The uncomfortable order of The Order 1886

UPDATE: Yeah article is a little obsolete thanks to the fact I was able to rent this.

The Order 1886 is a strange game on my radar. It gripped me at its E3 reveal, soured expectations as I watched the gameplay reduced to a glorified rail piece at a big conference, and then remained alright as I saw a good gunfight scene on an air ship. Then I dug a little deeper as the launch approaches and people are talking, and this is a game I essentially want but for all sane reasons can't have (yet), and that kind of burns a bit. Admittedly its also my own fault as I've been reading too much internet comments that make me worry about the game. Not from the perspective that the gameplay is bad, but from the perspective that other people are being whiny about it. Its that double standard of innovation again, where one moment a game doesn't need anything but the right face and it becomes huge, and the next game doing something similar with its own tweaks and style gets the short end and hated for doing not "enough". Meanwhile somewhere out there an ambitious innovative title flopped or didn't get any credit for what it does. There's hardly a middle ground anymore, and now I'm kind of looking at why its scarey to be a new IP for good. Its not just about being unproven, but its about the fact that people have weirder expectations and will hate you for much less. However I'm not here to simply rant about that, I'm here to help bring out what good I do see in this new IP.

The World (Worth hyping on its own)

For starters I'm a massive fan of steampunk. Yeah I'm sorry developers, but despite their denial and disliking of that label they are going to be a little stuck with it. Maybe on some technical level its not "steam"punk, as there's a lack of steam and brown, but there's a ton of elements. The clothes, the crazy guns, the gadgets, the horror element off to the side, and of course the era all add up to a theme that is going to appeal to steampunk fans. I love that, we need more games that come in that sort of theme going into immersive genres like this. Why on earth are there so few? We've kind of got bioshock, damnation (flop!), the incredible Dishonored, and if you count friend required co-op there's two airship combat indie games. Finally here is a game that wants to go for a dark victorian steampunk aesthetic with monsters, crazy weapons, historic figures, background airships, and compelling lore, and its all making its way into the AAA market with gameplay that is difficult to fail on at this point. The word is in that the polish and feel is really pulling through on most areas, with critics not really being honest with themselves (bullet sponges didn't seem to be an issue for Uncharted for 4 games!). So that's awesome, another potential steampunk game. Plus lets just put that label aside and honor the fact that there's an assault rifle that shoots combustible thermite bullets that mix with the weapon's secondary flare fire. Its like a grenade launcher with napalm instead, and its more personal by the bullet.

One step closer to playing this in a game

Gameplay (nothing is wrong with 3rd person shooters)

Of course are we really sure this will turn out well? After all what good is a streampunk game if it might be another Damnation coming up with tasteless gameplay. Well that game both wasn't quite as painful as the internet told me to believe (of it still wasn't great, but it was alright), and was a primitive 3rd person shooter done when everything doing it was instantly branded a gears game. Now we have DeadSpace, Uncharted, Tomb Raider, The Last of Us, Spec Ops, Lost Planet, Inversion, Space Marine, and more all in addition to Gears of War making the mark and by now its clear how to nail a 3rd person shooter, and its clear whether or not you're going to fit in and enjoy it. If you're the kind of person that was absolutely bored of Spec Ops on gameplay, then just maybe The Order 1886 isn't for you. However for me, if the gunplay is good, and the narrative is compelling, the worst it can do is be a "meh" experience. Unless of course there's something that they aren't showing us (and that can happen, so don't get me wrong it will possibly fail somewhere), but everything seems to be in order for at least that. Maybe a cliffhanger would be bad, but the gameplay will still be fine if its just another 3rd person shooter. You've got enemies to fight, an adventure to go on, and the cover and shooting is proven to work. There's even some nifty extra stuff on top, like a slow motion function, and a self-revival tool. If people could adore Spec Ops for its story alone, and enjoy Uncharted as a major blockbuster experience, then why would this be bad for being another story driven standard 3rd person shooter?

Tying the package together (Solid gaming and a new adventure)

Ready to explore ghostly houses

So is that it? An alternative history Victorian mundane 3rd person shooter? Well its like I said, if Spec Ops did it right on boring barebone stuff with a squad pointer thrown in, why the hell can't a game with this premise make it? You've got that and more. You've got monster, secondary fire, a slow-mo piece, compelling lore, and a great setting, and of course far superior hardware. Its this kind of game that I love calling a safe investment. I know they'll be fun, I know I'll dig something out of story and come back for more later absorbing every level detail I can, and I know there will be impressive moments I'll remember. I also know that despite my ADD I'm 90% more likely to play it straight through than a normal game. For some reason I just do for this type of game, the exception being Inversion. Its a big new adventure, a great theme, potential lore, and a seemingly good execution. So yeah, a perfect purchase, right?

The problem and worries...

*deep sigh*
Except its ironically not such a safe bet thanks to its timing, not the gameplay. This is 2015. In the year when so many games are coming out, this one is an easy pass-up. Would I enjoy this? Yes! I would love the dark corrupt streets of steampunk Victorian envisioned under this mutant infested altered history. However not as much as I would love a full Ratchet & Clank game on my PS4. Would there be impressive moments? Yes, but whatever it has likely wont be beaten by the shear emotional powerhouse that is the souls series and its upcoming successor BloodBorne. Will I be back again and again for more content, loving the game and replaying it tremendously? Yeah, but not nearly as much as I'd likely put into Metal Gear Solid 5. Are its mechanics sounds and entertaining, with great gunplay? Probably, but Doom's reboot is going to likely be the best shooter of the year, and has way more tricks up its sleeves than zombie werewolves and even combustible bullet spewing rifles. If those games even live up to half of what I'm anticipating them to be, they'll be more entertaining for the type of gamer I am, and these aren't even the heavy hitters of the year. I'm not even bring up batman, COD, AC, withcer 3, and Nintendo's catalog. Oh and of course, the key to people's hypocrisy on this very game is the fact that Uncharted 4 is coming out. Although I despise the fact that many players and critics alike are giving The Order no chance by comparison, I have to admit Uncharted 4 would win in a direct vs fight because that's just a better studio with a more refined game in their hands. The Order 1886 choose a year too soon to come out in, though at least its going for the beginning where few of the massive sellers are trying their luck. I just need to save up for other things. Even if I could supposedly wait on a price drop for say, MGS5, I know that its going to stay at a higher price longer and I'm better off hoping for faster cheap access to The Order by its larger potential to bomb. Heck given two CEs, maybe I can even get lucky and score that at a gamestop for a discount. Its a safer bet to place money elsewhere. Especially since R&C as a franchise needs me as well at its own troubled time, and given that's up there among my all-time favorites in pure gaming bliss you can see which one gets my charitable sympathy.

On top of that there are pacing concerns, and of course the implications set out by this game. Sure on one hand I want to support their lovable dream of this steampunk shooter fantasy, but do I want to support constant scripts and glamorized "cinema" scenes on my games? Do I want to support guys that lie about the framerate being about "cinematic" experiences? Also while my concern isn't too high, what if most of the game is full of segments that "break the pace" by shoving rail shooter bits everywhere like that E3 trailer? Again the worst it can do is "meh" but when there still is skepticism, should this game be the one I throw money at? For the sake of a potential future I hope enough people do that this game can survive and the developers can fix whatever mistakes they might make, but maybe... maybe its worth it to pass and just pick it up at a $40-$20 range instead.

Despite my last negative sentence though, I don't feel like skepticism holds much water here. Yes the E3 showing was bad, but if you go back and look there was some exploration being rushed over, and the event wasn't really any worse than a vertical slice of that truck scene from Uncharted 2 (which I'll remind you is one of the best 3rd person shooters out there). Yes the 30fps lie sucks, but people are letting Uncharted 4 get away with it so far and honestly we've been doing just fine before with 30fps. Sure their justification was stupid, but so would turning down hours of entertainment over some little dumb words. Sure maybe some are tired of cinematic games, but again some of the best games coming out for me include BloodBorne, R&C, and Doom. If you don't want cinematic stuff shoved down your throat, but still are interested in this, then 2015 is the lucky year for both. Unfortunately nobody really cares about using this kind of logic, and I fear The Order will bomb because of pre-determined hype while its very similar brother Uncharted 4 gets all the glory despite essentially doing the same basics that The Order gets hated for.

With all concerns out of the way... it feels like The Order is just a badly timed game. I want to say I fear for its status on the market, but at the same time it reminds me of old games I used to just pick up, love, and play regardless of whatever anybody else had to say about it including the team itself. Its the first time in a long time I've actually sat down and watched back to back to back trailers, and still wanted to hear and see more. Its a good comfortable shooter I want to play and enjoy. Another immersive world, another adventure. Its essentially like another timeless fairy tale you want to hear around bed time, only the problem is you're not a kid waiting in bed for a story anymore and you feel like you've got to go through some dull paper work from the office before you get to read any fairy tale for fun. The timing is just off, and you're in a position that just feels wrong and toxic to your desire to have fun. I'm keeping my fingers crossed enough people support The Order 1886 anyways. Ready At Dawn clearly worked hard on it, and the deserve more than just another port job.

Does this tale have a happy ending?