The order 1886 was Sony's Promise of a stunning blockbuster hit for the playstaiton 4. Unfortunately, The order 1886 doesn't quite reach the lofty goals it's story set out to achieve, and instead harbors a mediocre story with excellent production quality.
Plot
Imagine a world where werewolves roam the street of London. now, Imagine England’s knights of the round table are tasked with fighting those beats. That’s the world that The Order 1886 challenges you to play through. You’ll play as Sir Galahad, a knight of the round table. Along with other knights, you’ll explore the streets of London, battling the werewolves, called half breeds, and quelling an rebellion against the queen. It’s unfortunate that The Order isn’t a longer game, because I feel there’s a strong plot here – but just not enough time to explain it. Because of that, what you get is a watered-down version of what the story could have been. For example, when the main villain is revealed, I had a tough time understanding who he was or why he mattered. Some important concepts in the plot, like the werewolves, are never thoroughly explained so you just have to go with it. I also wasn’t a major fan of the opening to the game. You see Galahad imprisoned by the order, then play the rest of the game as a flashback to when he fought for the order. This sort of opening takes away any chance for the game to surprise you with its twist later on. The ending also expects to be picked up in a sequel, and as such it’s not the satisfying ending I would have hoped for.
Writing
I was impressed how the order 1886 makes each character becomes instantly likeable with their introductions. Markie, a French knight, loves to hit on girls. Izzy is a badass knight who scoffs at a soldier who thinks she can't protect herself. You start the game loving the characters from minute one. It's also smart that the order brings in characters from the time period, Like Nickola Tesla and Jack the Ripper. Hearing Nickola talk about how much he hates Edison was one of my favorite moments in the game. Seeing a woman terrified after someone she knew was killed by jack the ripper was an interesting dynamic I was not expecting from the Order. it feels unfortunate that The order has lot of other dynamics and concepts that could have been explored as well, but again the order doesn't have time to do so. Aside from a few select cases, don't expect any meaningful conversations, humor, or thought provoking situations - it's all about the action.
Voice Acting
Each character gives a great, strong performance. From the main characters to the solider that gets one line, every one of them feel authentic and professional - including dead on accents. My one problem is that I was always waiting for the strong vocal moments that would leave in awe, but unfortunately, they never quite came. Don’t get me wrong the vocal performances are very strong, it just never quite had those moments of excellence. Then again, it's harder to impress when the entire game has such high quality.
Immersion
The steampunk world of The order 1886 only has one word to describe it. Beautiful. From the awe-inspiring backdrops to the reflection of light off of paper, it seems the developers thought of every way to make the game look great. The unfortunate side effect of all this care is that you constantly feel herded towards a single linear path. When I saw how staggeringly beautiful London was, all I wanted to do was explore it. Unfortunately, the game only allows you to take a singular backstreet path through town. Don't let that get you down though, because The graphics aren't the only thing the Order has going for it. The facial features of the characters are lifelike – some of the most impressive I’ve seen. The cool steampunk tools that you get to use, like a steam powered lock pick, set the scene of a steampunky 1886 time quite nicely. Unfortunately, some of that immersion is broken by the cuts from gameplay to cutscene which sometimes are quite abrupt. The overabundance of quick time events doesn’t do The order 2886 many favors either. If anything, the events made me feel like the game was stealing the most exhilarating moments from me by wresting control of Galahad.
Conclusion
What it comes down to with the order 1886 is time. It is a marvel to look at, but I feel they tried to cram a 20 hour story and world into 8 hours. That leaves the plot feeling predictable and at times confusing. The order 1886 does not have a bad story, Just realize it will be more like a predictable thriller movie than an epic tale.