First things first, The Order 1886 is visually amazing and didn't waver for one moment in presenting awe inspiring landscapes. This game has the incredible ability to make even the darkest and dreariest sewers appear interesting until the moment you come across a patrol of enemies or the cracking and crunching of bones of a Lycan hybrid transforming. However good the visuals may be, the biggest fault of this game is the lack of variety in gameplay and length. The story is the main focus of game and concentrates it does, I found myself simply walking between beginning and end, from cutscene to cutscene.
The plot line of The Order 1886 doesn't fail to deliver as I was presented with The Order's struggle against legendary beasts within the shadows as well as its troubles of treachery and defiance from the Rebellion. As well as taking the protagonist Sir Galahad from the lowest and darkest sewers to in the clouds taking on firefights and hiding within the shadows in a skyscraper sized zeppelin.
I was constantly worrying about wondering across a hybrid who will transform into his alter hairy appearance and the player will enter into an arena like section of gameplay. For a battle with Lycans, I found it dull and lacking in brutality and danger. There is the one-on-one battles with major Lycan characters making it feel more personal and highlighting how important the character is. Apart from the very few battles with Lycans, I found myself in a number of very still firefights requiring to use cover, then once all attackers are gone I simply moved on to the next major location of cutscene.
I had a number of encounters with world wide stories, such as Nikola Tesla, who acts as the 'Q' of The Order developing technology and weaponry accessible to the Knights of The Order such as the Arc Gun, Thermite Rifle and an over the shoulder bazooka cannon. Other stories and names include the Jack the Ripper, East India Company and the Knights of the Round Table. The intertwining of all these legendary names and stories opens up to a world which could lead into an intriguing and in depth series of games.
Along with the linear and scripted storytelling, I was presented with opportunities to interact with the surrounding environment, however this was limited to newspapers, photos or documents related to the story. Fight scenes and cutscenes mold in between lengthy segments of character dialogue and quick time events, with the occasional aiming quick time events where when failed result in a bloody death of Sir Galahad.
Once quick time events had completed and I assumed control again of Galahad, I was placed back into dull repetitive cover-based shooting and stealth segments taking out every human who came into sight. The Order 1886 doesn't raise the elements of in game combat and simply ends as quickly as every other fight with an ally shouting "That's all of them".
The Order 1886 moves back into the comfort zone of linear levels and cover shooting, including the ease of pointing the camera and coming out from cover to shoot enemies, making it near impossible to die. This is made even easier through The Order's secret serum presented to every single Knight, it is unfortunate I wasn't presented with more of a challenge or requirement of using tactics. Shooting and cover action was made significantly harder with the reduction of sight due to the black bars to create a 'cinematic' experience.
Due to this being hyped up to be a game filled with combat and interactions with Werewolves/Lycans and I'm disappointed to say that there were not enough of these confrontations. The little combat with the legendary beasts were highlights of the entire game, presenting a faster paced and interesting fights requiring me to have to move in close to finish off them off with a cutscene.
Verdict
As much as I would like there to be a sequel, the concentration on incredible visuals, unforgettable environments and attention capturing storyline, this takes away from gameplay and creates disappointing quick time events and firefights. The interest of returning to The Order 1886 is not apparent due to the shortness of the single-player campaign and no multiplayer to speak of. Therefore to attempt to describe this game as best as possible, it's a short lived fantasy in which the player takes control of a non-interactive movie with the highest level of graphics and least amount of gameplay.
