The Order: 1886 (PlayStation 4) Review

The Order: 1886 is a third-person over-the-shoulder shooter set in Victorian London. It pits an ancient Order of Knights against "Half Breeds," the series name for what is commonly known as a Werewolf.

This is the first completely original title for Ready at Dawn, having originally worked on spin-offs of famous series God of War and Jak and Daxter. It's a big debut. Playing as Galahad, the player is thrown into a world where rebels are fighting against the crown. Werewolves are a constant threat and now some new serial killer known as "Jack the Ripper" is preying upon the populace of London.

Despite the premise of fighting against Werewolves, the combat is primarily against other humans. It's quite disappointing that the supernatural fights are few and far between throughout the game. When they do arrive they come in one of two identical forms. Either as a QTE battle with an attack, using the shoulder buttons to attack and the analogue stick to dodge in different directions; or a terrible enemy encounter where the enemy charges straight towards the player character, runs away, and repeats…over and over. It's quickly tedious and quite lacklustre.

The combat against humans, at least, is fun, with a considerable arsenal of weapons to play with and a decent cover system. Most of the weapons are the standard fare, but some, the inventions of Nikola Tesla, are quite unique designs, such as a thermite gun that fires a cloud of thermite with the primary shot and a flare to ignite it with the alternative shot. The Order is also equipped with something known as the "Black Water;" this is not fully explained, but seems to come from King Arthur's time and the Holy Grail. In regards to the story, this Black Water gives members of The Order extremely long life and fast healing abilities. In combat the Black Water can be sipped to heal Galahad, and also fills a meter to use "Black Sight," an ability to slow down time and quickly pick off numerous enemies at once, much like the Dead Eye Targeting ability from Red Dead Redemption.

Though the game tells an interesting story and has solid gameplay at heart, there are a number of aspects that really let it down. The first and most important is the length of the game. Clocking in between around five to eight hours, there isn't a great deal of content for a playthrough. This can often be forgiven when the game has other things on offer, whether it is through achievements to hunt, multiplayer features, new game modes or unlockables. The Order: 1886 has none of that. The few achievements that are in the game come easily enough for the vigilant player; there are no unlockables after a completion, no alternate game modes and no multiplayer.

There's always extra playthroughs, but this is where the game's flaws become more apparent. While the cinematic style and pacing works with the overall tone of the game on a first playthrough, on subsequent playthroughs the cut-scenes cannot be skipped, and there are points where the player is forced to walk instead of being able to run, causing the whole game to feel like it's dragging.

The Order: 1886 is definitely worth playing through for the story alone. The performances are well acted and the world crafted is deep, but there are so many questions left unanswered; so many aspects of the world unexplained. The Order is related to King Arthur and the members live for centuries, but how? There's a mysterious figure that appears numerous times, but is never explained. Who is he? Where do the Werewolves and other supernatural things come from? Much like how films and books are often produced as "Part One of the Trilogy" now, this feels very much like an initial look at a much deeper world that is yet to be explained. This can be very frustrating, with some many aspects of the lore referenced and mentioned, but never elaborated upon.

The graphics are spectacular. The lines between cut-scene and playing are heavily blurred; every aspect looks good. The backgrounds and environments carry a gothic flair that really sets up a very cinematic feel. The character designs are superb, especially The Order's uniforms, mixing steampunk and Victorian styles in a greatly unique manner. It's a pity, however, that the supernatural aspects are not seen more; the Werewolf transformation evokes that in the original An American Werewolf in London movie.

For such a short game the designers have put in a lot of different gameplay aspects throughout, but, sadly, they either feel very brief or underdeveloped. There are collectables, but no tracker for them, so finding what is missed is a nightmare without a guide. There are stealth sections, but they are few and far between. Nikola Tesla provides a number of gadgets to play with, but they're barely used. It all feels a little like it was rushed to meet a deadline, and there's so much more that could have been included.

It's a shame to see so much disappointment in what could be the beginning of a whole brand-new franchise exclusive to PlayStation 4. The Order: 1886 itself has solid fundamentals, but there's so much that lets it down. Hopefully the developers can address the criticisms against this initial instalment and go on to make superior sequels, if they get the chance...