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The Order: 1886 |OT| Gears of Yore

ChawlieTheFair

pip pip cheerio you slags!
I don't know about that but at the very least this is the first time I have felt that I was "playing" a CGI render.

Yup. Character models in particular are just fucking insane.

Also the half-breed live transformations need some more credit, they look awesome.
 
I highly doubt any developer would be able to match the graphics you witnessed in 1886 without the reclusive conformity of level design that was evident throughout the game. As I mentioned earlier, only QD could possibly match what you witnessed in TO. Their design philosophy lends itself well to the so called "Cinematic" gaming.

Doubt all you want. What you're suggesting is even more unlikely. How many console generations have you experienced? Generally graphics don't plateau one year after hardware 16 months after hardware release.
 

nemesun

Member
K6EDEzM.jpg


Next GoW confirmed for Kratos just walking around ridiculously beautifully rendered temples. ;)

DvFUO.gif


This is fecking eerie, I had a similar conversation with someone in relation with the next iteration of GoW and the graphics of 1886. Unless they're planning to make GoW a corridor shooter with black bars for extra added graphic fidelity, I'll say god speed.
 

Pandacon

Member
Hmm, I'm not too far into the game, but I got to the first big shootout area, and the shotgun guys are really pissing me off. I'm not big on shooters, but I don't remember having this much trouble this early in any game. Though I don't see anyone in this thread having the same issue, so I maybe I just suck at it. Think I'll take a break from this for a bit.
 
Wow, I missed a damn photo that was just right beside a door. How blind was I?

Anyway, got my Platinum. I didn't think any Platinum was going to be easier than inFamous Second Son. Boy was I wrong.
 

benzy

Member
For all its faults it's pretty god damn undeniable that Order is the benchmark for visuals of this generation of consoles in terms of non open world games.

The graphics were literally a constant jaw dropper, from beginning to end. All of the levels were incredibly consistent lookers.

http://a.pomf.se/rruxzi.gif

I agree with most of your points in your nicely written review, though I didn't find the soldier A.I. to be all that bad; they seem like Uncharted territory levels. Could definitely be improved on though, like with many parts. I'm trying to replay the game now and not being able to skip cutscenes makes me not want to replay it. :p
 

ChawlieTheFair

pip pip cheerio you slags!
Really like when you shoot a standard enemy when they fall down they can slump and slide down a wall. I don't if that's just standard ragdoll or the soft-body stuff at work but it looked awesome.
 
I think a lot of whether or not you like this game is whether or not you enjoy the story they are telling and the world they build. Most of the positive reviewers enjoyed the story. Most of the negative reviewers didn't. That seems to be the crux of the issues. Not the only issue, mind you, but the main one that seems to swing opinions.

I've got a few chapters left, but when I finish, I can just replay the chapters where I missed collectibles, right? I don't have to play the whole game over?

Yes. You can select chapters.
 
I've got a few chapters left, but when I finish, I can just replay the chapters where I missed collectibles, right? I don't have to play the whole game over?
 

kevin1025

Banned
I've got a few chapters left, but when I finish, I can just replay the chapters where I missed collectibles, right? I don't have to play the whole game over?

Yep! And the nice thing is it's broken up so much in chapter select you can very easily hop to wherever you want.

Edit: Darn it Sunshine! And a ninja beat us both!
 

Dahbomb

Member
Anyone know if the Arc Gun is glitched or does it just home on your target? Like it's literally impossible to miss with that weapon. You can shoot it blind out of cover and will still hit your target.
 
Anyone know if the Arc Gun is glitched or does it just home on your target? Like it's literally impossible to miss with that weapon. You can shoot it blind out of cover and will still hit your target.
It's not a glitch. That gun will automatically lock-on target when you fire.
 

ciD_Vain

Member
Anyone know if the Arc Gun is glitched or does it just home on your target? Like it's literally impossible to miss with that weapon. You can shoot it blind out of cover and will still hit your target.

I missed the first time i used it. Maybe because i have aim assist off
 

IKizzLE

Member
For all its faults it's pretty god damn undeniable that Order is the benchmark for visuals of this generation of consoles in terms of non open world games.

Yet I doubt it'll win a single best graphics award in 2015 because for that category, everyone will judge the entire package instead of its graphics.

Same reason why DriveClub didn't win it last year.
 

Cloudy

Banned
On chapter 8 and I'm enjoying this quite a bit. The foundation is very solid and they just need to add more environment interaction and player freedom to a sequel.

Also, make some worthwhile collectibles. Examining stuff is pretty weak lol

I think a lot of whether or not you like this game is whether or not you enjoy the story they are telling and the world they build. Most of the positive reviewers enjoyed the story. Most of the negative reviewers didn't. That seems to be the crux of the issues. Not the only issue, mind you, but the main one that seems to swing opinions.

I agree. The story and characters are right up my alley and they are really carrying the game along with the shooting mechanics (bested only by TLoU and TR reboot in the genre IMO)
 

nemesun

Member
Doubt all you want. What you're suggesting is even more unlikely. How many console generations have you experienced? Generally graphics don't plateau one year after hardware 16 months after hardware release.
My first gaming device was Commodore 64. What RaD accomplished graphically with 1886 isn't quite special in itself and can be improved upon if other developers decide to abide by the same conformity and forgo open environments. I was simply asked, can one develop a game with a larger, more expansive environments with a similar graphics on a current gen consoles? My answer was "highly unlikely".
 
Also, make some worthwhile collectibles. Examining stuff is pretty weak lol

I know most games have collectibles now, but I think that gets in the way of the story in more cinematic games like this. If you're supposed to be making haste across a rooftop, or chasing someone, it seems silly that I'm looking around for collectibles.
 
Played about 3 1/2 hours tonight and just got to chapter 6 so still a little ways to go. I am playing on Hard and with aim assist off, and it really took me some time to adjust to the combat. Some battles were actually fairly tough, like the first set of snipers
until I realized I could go around and up the stairs for a stealth kill! duh
. Once I got a feel for it I am really enjoying the combat encounters more so now. I do wish there was a little more mini sandbox structure to the fights allowing for multiple approaches, but they work well enough. The enemy AI is interesting in that I wouldn't call them smart, so much as very aggressive. the enemy will suppress you a lot and chuck grenades all the while a dude with the shotty is rushing in towards you. So it can get a little intense at times, and the friendly AI many times leaves the shots all for you, which I get because...video game...got to let the player be the one that downs most enemies. But I feel like if that were the case allowing the player to approach the encounters from multiple angles and using the environment to their advantage would certainly help big time rather than pinned down and fighting waves of enemies. Still the gunplay is satisfying even if the encounter design leaves a bit to be desired...so far mind you.

Liking the story thus far, lot of stuff is being set up and there are a lot of questions looming, which I like, and am prepared for many not to be answered within this game. Game looks and sounds amazing and I love the characters so far, even the ancillary ones. The Airship song that plays at the beginning is going to be in heavy rotation for some time on my phone. Need to see more Lycans, they have been awesome so far. Also the QTE and Cutscene stuff doesn't bother me at all, in fact I expected it to be way worse and it is not that bad at all. I do think sometimes a cutscene will happen when it maybe doesn't need to happen, but it is also hard to know if like Uncharted and Last of Us how much data loading they are hiding in some of those even just 10 second cutscenes. Most have been fairly quick though, and I enjoy the longer ones.

Also one thing I miss so far from this game compared to say Uncharted and Last of Us is a sense of place in the world. By that I mean you see where you are supposed to go, but your current location and path you are taking to get there doesn't feel as connected as it does in those other games if that makes sense. Last of Us early when you see the capital building in the distance every step you take forward you feel like in the game world you are physically getting closer to that capital because the environment gives you many cues as to where you are currently. In The Order when you see the Hospital and the team decides that is the target, the path to get there doesn't feel like it could be going to anywhere. Feels more like I was in two separate parts of the game world and kind of warped to the Hospital when the time was right. Granted I think this is just something Naughty Dog is very good at doing and something I just noticed when playing The Order tonight.

I know most games have collectibles now, but I think that gets in the way of the story in more cinematic games like this. If you're supposed to be making haste across a rooftop, or chasing someone, it seems silly that I'm looking around for collectibles.

Also THIS! I have been making an attempt to look around for stuff, but I am just going to say screw that in more urgent in universe moments, because you are right it kind of kills the vibe hunting for things. From I have seen most of the collectibles have been in quieter more exploratory moments anyways.
 
As for the close,
when he's on the rooftops mid-credits as martial law has been declared... my inner "Gotham by Gaslight" geek was over the moon! The guy is fucking Batman, without the rights, BUT with Nikola Tesla in his corner! I'm sorry naysayers, but what the hell is there not to love about that?!

With those nods to the Dark Knight Detective, is it mere coincidence his name is "Grayson"?How about when he actually screamed "Where is she?!" ala Bale Bat circa The Dark Knight?

9/10 for me, true believers. I can't wait for the sequel.


Ahahaa yes yes. Cheers to your observation.
 
Yet I doubt it'll win a single best graphics award in 2015 because for that category, everyone will judge the entire package instead of its graphics.

Same reason why DriveClub didn't win it last year.

Yeah I have a feeling something like Witcher 3 is going to win because of the open world stuff

Give The Walking Dead Season 1 a spin.

I bought it on a Vita sale for like $5 just for the platinum (had already beat it on PC).

True story. I'm a bad person
 

hydruxo

Member
Played from Ch. 4 to 11 tonight and I've really been enjoying it. Story has been entertaining so far.

Also, I love the song that plays when they
repel onto the Agamemnon.
 

Cloudy

Banned
I know most games have collectibles now, but I think that gets in the way of the story in more cinematic games like this. If you're supposed to be making haste across a rooftop, or chasing someone, it seems silly that I'm looking around for collectibles.

I feel Uncharted and TLoU did it pretty well by incorporating thematic (Uncharted treasure), gameplay-aiding (TLoU upgrades) and story-based (TLoU comics) collectibles.

RAD could have worked something like that into it. More exploration and downtime segments could have really fleshed out the game...

All that said, I don't see how something like Telltale's TWD can win GOTY while this game gets shit on. I find The Order much more entertaining...
 

Loudninja

Member
Just finished up the last 1/2 hour after a marathon session of 8 last night. Wow... I couldn't possibly disagree more with the critics on this one. I absolutely loved it.

The gameplay, while perhaps not innovative with stop and pop gunplay and QTEs, engaged and entertained throughout. I particularly loved the sense of weight objects conveyed. Manipulating items gave them real heft, and even the lock pick minigame felt (and certainly looked) fresher than others I've seen.

Speaking of looks... hot damn, this isn't just the best looking console game I've seen, but it puts every other title at arm's length. The airship and bridge battle in particular set a new high water mark.

The soundtrack was beautifully engaging, and the voicework was just spot on across the board.
And no offense, Isi... but Lakshmi absolutely stole my heart.

As for the close,
when he's on the rooftops mid-credits as martial law has been declared... my inner "Gotham by Gaslight" geek was over the moon! The guy is fucking Batman, without the rights, BUT with Nikola Tesla in his corner! I'm sorry naysayers, but what the hell is there not to love about that?!

With those nods to the Dark Knight Detective, is it mere coincidence his name is "Grayson"?How about when he actually screamed "Where is she?!" ala Bale Bat circa The Dark Knight?

9/10 for me, true believers. I can't wait for the sequel.
Oh yeah I did like the feel of the lockpicking.
 
....Chapter 6 isn't even halfway through the game.

Lol I know. I am going to not be as exploratory in combat scenarios though from now on, and save that stuff for the second time through or chapter replays. I also spent way longer on the snipers early on than I should have. Now that I got a hang of the combat I have been having a lot of fun fighting through enemies and dying less. Running at an enemy while they are reloading and hitting them with the air blast stun from hip fire into a melee takedown is sooo good.
 
Whoa. This is uncanny. Have you read my review? o_O

I skimmed through it. It was too detailed that I didn't want to suddenly put on a viveksface when playing it myself. I will revisit once I've done, but I get the impression I'll have similar criticisms to yours, plus minus a few things.

Edit : this is the wrong post, lemme relook.
 
My first gaming device was Commodore 64. What RaD accomplished graphically with 1886 isn't quite special in itself and can be improved upon if other developers decide to abide by the same conformity and forgo open environments. I was simply asked, can one develop a game with a larger, more expansive environments with a similar graphics on a current gen consoles? My answer was "highly unlikely".

Agree to disagree. (Commodore 64 was my first as well)

If Sony's better first party studios can't create a game with equal graphical fidelity yet have larger environments and better gameplay I'd be shocked. Especially after their dev tools have improved and the guys at RaD have shown them what they did.
 

hesido

Member
I'll be buying this in a few months. From the clips I've seen, I too think the melee system with the camera cut is too distracting from gameplay. Even if was a one hit one kill system, they'd still not need to cut the camera, just maybe change the position of the cam a bit to show off the animations. I think those contextual choreography would be even more impressive if it didn't feel like "here's a cutscene of you punching the guy".

Also, does this game have loading screens?

If not, the unskippable cutscenes (I don't know how they are designed but please fill me in) may be designed to allow load the next section (By letting the camera fix on the character with a limited background when necessary, before a major skip in location. Even if half of those cut-scenes are like that, they might not allow skipping of those that could be skipped for consistency. Then again, maybe they'll describe it in GDC or some place, why they went with that decision. It may be a technical requirement for some of those cut-scenes.
 

viveks86

Member
I skimmed through it. It was too detailed that I didn't want to suddenly put on a viveksface when playing it myself. I will revisit once I've done, but I get the impression I'll have similar criticisms to yours, plus minus a few things.

Yeah it's better not to read it before beating it. How much have you played?

Edit : this is the wrong post, lemme relook.

Nah it still highlighted a very similar thought process. We're not so different, you and I. ;)
 
Just finished it right now, took me exactly 9 hours and 10 minutes on hard with aim assist off, I actually timed myself, yes haha

Sticking to what I said before, this was the most enjoyable game I have played this gen thus far. Really enjoyed my time with it, I just came away with wanting more and few games have had that affect on me. There are definite flaws, but all of those have been touched on already. The biggest one to me is that it ended way too quickly, could have done with another 1 or 2 hours and I'm not saying that because the game length was short, but because they could and should have wrapped up a few more things story wise. The story was good, but not great, and that is mainly due to the questions they left on the table. I really, truly hope the game sells well, I need another game like this and the story has me invested so it better happen.

I know all this is not the popular opinion, but I have the itch to play the game through again, even after only having one trophy to collect.
 
Yeah it's better not to read it before beating it. How much have you played?

Still on holiday. Won't be getting back to my PS4 till Tuesday.

Nah it still highlighted a very similar thought process. We're not so different, you and I. ;)

I can't find it now, but I posted another thing, in regards to what I consider the 'aggregation' of what The Order needs to deliver in order for it to be a great game, which was all the factors shown in the initial reveal trailer.

Just like how Uncharted's train sequence/falling buildings was the aggregation of the game's strengths, in which traversal, dynamic gunplay, set-pieces and storytelling ( the ability for the story to make you feel invested in that Nathan Drake mass-murders an entire train sequence ), I wanted the final product of The Order to have that same aggregation of different gameplay pieces that matches together all of which made the reveal trailer.

Lycans that could leap from roof-top to roof-top and leap onto you in a single jump. Levels that took advantage of said enemy's verticality/horizontal abilities. Amazing atmospheric design that allows the game to feel both horror and action. Action that took advantage of the fact that you're a team of 4 knights with unique weapons, either by excellent AI, or mechanics that allowed for dynamic team-play.

At the end of the day, it does seem like the game really only delivered on the core shooting mechanics and the atmosphere. I can enjoy a game based on just that, but it definitely failed to achieve what I felt could've been an Uncharted 2 moment had they achieved all of the above.
 
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