The Order 1886 Is Visually Engrossing, But Uninspiring Once You Start Playing
Options
Few games at E3 2014 were as visually impressive as The Order: 1886. For as limited as the demo’s offering was, it sets high standards for what gamers should expect to see on the PlayStation 4, alongside of course that trailer from Naughty Dog during Sony’s pre-E3 media briefing.
It runs superbly even during intense combat, the character models are impeccably detailed, and the fire and lighting effects certainly add an aesthetic touch to what is otherwise a very purposefully mundane gothic environment.
Unfortunately, there’s little else that really makes The Order all that interesting at the moment. At least from what Sony has shown so far. The long lines at E3 should represent a game that has plenty to offer, but there’s nothing about the game’s core gameplay that makes it all that special.
There are the foundations there to build a really strong game around, and ideally its most interesting aspect is something Sony should have been showcasing at E3: that is of the game’s supposedly epic and ruthless beasts of the night. We play “knights of the night”, so I was admittedly expecting to play a game that showed why these people had such power.
Instead, all I and everyone else that played it saw was a run-of-the-mill cover-based shooter, one that throws goons at you from left, right and centre while pushing you down a frustratingly tight linear corridor. The gameplay breaks away from the combat, prompting you to throw down explosives to break open paths or carry injured characters to other locations, but it felt frighteningly similar to a game that suffered from goon-syndrome in Uncharted 3. Blend in what feels like another “interactive movie” and you have a game that lacks the hands-on appeal to be a long-term franchise.
The gameplay demo we saw during Sony's briefing introduced us to one of the beasts, but it was still a corridor battle that forced our hero down a path. It seemed linear, and now I can confirm the game plays similarly as linear in its application.
I don’t agree with some suggestions I’ve seen thrown around that call it the PlayStation 4’s Ryse. There’s more potential here, and we’ve seen so little. But it’s troubling that for a game supposedly eight months from release that we haven’t seen its most appealing aspect, the enemies that formulate the game’s core narrative and how they tie into its gameplay. Throwing two goons at me, then another two, then another two, then prompting me to blow up a leaking gas main isn’t quite what I expected from The Order. It’s not what’s going to sell me.
Whether the game’s ready to be shown in its best light or not is unknown, but from a gameplay perspective, there’s nothing that really sells The Order: 1886 as a must-have game for the PS4. I need more than goons and nice graphics to sell me: I need substance and reason, and unfortunately, The Order seems to lack that. There’s plenty of time to make up for that, but it’s hard to get excited over a linear cover-based shooter that hasn't quite yet differentiated itself from anything else in the genre.
It runs superbly even during intense combat, the character models are impeccably detailed, and the fire and lighting effects certainly add an aesthetic touch to what is otherwise a very purposefully mundane gothic environment.
Unfortunately, there’s little else that really makes The Order all that interesting at the moment. At least from what Sony has shown so far. The long lines at E3 should represent a game that has plenty to offer, but there’s nothing about the game’s core gameplay that makes it all that special.
There are the foundations there to build a really strong game around, and ideally its most interesting aspect is something Sony should have been showcasing at E3: that is of the game’s supposedly epic and ruthless beasts of the night. We play “knights of the night”, so I was admittedly expecting to play a game that showed why these people had such power.
Instead, all I and everyone else that played it saw was a run-of-the-mill cover-based shooter, one that throws goons at you from left, right and centre while pushing you down a frustratingly tight linear corridor. The gameplay breaks away from the combat, prompting you to throw down explosives to break open paths or carry injured characters to other locations, but it felt frighteningly similar to a game that suffered from goon-syndrome in Uncharted 3. Blend in what feels like another “interactive movie” and you have a game that lacks the hands-on appeal to be a long-term franchise.
The gameplay demo we saw during Sony's briefing introduced us to one of the beasts, but it was still a corridor battle that forced our hero down a path. It seemed linear, and now I can confirm the game plays similarly as linear in its application.
I don’t agree with some suggestions I’ve seen thrown around that call it the PlayStation 4’s Ryse. There’s more potential here, and we’ve seen so little. But it’s troubling that for a game supposedly eight months from release that we haven’t seen its most appealing aspect, the enemies that formulate the game’s core narrative and how they tie into its gameplay. Throwing two goons at me, then another two, then another two, then prompting me to blow up a leaking gas main isn’t quite what I expected from The Order. It’s not what’s going to sell me.
Whether the game’s ready to be shown in its best light or not is unknown, but from a gameplay perspective, there’s nothing that really sells The Order: 1886 as a must-have game for the PS4. I need more than goons and nice graphics to sell me: I need substance and reason, and unfortunately, The Order seems to lack that. There’s plenty of time to make up for that, but it’s hard to get excited over a linear cover-based shooter that hasn't quite yet differentiated itself from anything else in the genre.
Comments
-
Still gonna check it out once it drops
-
That sounds like 90% of games. Desriny and Titanfall has not differed from other shooters and Watch Dogs is just GTA with hacking.
-
First person shooters are wack to me.
-
This is third person I think
-
It looks pretty, has an interesting setting but the game play is not new in anyway, so far it looks like your basic 3rd person cover shooter, which is to say not next gen at all, we are not getting a next gen game until The Division and even then that could be spotty as it's Ubisoft....
-
I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
-
John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Word...
That seems to be the case, graphics and single/multiplayer combined so far, truth be told Gravity Rush and Tearaway on the Vita are more next gen than anything I have played on my PS4...
I was kinda of amped for this game but it keeps dwindling the more I see... -
Raging Raven wrote: »That sounds like 90% of games. Desriny and Titanfall has not differed from other shooters and Watch Dogs is just GTA with hacking.
Never disrespect GTA like that ever again.
-
John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon. The big time Indie support pretty much guarantees you'll see games with innovative gameplay. They just won't look "next gen." -
I wanna see this article for damn near every game that's about to be released.
I haven't seen anything that has made me want to cop "next" gen yet
Take that back Arkham Knight is for damn sure on my list but y'all get the point
Shooters have become less and less appealing to me as I get older -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon. The big time Indie support pretty much guarantees you'll see games with innovative gameplay. They just won't look "next gen."
Indie games can look new gen. Xbox also has a ton of Indy coming to it.
http://youtu.be/ruqEoguBTdQ -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon. The big time Indie support pretty much guarantees you'll see games with innovative gameplay. They just won't look "next gen."
I said innovative game play not 1D models jumping on platforms.. I am checking for No Mans Sky though.. according to Sony reps though we are not gonna see as many AAA titles this generation due to costs.. so Indie games might be the wave -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon.
LOL. Damn, the ? already owns a PS4. ? more do you stans want? Do YOU own a PS4? -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon. The big time Indie support pretty much guarantees you'll see games with innovative gameplay. They just won't look "next gen."
Indie games can look new gen. Xbox also has a ton of Indy coming to it.http://youtu.be/ruqEoguBTdQ
True. But if you're looking for games that make the absolute most of the hardware capabilities, none of the Indie games will likely fulfill that role.
But yeah, I guess I should have said "shouldn't you be all over the Indie bandwagon" since XB1 is supporting that movement too. I just said PS4 because they are a lot more all-in when it comes to pushing that agenda.The Lonious Monk wrote: »John_Blazini wrote: »I have given up on the next gen game..I have a PC so graphics ain't ? ..i wanted more innovative gameplay and game modes but...seems like graphics is all the focus is on.
Then shouldn't you be all over PS4's bandwagon.
LOL. Damn, the ? already owns a PS4. ? more do you stans want? Do YOU own a PS4?
No I don't, which is why your continued stupidity and insistence that I'm a PS4 stan is hillarious. I'm such a PS4 stan that I haven't picked one up and probably won't pick one up til well into next year. I guess that somehow makes sense in your pathetic idiotic mind. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »
No I don't, which is why your continued stupidity and insistence that I'm a PS4 stan is hillarious.
You can be too broke to actually own the system and still be a PS4 stan, especially in The Arcade. You said you lost your arguing job. -
The Lonious Monk wrote: »
No I don't, which is why your continued stupidity and insistence that I'm a PS4 stan is hillarious.
You can be too broke to actually own the system and still be a PS4 stan, especially in The Arcade. You said you lost your arguing job.
Oh I forgot. That's right. In your little peabrained mind, the only reasons to not own a system are because you're a fanboy of the other system or because you're too broke. I guess you're to stupid to conceive of the fact someone doesn't believe any of the next-gen systems are worth buying right now.
