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The Order: 1886 |OT| Gears of Yore

tusken77

Member
Finished last night. One of my favourite films is An American Werewolf in London, so along with my love of dark themes and steampunk technology I was naturally extremely interested in this game right from the initial reveal. It took me almost 14 hours to complete on Hard/Aim Assist off, as I looked at everything I possibly could (although not all apparently as I've yet to achieve the Collectibles trophy) and just generally savoured the incredible atmosphere throughout. I loved the story, I loved the way it ended, I loved the very particular action used to end it. As praised by so many others, outstanding graphics, soundtrack, voice acting, gunplay, characters, world, all top notch. Certainly not so common an opinion, I really enjoyed the stealth sections, particularly the one
in the gardens at night
. They were rather easy but that didn't matter, I loved that they were in there. Also, I'd have liked more, yes more, cutscenes. I wanted more backstory, more information on certain people and certain things, but I guess that's all a deliberate part of the mystery as I've heard
this is intended to be a trilogy and, of course, it's left beautifully with us asking many a question and wanting more as a lone Galahad looks over the city mid credits.

Things that need to be improved for the sequel/s. I have no problem with the QTEs for the
elders
as I appreciate that it allows RAD to present them in as cinematic a way as possible. I enjoyed those battles for the spectacle. Lycans, however, need an AI boost, those encounters need to be more interesting with more tension. Blacksight needs refining. On screen tutorials need an option to be disabled. Those glorious science weapons need to be in our hands more often. Tesla's (The Order's Q) range of gadgets need expanding and more use. There needs to be higher difficulties offered. There needs to be more trophies up for grabs. The DS4 speaker needs to be used. There needs to be a quick turn. More areas to explore, more items of interest to find. There needs to be an inventory, even if it's just for collectibles. Cutscenes need to be skippable on second playthroughs. Not interested in an added multiplayer if it means a loss of focus on the single player experience, although a simple horde mode would be welcome.

It's my favourite game of this generation. I've fallen in love with everything it has to offer. An exceptionally solid foundation has been built and hopefully, due to the engine now in place, the sequel will be with us in a couple of years or so. Congratulations RAD, I believe you knocked it out of the park with what you were boldly intending to accomplish. Now to collect those remaining trophies and look into purchasing that godly soundtrack. I leave you with a song....

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM
 

Radec

Member
I tried that strategy myself, but I couldn't kill those armored fuckers without the arc gun.

Oh, and can anyone tell me why "The Armoury" is grayed out?

I find the arc gun to be slow on that encounter. I used the revolver for quick 1 shot to the first wave, then a few bullets to take the shotgun dude. Carbine after I ran out of revolver bullets. Pretty intense shit going to one pillar to another.

Armoury is for the DLCs (costume). Greyed out if you haven't used any.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
Just finished it. This game feels like a prequel and leaves so much open for more for at least another game. I would be pissed if they don't make one. Sequel could take any direction at this point.
The Batman resemblance in the last scene is uncanny. You have Galahad going rogue and Tesla serving as your armory supplier. This is ye olde victorian era Batman.

Haven't been drawn to a game's story so much for quite some time.
 

Shaddy

Neo Member
Finished last night. One of my favourite films is An American Werewolf in London, so along with my love of dark themes and steampunk technology I was naturally extremely interested in this game right from the initial reveal. It took me almost 14 hours to complete on Hard/Aim Assist off, as I looked at everything I possibly could (although not all apparently as I've yet to achieve the Collectibles trophy) and just generally savoured the incredible atmosphere throughout. I loved the story, I loved the way it ended, I loved the very particular action used to end it. As praised by so many others, outstanding graphics, soundtrack, voice acting, gunplay, characters, world, all top notch. Certainly not so common an opinion, I really enjoyed the stealth sections, particularly the one
in the gardens at night
. They were rather easy but that didn't matter, I loved that they were in there. Also, I'd have liked more, yes more, cutscenes. I wanted more backstory, more information on certain people and certain things but I guess that's all a deliberate part of the mystery as I've heard
this is intended to be a trilogy and, of course, it's left beautifully with us asking many a question and wanting more as a lone Galahad looks over the city mid credits.

Things that need to be improved for the sequel/s. I have no problem with the QTEs for the
elders
as I appreciate that it allows RAD to present them in as cinematic a way as possible. I enjoyed those battles for the spectacle. Lycans, however, need an AI boost, those encounters need to be more interesting with more tension. Blacklight needs refining. On screen tutorials need an option to be disabled. Those glorious science weapons need to be in our hands more often. Tesla's (The Order's Q) range of gadgets need expanding and more use. There needs to be higher difficulties offered. There needs to be more trophies up for grabs. The DS4 speaker needs to be used. There needs to be a quick turn. More areas to explore, more items of interest to find. There needs to be an inventory, even if it's just for collectibles. Cutscenes need to be skippable on second playthroughs. Not interested in an added multiplayer if it means a loss of focus on the single player experience, although a simple horde mode would be welcome.

It's my favourite game of this generation. I've fallen in love with everything it has to offer. An exceptionally solid foundation has been built and hopefully, due to the engine now in place, the sequel will be with us in a couple of years or so. Congratulations RAD, I believe you knocked it out of the park with what you were boldly intending to accomplish. Now to collect those remaining trophies and look into purchasing that godly soundtrack. I leave you with a song....

Warren Zevon - Werewolves of London
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhSc8qVMjKM

I couldn't agree more. :)
 
I’m so glad I didn’t listen to the negativity and picked this game up anyways. I’ve been having a blast with this game! My g/f has even sat and watch me play it at parts, and she never does that. I’ve been playing for around 9 hours and am at the docks. I don’t understand the negative reviews at all; I think this is a great game. The visuals need no comment, as everyone has already praised them. I thought the game was good, but around the middle of chapter three is when the game started to become great in my mind. Haters be damned; The Order is a fantastic game, and I hope they make a sequel that uses the same formula. Excellent job to RAD, excellent.
 
First play through on hard with aim assist off took 6 hours. Will try again on normal with aim assist on, I just wished there was an option to play through with weapons of your choosing.
 
Finished the game this weekend. Was a solid 7.5 to 8.25. The graphics were the best I've seen on consoles so far. The gameplay was solid (challenging) with gunplay feeling great. there were some frustrating moments where the tried and true waves of enemies felt endless. The story was very interesting and I'd love to see more of it. They've built a solid foundation and now that the amazing engine is done I hope they improve on the sequel in every way, providing they get to make one.

I have a download code for the game so if you are interested let me know.
 

Paganmoon

Member
I don't get how you people can finish it in 6 hours, on hard to boot. It took me 11 hours on normal, and I wasn't exactly dillydallying about....
 

Footos22

Member
Finished. Ignore the avatar. That was just my standard hype avatar change before release.

Fantastic game. Enjoyed every last minute. My only complaint is that it was it was too easy even on hard.

Took me just over 9 hours give or take a few mins.
Missed some collectibles even though I searched everywhere. I obv didn't.

Loved the ending, how was that bad? Mid credits scene was good as well.

Atmosphere, music, weapon feedback, all off the charts. The production values even make up for its shortcomings. Don't even have to go into how good the game looks. Never once felt bored or wanted to hurry things along. Is like watching a film and not wanting to watch developments in plot and skip to the action. Why is that a bad thing to have long sections like that?

A solid 8/10 for me. A bit more gameplay variety and length and bit more freedom without feeling like padding and a sequel would be a good improvement.

Great work Rad
 

WITHE1982

Member
I don't get how you people can finish it in 6 hours, on hard to boot. It took me 11 hours on normal, and I wasn't exactly dillydallying about....

I agree. Not knocking anyone's play-style but I just fail to see how you can get through this on a first play-through in half the time it took me to do it.

Granted I spent far too long in the first half of the game looking about and taking screenshots but I think I got through the second half pretty swiftly and still clocked in around 12 hours.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
On the other hand I don't get how you can take 11 hours to finish the game.
I played it for approximately 6.5 to 7 hours and I also don't think I've rushed.
90% of it on hard without aim assist.

I don't stop at windows and inspect textures and such when I'm just playing the game. I also don't take screenshots.
 

Tunesmith

formerly "chigiri"
I don't get how you people can finish it in 6 hours, on hard to boot. It took me 11 hours on normal, and I wasn't exactly dillydallying about....

Finished it on hard at around 7 hours. Got all but two collectibles (that were hidden way out of the normal path). To me, I took my time with the game soaking up the atmosphere on display, taking plenty of screenshots.

The mileage may vary as always. :)

Speaking of hourly length, I found it to be just the right amount, though I disagree on the content placement of those hours - it could have used more prolonged game-play segments and different pacing in a few places.
 

TalonJH

Member
I don't get how you people can finish it in 6 hours, on hard to boot. It took me 11 hours on normal, and I wasn't exactly dillydallying about....

Over the years, I've come to notice that a lot of people run whenever possible in games and go directly for the objective. I prefer to walk around a look at everything and It definitely pads my playing time in games
 
Over the years, I've come to notice that a lot of people run whenever possible in games and go directly for the objective. I prefer to walk around a look at everything and It definitely pads my playing time in games
I do the exact same. Did the same in The Last of Us too. Took me a little over 10 hours on hard for The Order. I died several times too.
 

WITHE1982

Member
On the other hand I don't get how you can take 11 hours to finish the game.
I played it for approximately 6.5 to 7 hours and I also don't think I've rushed.
90% of it on hard without aim assist.

I don't stop at windows and inspect textures and such when I'm just playing the game. I also don't take screenshots.

Fair enough. like I say I'm not knocking anyone's style of play. You play the way that's the most fun for yourself. I'm the kind of player that has to search every room and I'm a sucker for a good vista so this game was ideal for me. Hence my 12 hour play time.

I'm probably one of the few who wished for even less combat and more exploration in the game. TBH I felt the same way about TLOU. The combat sometimes gets in the way of a good story.
 

GSG Flash

Nobody ruins my family vacation but me...and maybe the boy!
Beat it this weekend, I think the current Metacritic score(65) is perfect for this game.

The game itself is very pretty, but is extremely linear and the story kind of sucks. It seems like the game expects you to know who the Order are, what they do, what the half breeds are, why they're killing people. I don't even understand the motivation for the protagonist.

For a game as linear as The Order, the story has to be a home run, like TLoU for example, but it just falls flat on its face.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
Fair enough. like I say I'm not knocking anyone's style of play. You play the way that's the most fun for yourself. I'm the kind of player that has to search every room and I'm a sucker for a good vista so this game was ideal for me. Hence my 12 hour play time.

I'm probably one of the few who wished for even less combat and more exploration in the game. TBH I felt the same way about TLOU. The combat sometimes gets in the way of a good story.
I play almost every game like a role playing game. When I see my squad mates running towards an objective, then I also run there. If there is no urgency I even walk most of the time.
At least in these kind of games where there is not huge distances being covered.
Also Galahad has an odd looking running animation.

A big difference to what I used to do is I don't deliberately back track from the correct path I've found anymore to explore every other dead end just to see what's going on. I just don't like the pacing that way.

I think you answered your own question.
This was in response to Paganmoon who couldn't understand how you can be faster than 11 hours which is what he took without dillydallying. I think stopping and inspecting textures and taking loads of screenshots is exactly that.
 

Roussow

Member
I find the arc gun to be slow on that encounter. I used the revolver for quick 1 shot to the first wave, then a few bullets to take the shotgun dude. Carbine after I ran out of revolver bullets. Pretty intense shit going to one pillar to another.

Armoury is for the DLCs (costume). Greyed out if you haven't used any.

The slowness of the arc gun didn't bother me, because it virtually locks on in blind fire, so I could charge it behind cover and blind fire in the general direction of the intended enemies.

Also, I don't know about anyone else, but I wish the grenade combat roll abilty was a constant combat abilty, avalible in any combat encounter with a double tap of x or something, at the very least it would make lycan encounters in-particular feel a little more dynamic.
 

OneUh8

Member
Had a ton of fun with this game over the weekend. Took me about 9 hours to complete. I thought for sure I could get the platinum in one playthrough but I must have missed some collectibles somewhere. Guess I will have to pull up a guide to find them on a second playthrough.

Either way, in no way is this game a 5/10 imo. I give it a solid 7 for sure.
 
Finished the game on hard, aim assist off, only used blacksight twice (i just forgot about it..). I have no idea how long it took mee exactly.
Now i'm doing a second run on easy just to collect the remaining stuff and to really enjoy brutally killing enemies. The only trophies left are some blackwater related stuff and collectables. Can't be much, by the way.

Note to devs:
On a second run of the game, cutscenes should ALWAYS be skippable.
I understand that in a game like this you wan't them to be unskippable on the first run. But come on. It's arrogant to think people should watch them twice.

Impressions / review:
+ extremely polished. Just amazing
+ atmosphere is realllly good.
+ best shaders ever. everything has the right look and shine.
+ great character design. even the npc-s have good looking faces.
+ great voice acting
+ great music
+ great sound
+ great weapons
+ good gunplay
+ good cover
+ art direction is some of the best i have ever seen. These guys and girls should be on the most wanted list of every dev company.
+ Some good cutscenes
+ some good use of QTE-s
+ functional nudity.
+ Bug-free game*

* I got stuck in a pillar once, on my second playthrough. That's nothing, and i was surprised since my first playthrough was absolutely bug free

- Waaaaaay to many cutscenes. Cutscenes should only be used for pacing and to tell stuff that is really hard to tell through gameplay imo. Sorry to say that Naughty Dog does this extremely well.
- The transition between cutscene and gameplay take too long. I'm allready pressing the stick but i have to wait.
- The gunplay is good, but the levels are often just a rectangular place with some basic obstacles where you can hide behind. Sometimes it's even a shooting range with you on one side and the enemies popping up on the other side. That's fine (and fun) for one time, but the level design for shooting were just too simple. I liked the charging shotties though, haha. Motherfuckers on hard. People should not confuse hard gameplay with bad gameplay. Same with QTE-s. They are meant to be frustrating since they're mostly a life or death kinda situation.
- Some button prompts were just lame. Come on.. The morse code..
- The lycian fights were a let down. Badly animated. Seriously.. what was that? (i like the other ones that were more QTE-heavy though)
- Pacing is just weird. But a lot has to do with taking freedom away from the player.
- no extra modes. No co-op, no horde mode, etc. Would be great for this game and these fun weapons.
- little destructibility. I thought there would be way more.
- cover is good but i think it would be nice to refine it, with (for instance) a move around corner cover like i TLoU.
- Forced walking is not gameplay.
- exploring the environments wasn't that rewarding.
- too linear. It can still be a linear game (it should be). Just with some branching paths.
- i'd like to melee myself, but i liked the brutal endings..

Let's just think of this first game as the introduction to the game. I think we can all see a big potential in this game as a series (and this engine, gawddamn).
The epilogue to me seemed like the beginning of the real game. That looked badass and promising.

I hope the fine people at Ready at Dawn will still feel confident, strong and belligerent after some of the reviewscores. And i hope they will read the criticism with full awareness that they can achieve greatness. Because they're more than halfway there.

Thank you for now Ready at Dawn. I hope to see a sequel.
 

benny_a

extra source of jiggaflops
How can i see how long it took me to beat the game?
I don't think you can. I just noted down the times manually because I was interested based on the huge amount of discussions pre-release.

Also was pretty easy for me to track because I was engaged enough to finish it in two sessions which even for games of the length of this one is very rare.
 
I just started my second play through to finish up getting all the trophies and I just have to express my feelings, sorry if it's long. I love the world, the characters, the gunplay, the crossbow, and I LOVED the ending and the future setup. This game is easily a 9/10 for me.

I would like a dedicated melee button and more challenging lycan encounters but that's about all the disappointment you will get from me.

I hope I don't get in any trouble for saying this and I am not trying to belittle the seriousness of this disease but I feel like this game presents itself and plays out very difficultly for someone that has ADD or is a product of the fast paced existence we live in today. There's has been a lot of talk about pacing because of the forced walking sections (which I feel aren't really that much) but if you use the beginning of the game for instance, what sense would it make for Gray to run down through the house like a madman or with a gun constantly drawn, that doesn't happen in real life and it wasn't the mood for the scene. Also, you still have control and can walk straight from A to B if you like and at that moment, that stills counts as gameplay just as much as walking down the street in GTA 5 or the TLoU, which you do in the beginning.

The game story also respects my sense of imagination and ability to build a picture of the happenings for myself. The world is so well done that you are immediately immerse and I think RAD made the right move by not hand holding you through 3 chapters of character introductions (especially since that could possibly be handled in DLC). There are enough hints and clues for me to build the scene and the character interactions are so well done that you connect with the squad quickly.

It's a slow burn with many layers. I love that it allows me to take my time and develop a pace for myself. Actually, I think one of the things that I didn't like about it and broke my immersion were the couple of times when a character would repeatedly say something very video gamey like "Come on Gray" or "Hurry Up Knight" because I was so engaged in the world that I wanted to stop everywhere and just look around.

The slow burn doesn't work so well in today's 140 character, 6 second vine, one up the next guy on youtube generation but I'm glad that RAD took a chance a when against the grain. This is just my opinion about it but I feel very satisfied with this product.
 

Catdaddy

Member
+ functional nudity.

Nudity was working as intended?


I ran across a two bugs where I had to restart encounters, once I couldn't get one of the characters to talk to me to move it along, the other was a follower that wouldn't follow. Restarted and did nothing different and worked fine, other than that no glaring bugs/crashes.
 

MaDKaT

Member
Finished it over the weekend(about 9 hours). I can now certainly agree with some of the complaints gameplay wise(granted many overblown IMO). Overall I found the game to be really enjoyable and Im looking forward to playing it again. I did get hung up in one place
Grenade lobbying armored bullet sponge in the last burning crate level of Chapter 9
Grrrr....

Some things I would like to see in a sequel

-A dedicated dodge roll button.
-A dedicated melee button
-Some sort of load out before a mission(where appropriate)
-Non lethal stealth take downs (seemed oddly omitted considering the character)
-tweak the sneak/stealth system. Creeping up to enemies and executing a stealth move felt clunky
-The ability to use blackwater at will(maybe something I missed)
-lighten up or tweak the stickiness of the cover system
-More enemy variety. Or maybe just more
half-breed/lycan encounters outside warehouses and give them more than just a peek and charge AI routine
-Be more consistent with what the player can and cant do during the interactive cutscenes. Some scenes allowed you to walk and others it walked for you for no good reason IMO.
-I would love to see a co-op campaign if they can work it into the story but still allow full solo.
-Maybe some missions with other characters with different attributes
 
Anyone have a comprehensive collectibles guide? Or any tips in regards to what chapters to skip on cleanup?

This guide worked well for me
This guide is really good, the best way to do it is start from the end (which will be freshest in your memory) and work your way back. Just skim through each video and find the things you don't recall seeing/getting. For me I missed 2 items in the warehouse

http://gamingbolt.com/the-order-1886-mega-guide-collectibles-locations-trophies-top-weapons

Lots of the end chapters don't have collectibles at all.
 

Paganmoon

Member
Finished it on hard at around 7 hours. Got all but two collectibles (that were hidden way out of the normal path). To me, I took my time with the game soaking up the atmosphere on display, taking plenty of screenshots.

The mileage may vary as always. :)

Speaking of hourly length, I found it to be just the right amount, though I disagree on the content placement of those hours - it could have used more prolonged game-play segments and different pacing in a few places.

Over the years, I've come to notice that a lot of people run whenever possible in games and go directly for the objective. I prefer to walk around a look at everything and It definitely pads my playing time in games

I don't get how just running could make up for the extra hours I spent, I guess it's just time for me to realize I suck at playing games :(
 
Playing the order just shows me how far ND is above others when it comes to these types of games.
I hope RAD gets a chance to make another one but i don't know if they have the people to give us a UC to UC2 jump.
 

nib95

Banned
On the other hand I don't get how you can take 11 hours to finish the game.
I played it for approximately 6.5 to 7 hours and I also don't think I've rushed.
90% of it on hard without aim assist.

I don't stop at windows and inspect textures and such when I'm just playing the game. I also don't take screenshots.

I took a tonne of screenshots and analysed a lot of the world, textures, materials, shaders, models, assets etc. Took me about 13 hours lol (completed the game over 3 days). I'd imagine my second play through will be closer to 7-8 hours. Still have some collectibles missing which I need to find, plus the rest of the trophies.
 

Wakka212

Member
One thing I actually loved was the concept and framework behind the Elder Lycan battles. I just wish they had fleshed it out and created a cinematic and modern version of a Super Punch-Out scenario, coupled with an increased difficulty to up the tension.
 
Playing the order just shows me how far ND is above others when it comes to these types of games.
I hope RAD gets a chance to make another one but i don't know if they have the people to give us a UC to UC2 jump.

Well, RAD already bested ND when it comes to graphics and gunplay, which is pretty impressive coming from a handheld studio on their first next-gen attempt.

All they have to do is get the pacing & gameplay systems better defined
 

RoboPlato

I'd be in the dick
One thing I actually loved was the concept and framework behind the Elder Lycan battles. I just wish they had fleshed it out and created a cinematic and modern version of a Super Punch-Out scenario, coupled with an increased difficulty to up the tension.
I liked it too, especially once I realized you had full movement control and there were environmental weapons. I just wish the dodge prompts weren't on screen and were up to the player to read the movements.
 

Wakka212

Member
Are there any known future plans for this game at all? DLC, etc?

I'm desperately hoping they add a 2-3 hour story DLC.

In addition, the 'Extras' section on the main title screen is suspiciously empty...I get the feeling they will add something else to that.
 
I'm not quite finished yet (Chapter XI maybe?), but overall I'm impressed. I disagree with the low scores and at this point I'd give it around a 7.5. The combination of mood/setting/visuals is near flawless though.
 

Wakka212

Member
I liked it too, especially once I realized you had full movement control and there were environmental weapons. I just wish the dodge prompts weren't on screen and were up to the player to read the movements.

Yeah I only realized you could move around when I was revisiting that level.

The removal of the dodge prompts would definitely make that section far more exciting and tense. Imagine if they had added some parrying abilities and counter attacks.

I would have also loved if they broke that section up into 3 parts with the middle section involving shooting at the Lycan while it was traversing the environment and perhaps throwing projectiles at Galahad. Alternatively one where it vanishes and you have to try and find it in the environment while its stalking you at the same time...so much potential!
 
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