3.5/5 ★ – jake84's review of The Order: 1886.

I can easily see why The Order: 1886 is as polarizing as it is among gamers and critics (which, these days, is essentially the same); I think it's about adjusting your expectations. More on that later. When this first showed up with a title and a teaser people thought it would be an online game like Hellgate: London, and I couldn't care less about it then. In reality, The Order: 1886 is a mixture of Heavy Rain and The Last of Us, not really reaching either of those two titles' highpoints, but still being an intense experience. It's a action-adventure title in third person with an abundance of cutscenes and Quick Time Events (QTE). It's the most cinematic experience I've had with a game since Beyond: Two Souls, but way, way better and more gracefully executed. First off, I think it's the prettiest game I have played yet - especially the facial animations and lightning effects make it the visually most realistic and stunning game I can think of. Some games aren't as linier or narrow as this, but this pulls off every techical aspect perfectly - the loading screens are barely present (it's actually amazing how they did this, the graphics considered) and the cutscenes and playable moments weave seamlessly in and out of each other. Secondly, I love the universe and the style. The greatest comic book of all time is - according to me - obviously Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and this game manages to get some of that atmosphere just right, something that the movie version totally missed, and the less we talk about that one, the better. The Order: 1886 is not steampunk or whalepunk as much as it is "Tesla-punk" with an emphasis on electricity and Termites. Thirdly, I quite liked the protagonist, Grayson AKA Galahad; he's a bit darker, more determined and complex than your average game protagonist, sometimes channeling Bale's Dark Knight anger issues, sometimes almost treading on Spec Ops: The Line's horrifying themes - the rules of engagement and the codex of war, if there even is such a thing. About the cinematic aspect: I understand most people didn't respond positively to the many cutscenes and the constant QTE'ing. But it's obvious that game developer Ready at Dawn wanted to make a movie more than they wanted to make a video game. Let's call it "the Metal Gear Solid 4-syndrome". But why then, is it widely accepted in the gaming community when Solid Snake does it, and a big no-no and frowned upon when Grayson does it? I would even go so far as to say that I actually often prefer this universe to Kojima's hysterical and cartoony nonsense. A person might argue "well, just make a movie instead, then", but is that the same guy who insisted that Sun Kil Moon's Mark Korzelek should just have written a book instead of releasing his latest album, Benji? Why is it offensive to push the envelope or the capability of a certain media/platform? After all, I think it's widely accepted that movies will be replaced by games within a couple of hundred years, so I actually applaud Dawn's ambition. I really liked this game. Even though the story isn't groundbreaking the universe more than makes up for it in atmosphere; the look and attention to detail, the sheer tension in the action sequences and a couple of interesting characters, emphasized by solid voice acting and good dialogue make this package very appealing. Some of the set-pieces are downright awe-inspiring, especially the scenes onboard the zeppelin, so originally my empathy prompted my to award this with a higher rating. But, the third act is unfortunately where this extremely pretty cake collapses beneath its own weight: The way the story left some of the characters, setups and storylines completely unresolved was extremely unsatisfying. I didn't resonate with my how abrupt the climax suddenly arrived, and then: Boom, cut to credits. I was actually hoping for a chapter or two more to tie up some loose ends, but perhaps the budget just simply ran out? Either way, that shouldn't be an excuse, and the ending is not good enough, along with a lazy decision with too many shootouts that simply feel out of place - like the ending in The Last of Us' add-on, Left Behind. I'm also a little disappointed by how the supernatural aspects that are so interesting aren't explored enough; they touch upon some lycanthropy and some otherworldly elements, but they only show up a couple of times (in three repetitive cat-and-mouse-scenes), and that was a bit of let down. The locations where the games biggest shootouts take place are also often too narrow and closed to really explore tactical options, leaving the player (and his NPC team mates) to manevuer only a little bit while dispensing wave after wave of enemies. These moments were among the weakest I experienced, especially towards the end of the game, where they were too numerous. And speaking of weaker moments, there are two of the dreaded "stealth missions in a game that clearly isn't a stealth game"-moments. One of them is too brief to annoy, the other is unfortunately, overlong and, indeed, annoying. But, along with some positive notes, your team mates actually appear to be doing some good here and, more importantly, aren't getting in your line of fire. And another thing here is that you aren't supposed to gather a shit ton of collectibles and listening to recordings to get a hold of the entire story - that is explained *IN* the actual game which is a point most titles totally misses these days. A third point I want to make is both positive and negative: I like this universe so much that I wanted to explore it more, but the game is so linear that it rarely is an option. But it's really commendable how this game show even more male nudity than female, and just how brutal and bloody the affair is. A huge problem I'm hearing about is the length of the game. Personally I think that a gaming experience that consists of four or five great hours is actually way better than a boring game that lasts twenty and outstays its welcome. But putting that aside, I would then have to agree that the price isn't justified. The Order: 1886 is about seven hours long, and the price is about $75 (circa 500 kr.). Therefore, I would advice everyone to get this when the price drops within a couple of months or so. Secondly, there isn't a thing to do here the moment the game is finished. No extra features (besides watching the credits again) or multiplayer. I understand if you want to focus on the single-player experience, but with that price, at least give us something, Ready at Dawn. Lastly, I want to turn my argument around and congratulate Ready at Dawn, mainly a PSP developer, for making the prettiest, most cinematic gaming experience I've had on the PS4 yet. An impressive debut for them on that platform and I'm looking forward to what they'll be doing next. As I mentioned earlier, The Order: 1886 isn't for everyone, but you still have to try it at some point.