The Order: 1886

Long before its release, The Order: 1886 fell victim to the court of public opinion. Evidence submitted to the court was based on internet scraps, screenshots, leaked videos and 10 minute demos but it was enough for the court to play judge, jury and in some cases executioner to Ready at Dawn’s much anticipated PS4 debut. Perhaps it’s because of the recent run of games that have had issues upon release but gamers everywhere were skeptical of just how good The Order would be. Cries over it being too short (so what?), too linear (so what?) and too much like other games we’ve seen before (again, s...

Overall, The Order: 1886 is a thoroughly enjoyable game. The visuals of the game really are stunning and I was kept in awe of how it looked from start to finish. The story is engaging and well-executed, thanks to good pacing, solid voice acting and great action scenes. The gameplay is excellent, with a good variation of combat, QTEs and exploration. There’s a few minor niggles, but nothing that would put us off playing or make it any less enjoyable.

The lack of balance between gameplay and cinematics drags The Order: 1886 down. It's not a bad game but you will find better third person shooters on the market than The Order: 1886.

The Order: 1886 is a great game, as long as you treat it as a mindless shooter and not the bevy of innovation we were all led to believe it was. Graphically appealing, the title shows us once again, we should not judge a book by its cover.

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.

This year's bag of exclusive titles for the PlayStation 4 console was solved by The Order: 1886. The first fully original project of the Ready at Dawn studio has already aroused a lot of controversy. Is it right?

Outside of the sleek presentation and interesting world building, there’s nothing truly special about The Order: 1886. It’s a shame in many ways, because I’d love to see a more tactical style of gameplay in line with Valkyria Chronicles, or a more in-depth game in general using the same engine and lore. I sincerely hope this isn’t the last we’ve seen of this universe, but for now, it’s only worth visiting once, briefly.

The Order: 1886 dares to tread where so many others have fallen, by attempting to fuse interactivity with cinematic qualities. And in some ways, it succeeds: developer Ready at Dawn has clearly sipped from the Holy Grail of the graphics gods, as this is arguably the most technologically accomplished title ever released. However, in its attempt to marry movie-like storytelling with more traditional gameplay, it's committed a number of cardinal sins – and it's these which impede the release's pursuit of knighthood.

Its engrossing setting can't hide the fact that this gorgeous PS4 exclusive consists primarily of bits borrowed from other, more daring games.

Ready at Dawn, finished by the afternoon.

A playable third-person shooter with a laughably short campaign, pretty visuals and no substance.

“The Order: 1886 is a dull, plodding experience that's beautiful to behold but spends too little time giving players a reason to stick around.”