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The Order: 1886 |OT| Gears of Yore

Gusto

Member
I do the same thing over and over again when I've replayed Gears and Uncharted. There isn't any wild variation in playthroughs. His is a flawed premise. No matter what the justification is, you can't tell me watching these games is the same as playing them. In any case, the game never became rote to me, I enjoyed almost every minute of it really. I can see myself replaying combat encounters using different weapons or methods of attack.

I don't know man, I never had a problem playing Uncharted 1,2,3 or Gears 1,2,or 3. I guess it's just a matter of opinion. Trying to stomache through a 2nd time is rough, for me at least.
 

leng jai

Member
The main issue I have is how daft the AI is and how often you only have "normal" weapons a your disposal. I know dumb AI is basically a hallmark of videogames these days but it is still disappointing.
 

Skux

Member
Wouldn't most people say the best thing about the game is the atmosphere? I've seen several reviews that said the gunplay was pedestrian, but the types of guns and the atmosphere were best parts of the game (by atmosphere I mean the world building/setting/graphics).

The actual mechanical gunplay of aiming, moving, and shooting, is very satisfying, it's just that the combat scenarios are dull - they throw you into a room and make you kill everyone. For all its cinematics, the gameplay itself doesn't have a cinematic feel. You don't get the sense that you're "playing a movie" like in an Uncharted game.
 
I am fine with it too. There was either very few or no other scenarios in the game where I felt the need to use it outside of grenades/lycans.

I prefer the idea of a contextual dodge/evade control to the combat roll you see in many games.
Continual roly-polys like you see in dark souls just look stupid.

It's one of the areas I think they can improve on in the sequel. Maybe allowing ordinary (non-fatal) melee moves as well as the cinematic melee finishers will bring more variety to combat. In those circumstances a contextual dodge could allow you to parry or block incoming melee attacks whilst retaining the combat roll for dodging grenades etc.
 
Something I never mentioned was how great it is that you can adjust look, aim, and zoom sensitivities separately. Gears 3 is the only TPS I can think of that allows this, and it's super useful to me, Yet another testament to how much thought went into refining The Order's combat experience...which, again, makes its shortcomings all the more depressing :(
 
Finished this game up last night after playing for most of the weekend. If I had to guess I'd say it took about 8 hours or so of playtime. I don't usually rush through games but I wanted to finish this one (and it was a rental) before Monday. I'll start with the pluses. The game is beautiful. A technical showpiece. RAD showing off some real chops with their first real big console release. The grain took a bit of getting used to but once you do, everything really shines. Presentation is top notch too. Fantastic music and sound effects. Great voice work. Everything is really slick. The core gameplay is good too. The controls, the shooting, the getting in/out of cover, the way the guns feels is all good too. There is nothing really "broken" about the gameplay. I had fun with it.

I'm a bit more neutral on the story. The whole thing had some wonky moments. For one I wasn't expecting to just be sort of thrown in the middle of the story without enough fleshing out of story background. It sort of felt like coming into a TV show in the third episode or something. Someone mentioned in the story thread that this could have been the 2nd game in the series and it did feel that way. The story can be a little confusing too. There isn't enough of a link between the rebels, the lycans and Lord Hastings to really feel invested in the story. I don't know if anyone else felt this way but it felt like things were just introduced too quickly, I just felt like I was missing out on parts of the story. The "swerve" is also really poorly telegraphed and could be seen coming from a mile away.
I don't know about anyone else, but I pegged Lucan for a backstab the moment he appeared on screen.
I normally don't complain about this, but there is also some weird "sociopath Nathan Drake" style issues with it for me. The Order are supposed to be these noble knights tasked with protecting the realm, but the kill the shit out of EVERYTHING. Even in the level where the
rebels steal India House security uniforms
the response from Percival is "Oh well we don't have time to tell who is who so just kill everyone. This really struck me in the stealth mission where you are taking out glorified security guards who for all they know are just doing their job. Do you sneak up and maybe choke them out? Nope knife to the throat and/or chest! The story is saved some by the incredible atmosphere and universe they build.

As I said The game plays well but I just wish there was more variety to the gameplay. The battles almost all playout in the exact same way. Yeah there are some cool weapons but outside of the sections where they are introduced, I never found the more gimmicky ones to be all that useful. A stock rifle or even hand gun was just as effective at taking out a room full of baddies for me. Granted I played on normal so maybe things are different on Hard but I never felt the need to switch things up with weapons. The QTEs could be a little frustrating at times. Not a fan of so much trial and error in games but for the most part it never took me more than 2 or 3 tries on a specific area. The standard warehouse Lycan battles also were frustrating. In such an enclosed environment when you'd aim your characters head/body would take up like half the screen, making it difficult to see where the Lycans were coming from. Did not enjoy these, which was a shame because for the most part they were the only time you ran into Lycans. Wish there was more exploration and open ended gameplay too. I mean, I'm not expecting GTA levels of open world but just some alternate paths, maybe some actual meaningful collectables could have done well. As it stands, the game really has zero replay value because of this.

Overall, I had fun with the game and enjoyed it for the most part, but I have to keep in mind that I ended up paying about $9 in rental fees for the experience. Had I paid $60 I'd probably be a little more annoyed. There just isn't much to go back to once you beat it. Despite having enjoyed it, I can honestly understand why it got such low review scores and such polarizing reactions from certain outlets. It is an incredibly linear, guided experience and that's not for everybody. It's not really for me either as I don't normally find those kinds of games to be all that great especially not for $60. That type of gameplay just feels dated to me.

As for a sequel, I found the story and especially setting interesting enough that I'd be intrigued by one, but it depends on what RAD's vision for the game really is. If they feel they nailed the gameplay, and this (constant cinematic interruptions, jarring QTEs, very little deviation or variety) and just want to flesh out the story more then I'm not sure they would have me on board with that. It sort of depends on where RAD goes from here, and what they view as the flaws and shortcomings of the original.
 
Hope RAD expands on the use of blacksight in a sequel, like incorporating/requiring its use for boss fights or something. Using blacksight to go into slow-mo and detonate an air grenade looks and feels awesome.

cfxkgt.gif

Oh mah gah.
 

Xellos

Member
Finished this last night. All of the guns were enjoyable to use, and there were some standouts such as the duelist pistol. QTEs were surprisingly OK, except for the
werewolf fights with the right-stick dodging. Kind of ho-hum for such a cool enemy
. I liked the setting and the crazy/cheesy
vampire+werewolf+East India Company vs rebels vs Arthurian Knights
story. Graphics and audio were of course top notch throughout. As linear shooters go, I thought it was an enjoyable experience.

Hopefully RAD will get to make a sequel.
 

doomquake

Member
Blowing up a grenade with blacksight is awesome and its a bit of a shame you don't get to do more of that stuff in this short time. Did you know the melee is context sensitive too? I smashd some dude at a wall while mucking about after a play through.. Sux they went to that level of detail and it is hardly used.
 

mujun

Member
Just got to Chapter XV.

How is the plot in this game so bad?!?

Galahad has at least four major points at which he could at the very fucking least mention the vampire incursion, firstly when Isi confronts him about his seemingly weird behaviour, secondly when he gets caught at the India Company and Isi turns up, thirdly at the trial and fourthly when Marquis finds him in the brothel. He stubbornly refuses to even mention it, something that would at least get some people questioning the situation and make his mission of saving the country much easier. Instead he prefers to take the whole thing on himself despite the fact if he dies then his country will more than likely be taken over. His willful stupidity reeks of plot written to suit gameplay. Also, apart from Marquis, nobody seems to give a single thought as to why he would betray his order in the first place. How daft are these people?
 

Robot Pants

Member
Just finished it. Enjoyed it every step of the way never got bored once. Two of the encounters gave me some trouble on hard, but after ten or so retries I got it. The cover system and shooting is actually way better than I previously thought and it all runs so smoothly and seemlessly. I just had to turn up the look sensitivity and turn down the aim sensitivity and then I was moving around like it was gears of war.

I thought the final ending scene was the weakest part Of the game however. They did such a stellar job of presenting everything all the way through the game then they sort of cram a bunch of info at the very end with little breathing room then it just ends. Still had a ton of fun and can see myself going through this game once or twice a year just for fun.

Here's hoping for more.
 
Just got to Chapter XV.

How is the plot in this game so bad?!?

Galahad has at least four major points at which he could at the very fucking least mention the vampire incursion, firstly when Isi confronts him about his seemingly weird behaviour, secondly when he gets caught at the India Company and Isi turns up, thirdly at the trial and fourthly when Marquis finds him in the brothel. He stubbornly refuses to even mention it, something that would at least get some people questioning the situation and make his mission of saving the country much easier. Instead he prefers to take the whole thing on himself despite the fact if he dies then his country will more than likely be taken over. His willful stupidity reeks of plot written to suit gameplay. Also, apart from Marquis, nobody seems to give a single thought as to why he would betray his order in the first place. How daft are these people?

He doesn't want Isi to get involved, he says as much to her. The shit he finds out goes all the way to the top and he doesn't want her getting hurt.
They did a bit of a "one day I'll tell you everything" with Marquis in the brothel but didn't push that point strong enough in my opinion.

He brings the situation up with the 2 leaders of The Order. At that point involving more people would only lead to more bloodshed internally.
 
He doesn't want Isi to get involved, he says as much to her. The shit he finds out goes all the way to the top and he doesn't want her getting hurt.
They did a bit of a "one day I'll tell you everything" with Marquis in the brothel but didn't push that point strong enough in my opinion.

He brings the situation up with the 2 leaders of The Order. At that point involving more people would only lead to more bloodshed internally.

I could see this, he does however bring up a point about
Isi not even questioning why he would be doing what he is doing. They were supposed to be close yet she turns on him on a dime without questioning anything or giving him the benefit of the doubt
 
I could see this, he does however bring up a point about
Isi not even questioning why he would be doing what he is doing. They were supposed to be close yet she turns on him on a dime without questioning anything or giving him the benefit of the doubt
The Order is more important to her than Galahad maybe?
 
I could see this, he does however bring up a point about
Isi not even questioning why he would be doing what he is doing. They were supposed to be close yet she turns on him on a dime without questioning anything or giving him the benefit of the doubt

I feel like they might have lent on a shitty trope for that, jilted lover kind of thing. The narrative discarded the other knights quite quickly unfortunately, would have loved a few sections of chapters to cut back to playing as Isi or Marquis doing some investigation or discussion on what happened with Galahad to make it more well rounded.
 
The Order is more important to her than Galahad maybe?

If that's the case they don't do a good job of presenting it. Someone mentioned it in this thread or another but that in addition to the way the Trial scene is edited feels like something was cut midway through the story, maybe something that would have involved some branching story paths or somethingl
 

Veelk

Banned
I could see this, he does however bring up a point about
Isi not even questioning why he would be doing what he is doing. They were supposed to be close yet she turns on him on a dime without questioning anything or giving him the benefit of the doubt

She did question him.
Then he was all "Can't say, kthnxbi". The next time she sees him, he's burned down an India company ship, killed dozens of Company guards she regards as innocent, and has tried to kill Hastings. During the trial, it's not even made clear if he offered any defense for his actions. What other conclusion could she come to?
 

nib95

Banned
On my second play through, I'm definitely noticing that Izzy and Lafayette are more rigid or concerned in following The Order's rules than either Galahad or Percival. A few times Lafayette and Izzy mention they should stick to what the Lord Chancellor/Order commanded, whilst the other two characters are less beholden to The Order, and instead seem to have lost some respect for it. They mention how it is not what it once was multiple times.
 
If that's the case they don't do a good job of presenting it. Someone mentioned it in this thread or another but that in addition to the way the Trial scene is edited feels like something was cut midway through the story, maybe something that would have involved some branching story paths or somethingl
The way I looked at it is that
she just isn't the sweetheart we thought she was. her jealousy of the Rebel leader and ties to The Order clouded any sort of faith or trust she had of Galahad. I can see her being a villain in the sequel.
I don't think they should have left something like that open to interpretation though. There is no closure.
 

Septic360

Banned
The way I looked at it is that
she just isn't the sweetheart we thought she was. her jealousy of the Rebel leader and ties to The Order clouded any sort of faith or trust she had of Galahad. I can see her being a villain in the sequel.
I don't think they should have left something like that open to interpretation though. There is no closure.

Her super intense breathing hard from the nostrils gave that much away.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Finally got around to playing this tonight. About 2 hours in.... Okay guys, VERY funny! when does the game actually start?


And did I just go through an entire 30 minute CHAPTER without a drop of gameplay?
 
Finally got around to playing this tonight. About 2 hours in.... Okay guys, VERY funny! when does the game actually start?


And did I just go through an entire 30 minute CHAPTER without a drop of gameplay?

I can't recall a single sequence of 30 minutes without gameplay. Most of the cutscene only chapters are like 5-10 mins
 

cool_dude

Banned
Finally got around to playing this tonight. About 2 hours in.... Okay guys, VERY funny! when does the game actually start?


And did I just go through an entire 30 minute CHAPTER without a drop of gameplay?

You just done did that!

New review: "Regardless of quantity concerns (which is a valid complaint), where The Order more crucially falls apart is in regards to quality. It does not matter if a game is one or one hundred hours long, you need to enjoy playing it, and The Order fails at that most crucial of tasks. This is unforgivable, and instantly makes it impossible to recommend."

http://darkzero.co.uk/game-reviews/the-order-1886-ps4/
 

Aspiring

Member
Finally got around to playing this tonight. About 2 hours in.... Okay guys, VERY funny! when does the game actually start?


And did I just go through an entire 30 minute CHAPTER without a drop of gameplay?

Is this a joke post to only meant to shit on the game??? I played for and hour and a half and have had loads of shooting and gameplay. Never once thought there was no gameplay or even close to it. Was just like any other Game.

Now I have played a bit I can say posts like this make me wonder if some people actually played the game.

But anyway So far I'm loving what I played. Reminds me of like heavy rain with TPS elements.
 

_Clash_

Member
Nah, no sequel... Give me $20, 4 hour episodes until the underlying story crafted in the first game is taken to conclusion... THEN, make a full priced sequel in a slightly different time period.

Joke?

Joke.
 

Hasney

Member
Is this a joke post to only meant to shit on the game??? I played for and hour and a half and have had loads of shooting and gameplay. Never once thought there was no gameplay or even close to it. Was just like any other Game.

Now I have played a bit I can say posts like this make me wonder if some people actually played the game.

But anyway So far I'm loving what I played. Reminds me of like heavy rain with TPS elements.

While I don't think it's a full 30 minutes, the prologue can certainly feel like it's dragging on an on without much happening.
 

Golgo 13

The Man With The Golden Dong
Is this a joke post to only meant to shit on the game??? I played for and hour and a half and have had loads of shooting and gameplay. Never once thought there was no gameplay or even close to it. Was just like any other Game.

Now I have played a bit I can say posts like this make me wonder if some people actually played the game.

But anyway So far I'm loving what I played. Reminds me of like heavy rain with TPS elements.

It's not a joke post. There's moments I've enjoyed, but I can only slowly walk around beautiful environments slowly for so much time before I long for more... Gameplay. It makes me sad because there's no way I'm sitting through that much inactivity again.


I'm not condemning the game, I'm barely a few hours in, just starting to see the flaws.
 

Superflat

Member
There's moments I've enjoyed, but I can only slowly walk around beautiful environments slowly for so much time before I long for more... Gameplay. It makes me sad because there's no way I'm sitting through that much inactivity again.

I'm not condemning the game, I'm barely a few hours in, just starting to see the flaws.

I felt all that from the very first section of the game. The build up and momentum take paaaainfully long to take shape, but once it does, it's pretty engrossing.

I can see myself replaying some of the later chapters but I don't know if I can play through the game from beginning to end again unless enough time has passed and I forget what happens. The stop-and-go nature of the gunplay sections really held it back from making it as smooth of an experience as it could be. The handholding was incredibly annoying. I can't even bring my guns up if I'm not in a combat sequence? PLS
 

golem

Member
I tried driving this rebellious point all of last night and got promptly shotgunned by OrderGAF. Still looking out for my lost limbs

Lol yup, and people thought Drake doesnt care about guards. Galahad is told they probably dont have anything to do with it and goes ahead and murders them anyways

No time for proper investigations, only time for revenge!
 
Lol yup, and people thought Drake doesnt care about guards. Galahad is told they probably dont have anything to do with it and goes ahead and murders them anyways

No time for proper investigations, only time for revenge!

Galahad is told they don't have anything to do with it?

Galahad is the one that says they weren't going to kill anyone when he meets up with Lakshmi. Once the company men open fire on him, then he stops playing nice. In Chapter 11 he's just in full-on vengeance mode and doesn't give a fuck.
 

Aspiring

Member
It's not a joke post. There's moments I've enjoyed, but I can only slowly walk around beautiful environments slowly for so much time before I long for more... Gameplay. It makes me sad because there's no way I'm sitting through that much inactivity again.


I'm not condemning the game, I'm barely a few hours in, just starting to see the flaws.


That's fair enough but from the sounds Of it I would be around the same as you, and there has been loads of shooting, QTEs and even walking around. To say you played 30 monutes and no gameplay is taking the piss. Also 2 hours and questioning when the game will start?

Sure the start was a little slow but it's not that bad. The whole first section in alwsays a knight is all shooty bang bang, and no forced walks. Your even free to wander what little there is.
 
Game over

I'm down for a sequel if they have less QTE and more fleshed out gameplay


I had a feeling Lucan would end up being a Lycan because of his name lol
 

golem

Member
Galahad is told they don't have anything to do with it?

Galahad is the one that says they weren't going to kill anyone when he meets up with Lakshmi. Once the company men open fire on him, then he stops playing nice. In Chapter 11 he's just in full-on vengeance mode and doesn't give a fuck.

In the sneaking through the gardens section, Lucan suggests they dont just go around killing random guards and Galahad responds that aint no one got time for actual stealth.
 
Galahad was already aware that the company
were evil as fuck though
, that section in the gardens was after the whole dock events with the
vampires being transported around the world

On my second play through, I'm definitely noticing that Izzy and Lafayette are more rigid or concerned in following The Order's rules than either Galahad or Percival. A few times Lafayette and Izzy mention they should stick to what the Lord Chancellor/Order commanded, whilst the other two characters are less beholden to The Order, and instead seem to have lost some respect for it. They mention how it is not what it once was multiple times.

I actually just checked an there was a phonograph where the rebels
talk about contacting Marquis after the events of the Agamemnon as they think he would turn to their side. Very interesting that Galahad gets involved after that, I wonder if the Marquis is already a double agent at that point. His moment of hesitation during the trial (he really had no choice but to side with The Order there, otherwise he would be under suspicion too) and their moment in the pub definitely point to his status being in question for the next game, at least in terms of being open-minded to disbelieving The Order.
 
Galahad was already aware that the company
were evil as fuck though
, that section in the gardens was after the whole dock events with the
vampires being transported around the world



I actually just checked an there was a phonograph where the rebels
talk about contacting Marquis after the events of the Agamemnon as they think he would turn to their side. Very interesting that Galahad gets involved after that, I wonder if the Marquis is already a double agent at that point. His moment of hesitation during the trial (he really had no choice but to side with The Order there, otherwise he would be under suspicion too) and their moment in the pub definitely point to his status being in question for the next game, at least in terms of being open-minded to disbelieving The Order.

Completely forgot about that whole Lafayette thing, when I heard that phonograph I was like oh shit maybe he is a double agent, but then it just slipped my mind as I kept playing.
 

Arondight

Member
I managed to finish it last night and as a person who initially looked forward to the story, that was my biggest disappointment. When the game finished, I can't help but think "that's it?".
When the biggest catastrophic event happens, that's where I assumed the game was starting to take off from the beginning and getting started, not exactly half way through the game already. The game needed to be at least twice as long as there's way too much questions unanswered and relationships weren't developed much at all.

There is some very nice elements of the game. The visuals were gorgeous, Sound was one of the best and the gunplay was incredibly satisfying. Shotguns/arc gun and Thermite Rifle were the best to play around with.
The cut scene lengths and transition to gameplay was something that didn't bother me.

The problems however outweigh the positives with poor design choices. One of the best levels playing through was when you visit the
East trading company headquarters
which relies on stealthing. There's actual room to explore and it gives the player to choose between killing targets at long distances or stealth melee them and the enemies themselves are spread out. This level is however hindered by instant stealth fail mode which to me doesn't really make sense at all because each sequences after ends up blowing into a massive gunfight. That's not to say there shouldn't be any stealth involved in the sequences but there are better ways to address this kind of design.This level also one of the few levels that gives any form of exploring. Most levels are incredibly one sided and generally devolves into a shooting gallery. You're on one side and enemies are placed on the other. This is incredibly awful as it restricts the gunplay involved. There's basically no flanking and you're basically left staying in the same spot as there's too much enemies coming from the same direction. The enemies are designed to force you into these kind of situations as well which annoys me all the more. The Shotgunners, the enemies in armour, even the lycans you face devolve into hiding in a spot and shooting them.

This brings me to the next issue which is qtes. Pressing a timed X to dodge grenades or lycans is bad. A player shouldn't have to be told to press a button for a simple action rather the player should be able to be given the controls and handle the situation. This same issue hinders the
Elder Lycan battles
. It's an incredibly missed opportunity that you aren't able to be fully in control, aren't able to dodge attacks when you see the attack happening rather than because a button prompt tells you. I felt like playing Infinity blade 3.0. Timed QTE's for stealth melees don't make sense either and breaks the flow of what the player is trying to achieve. There are also a lot of scenes that are full on qte's that can't but think would have been better where the player is in control like when
taking helm of the Agamemnon.

One thing that get's me every time is how you see Galahad is mobile with the climbing and running but the game can't trust you to perform a jump without being scripted, the battles don't allow for such quick movements because it's all cramped.

I think a solid foundation is here but RAD have a lot of convincing to do gameplay/level wise to get me on board with their next game because the story just wasn't good enough to carry the game along with the visuals. I don't mind SP only experiences even for linear game but it has to be a pretty meaty experience. This game doesn't even provide such experience with it's weakness and really short experience and not having any form of MP (which is an incredibly missed opportunity given how good the gunplay is) to increase the replayability of the game to me is even more inexcusable.

I think some of the scores are pretty justified overall. Anything less than 50% though especially since at least the visuals, sounds, gunplay are solid and a very polished seems much to harsh.
 

Conduit

Banned
I just finished Chapter 5. I play on hard difficulty. Duration little over 5 hours.
That shotgunner at the end in Chapter 5 really piss me off. I stayed on 3 shotgun charges only and that bastard can't fall after 3 clean hits. God damn! Handgun can't do shit against him. So, i escaped then after 6-7 attempts.

Game is a blast for me.
 
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