wrong, but that is how the advertisements presented the game. And, I'm sorry, but I've seen it before. Hell, it was an old concept long before Assassin's Creed beat it to death.

[Fox]

I don't actually mind that stuff too much. Even if something has a generic premise, good writing, presentation and solid mechanics can work wonders. Just look at Uncharted - handsome fella goes on adventure to find artefact but also the bad guys want it for its ancient mystical power.

Not exactly anything new. But it's all in the execution. From what I've seen of The Order it is at least confidently written and well acted if a little pretentious at times.

[Vyk]

http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=20067

Looks like it falls around the 8 hour mark. Which became pretty standard in God of War days. And even the Uncharted series falls pretty well within that range. It's right around where that mythical sweet spot seems to be. And if anyone complained those games were too short, it was simply because they were enjoying them too much

Sure a $60 game being only a couple hours is ridiculous. But I know critics better than that. I knew that was probably bunk. So yeah. I feel like my statement still stands. The critics are being ridiculous if they think an 8 hour game is too short if they're not going to call out a million other more highly rated games for being the exact same length

It could be that it feels shorter or less intense because its gameplay is less memorable or more repetitive or not quite as deep. But those are more legitimate critiques than simply "it felt short so it sucked"

Though I haven't read any reviews, and haven't really followed the game. I've had little interest in it honestly. But I just find it amusing the way the game critic pendulum swings these days

But I guess I should just let the actual fans or hater argue it out instead

[Fox]

http://howlongtobeat.com/game.php?id=20067

Looks like it falls around the 8 hour mark. Which became pretty standard in God of War days. And even the Uncharted series falls pretty well within that range. It's right around where that mythical sweet spot seems to be. And if anyone complained those games were too short, it was simply because they were enjoying them too much

Sure a $60 game being only a couple hours is ridiculous. But I know critics better than that. I knew that was probably bunk. So yeah. I feel like my statement still stands. The critics are being ridiculous if they think an 8 hour game is too short if they're not going to call out a million other more highly rated games for being the exact same length

Well, going from that website even the original Uncharted - which many thought was a bit on the short side - clocks in a good two hours longer than that. Same for Gears of War. That doesn't sound like loads but another 2 hours is 25% more content. So The Order will be ending when other games of it's type would just be getting to the climax. I can see why that deserves criticism for being short.

For sure, the crazy hate from social media was completely overblown. That was based on a video of someone rushing through the game. Not a speedrun per se, but also not representative. So yeah, in the scheme of things it probably got slated way more than it should have for its length, but there's no question its a reasonable point of criticism.

[Del Murder]

Too bad. I was interested in this one. Looks like it goes the way of Watch Dogs for me.