I never said innovative but I do recall me saying it was a breath of fresh air after playing games FC4 and DA:I. I don't even know why I said that after playing TLoUR recently. Because I had played it before I guess? That was the last TPS I played since Uncharted 3 and I was hyped for a new one on PS4.
Not really. Without trying I got the headshots, stealth kills, wolf kills, and different weapon kills long before I got to the end of the game. The only ones I missed were the Blacksight kills (because I didn't use it) and the incinerate kills because I didn't use the Thermite Rifle that much.
I finished the game today and while I liked it for the most part, it could have been so so much better, it makes me sad.
They managed to create an amazing world and atmosphere and the best graphics I have ever seen on console or PC regardless. And I am speaking in terms of tech as well as art style.
This is by far the most beautiful game I have yet had the pleasure to play. The music is amazing to. The sounds of the weapons are great and pack quite a punch, the controls are precise and feel very smooth. The gunplay is fun and feels right. The story is intriguing, one of the better stories for a video game without a doubt. The writing is good, the voice acting absolutely top notch. Basically all the production values are there and this just elevates the fact that the game itself just isn't very good.
I could write a lot about all the negative things like the ending, some of the level layouts, the stealth sections... But the things that piss me of the most, are all those astonishingly stupid design decisions.
- Forcing you to walk slowly and to examine objects for a certain amount of time
Yes, the graphics are amazing and I really like to look at the scenery and study the intricate work of the developers, but forcing the player to do so, feels just wrong. The whole thing of turning objects in your hand and just looking at them feels like a very forced way to admire the design. If I want to look at these things I'll do that myself. I wouldn't rush through these sets anyway because the game is so gorgeous, but forcing me to go as slow as the developers feel like, makes me want to examine these objects and areas less, than when I would have more freedom.
- Lycan combat
This is probably one of the biggest disappointments of them all. First, there were far to few encounters with the lycans. They went through so much work with the design and these wonderful (or should I say gruesome) transformations and only let me fight them three or four times. And they even managed to make these fights suck?
The first trailer showed a lot of lycans which were climbing structures and jumping of them. Why don't they do that in the game? They literally have one pattern, that gets boring and predictable after one killed lycan. These fights would have been so much more intense if they were climbing on crates or other structures, were jumping onto me, hiding, sneaking around or attacking together.... The possibilities are endless.
The fight with the elder lycan in my opinion was a bit better, but also could have been actually good, if they wouldn't restrain my actions so much. Why couldn't I move around more freely or have more evasive options?
It's the same with the grenades. Why can't I roll whenever I want to by pressing X for example. Why does that have to be a button prompt? WHY? It even hurts the cinematic approach as there has to be a button prompt every time a grenade is near me. If I could roll whenever I wanted, a small grenade indicator would have been enough.
I mean "What were they thinking?" - AVGN
- Constantly breaking up the flow of gameplay to show me a 5 seconds cutscene
This is especially bad in the first half of the game. Why am I not allowed to climb down a ladder my self? Does that have to be a cutscene? I simply can not understand, how the developers didn't realize that this pulls you out of the game, instead of immersing you. They were aiming for a cinematic presentation and they succeed. But taking control away from me to show me Galahad do the most basic things breaks the immersion like nothing else. It breaks the connection the player has to the character he is supposed to control. We are already navigating in an extremely linear game. We already have very little control on the game and the action that takes place. A bit more tasks for us to do would help tremendously in not boring us to death.
Climbing, jumping or traversal in general are as basic as they get. And then they add the most pointless stuff of all: pushing carts or boxes. I especially remember a moment in which you simply push a cart for 10 seconds straight and no one is even talking. You're just pushing a god damn cart. What the hell is cinematic about that? Why is that shit even in there? It must have taken time to put it there, to code it. Who decided to do that?? What's the point? Does it make the game longer? Yes, it makes the game 10 seconds longer. Ten seconds more tedious. And the game is still to short, because the story simply cuts off when things get really exciting....
- Exploding red barrels...
I just had to laugh when I say the first one of these. Are they kidding me? They build an amazing London and natural stages just to put some red barrels into them? This was fun on the PS2 and already dumb on the PS3. Couldn't they at least make them look more like they belong into the place? Like real wooden barrels? Or better yet, just leave them out.
- The whole melee "system"
Yes, the animations are nice. But it hurts my brain that some people even call this a combat system. It's just "press the button to finish of that guy". It really has zero depth. Press Triangle to win.
- Too many QTEs that could have been regular gameplay or just a cutscene without that one awkward button prompt
This actually didn't bother me as much as I thought it might, but it's still a bad design choice. Whats better in pressing a button, to finish an animation? It just feels like pressing play, because the game just paused in the middle of an action sequence. It doesn't add tension, it doesn't add depth, it doesn't add anything.
I could go on and on...
There are so many things right with The Order 1886, that it amazes me how plain dumb some decisions RAD made are. Many complaints were there from the first minute gameplay was shown a year ago. I had some of these fears, but didn't expect them to drop the ball on the lycan combat so hard.
And for all of you who already finished the game:
What the hell is wrong with them showing me vampires and then not letting me fight them? Seriously? And the scene after the credits? They put a title on that scene and therefore make it look like I get to play one last chapter. Instead it's a fifteen second cutscene, which is even availably as a chapter in the menu??? They gotta be kidding me.
And I still really want to play a sequel. But only if they manage to fix these things. But I get the feeling that some of the lead developers are quite stubborn in their decisions they made for this game. Hopefully the reviews and the player response will bring them to their senses. It's such a shame. This game could have been amazing.
Wow, this post turned out a lot longer than I initially intended. Well I had to get that off my chest. :d
Well my copy arrived today finally,about an hour in and so far I'm enjoying it.Call me crazy but I love linear story heavy games and holy Shit these graphics are no joke!
Not really. Without trying I got the headshots, stealth kills, wolf kills, and different weapon kills long before I got to the end of the game. The only ones I missed were the Blacksight kills (because I didn't use it) and the incinerate kills because I didn't use the Thermite Rifle that much.
Just beat it 5 minutes ago as well. Super underwhelming ending. Considering the story is merely okay, an actual conclusion would have been nice.
Plus that sequence right before
Tesla's lab and the final boss fight where you have like 25 guards to kill in a tiny-ass room where you can't see shit was soooo frustrating. Urgh.
Liked it overall though. Maybe a bit more than others since I managed to snag the game for 25 euros. Was about worth that price. Will definitely be there should there be a sequel, it's got so much potential.
If you are frustrated by the charging lycan bit you should try using the R1 alternate 'air' attack just as the get towards you. It stops the lycan hitting you and momentarily stuns it letting you shoot a clip at it.
Yep thats what I did the first time but when it happened again in a later chapter,my weapon was almost out of bullets...took me a few tries to find some bullets and then I used Krusenstern's from the hip tip...finally got it.
Shit, I'm stuck againt an armored guy on the airship. I have a carabine that does shit to him. Same for the frag grenade and the Blackwater skill. I just can't bring him down...
Shit, I'm stuck againt an armored guy on the airship. I have a carabine that does shit to him. Same for the frag grenade and the Blackwater skill. I just can't bring him down...
Just finished it. Its solid 7.5/10, a good game held back by a few things. It took me around 9 hours give or take a few minutes to finish it on normal.
The stealth stuff whilst not bad it wasn't good either, maybe a little more time on that to tighten it up. The cover system was serviceable but after the dynamic cover systems in TLoU and TR its hard to go back to a system that glues you to an object. The gunplay is nice and punchy with some damn fine weapons to use. The Lycans are however abit of a disappointment, not used to their full potential at all.
Visually the game is by far the best there has been and art direction is fantastic. In fact the presentation taken as a whole is outstanding, the visuals, the fantastic OST, sound effects, good story and excellent voice acting elevate the game. The ending however whilst fine is not how you end a story, it feels a little unresolved. The whole game oozes atmosphere.
For their first original effort on the PS4 Rad have done good work and have laid the foundation for a fantastic sequel which I hope they get to make because I adore the world they have built.
In no universe is this game anything under a 7 imo, especially not a fucking 4/10.
Just beat it 5 minutes ago as well. Super underwhelming ending. Considering the story is merely okay, an actual conclusion would have been nice.
Plus that sequence right before
Tesla's lab and the final boss fight where you have like 25 guards to kill in a tiny-ass room where you can't see shit was soooo frustrating. Urgh.
Liked it overall though. Maybe a bit more than others since I managed to snag the game for 25 euros. Was about worth that price. Will definitely be there should there be a sequel, it's got so much potential.
Shit, I'm stuck againt an armored guy on the airship. I have a carabine that does shit to him. Same for the frag grenade and the Blackwater skill. I just can't bring him down...
I ended up with the same issue. But blacksight helped. Somehow he went down with just a couple of shots! Weirdest thing ever. Like the bullets suddenly got a 10x damage multiplier.
Shit, I'm stuck againt an armored guy on the airship. I have a carabine that does shit to him. Same for the frag grenade and the Blackwater skill. I just can't bring him down...
I cleared a few guys,then I threw a smoke grenade and a bit later walked in there,instead of him coming out at me...he didn't charge as much when I was inside the room...
Only on chapter IV, but I'm enjoying the game for what it is. So far the combat hasn't been very exciting, but I'm loving the sights. I'd be lying if I said this game's main draw wasn't it's visuals. It really is incredibly how consistent it is. Outside of a few graphical glitches here and there, it's just amazing. My favorite part is the complete lack (so far) of LOD pop-in or environmental object pop-in. That kind of thing really bothers me and it's just not present at all. Also, the real-time transformation process of the Lycans is something to behold. Really don't see much like this in games.
I finished it, I still hold firm on my 7/10. It's not the worst game I've played this gen and not the best. I was entertained enough that I would play a sequel. I'm going to go back and do a couple chapters to platinum it later on, maybe tomorrow or something.
I kind of enjoyed the story, as simple as it was. The ending left me wanting more, kind of like how they do that ridiculous money grab split of the third movie in a series and I've just watched the first part of part three. That's not really a good thing though, as I can't stand that feeling.
Anyone else feel disappointed with this game? I find it boring tbh. One minute I was on chapter 5 and all of a sudden I am chapter 7, don't even remember 6 coming up.
Ok after completing it yesterday and slept on it, here are my impressions
Positive:
- Best looking game I've ever played
- Length was fine for me. About 8 hours.
- Gun play is amazing. Really has that Gears of War feeling to the weapons and sounds. Super satisfying
- Characters and voice acting is top notch
- Quite liked the story. It has definitely set things up for a sequel and has laid the foundations
- Art direction is amazing. Music is too
Negative:
- Lycan fights were meh
- Newspaper clippings were hard to read. Every slight movement of Galahad's hand blurred the text
- Ending wasn't that great
- Collectibles not tracked in each chapter
- This game should of had a horde mode for 4 players. It screams it.
Final thoughts:
Really enjoyed it to be honest and was much better than I expected. I knew what I was getting into as I expected a cinematic heavy Beyond: Two Souls sort of game (which I also loved despite reviews).
I really hope RAD make some dlc for this game. Even if it's a horde mode, some story dlc. Even if it's standalone dlc. I just want more of it.
There are a lot of things that need improving and here's a list of suggestions I'd like to see in a sequel if RAD are blessed with the chance to make one...
1. Codex like Mass Effect/ Dragon Age would be ideal for this. Any collectibles can be dropped in there to expand the lore
2. If they are going to roll with interactive QTE's for the next one, make them affect the story or a particular scene. Different outcomes of your actions etc.
3. More focus on the Lycans and you know what... make them formidable opponents and not just QTE fest fights.
4. More gameplay segments and better pacing. Whilst I enjoyed walking around and taking in the sights. Going from heated gun battle to just walking around casually felt a bit weird.
5. When interacting with objects, make them mean something. Say if you need to do some detective work which involves picking a few things up to find hidden messages etc... Rather than just looking at beautifully rendered objects like RAD are just saying "Hey look how amazing this looks, LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT'S BEAUTYYY" -.-
6. Co-op mode? Either separate or built into the campaign ala Gears of War. Would be cool. Especially if your partners get split up and end up playing in different areas of the game. I feel this would have worked well with this one in a fair few sections of the game.
That's all I can think of for now. I wasn't particularly hyped for this game as I pre-orded with some vouchers I had so I kind of went in blind, not expecting a whole lot. And knowing this is RAD's first console game, I wasn't expecting Naughty Dog level of quality in terms of gameplay, but I came out surprised and glad I gave this game a go, despite reviews and such. It's definitely worth a punt in my opinion and going by the trade in prices dropping already, it should be a cheap romp for some of you fairly soon
play as Devi or Lakshmi. No offense to Galahad but the guy is pretty vanilla. Those girls kicked ass and it's not like the indian culture is over-represented in videogames.
Also I'm still mad Isi turned into a complete asshole towards the end.
I mean... I'm enjoying it a little more than the reviewers in aggregate. But it really isn't us vs them. It's just a group of opinions. I generally actually agree with most of the critiques- just personally the setting and tone really hits home for me.
Finished it, the game took way too long to get going but once it did it was fabulous. Then it ended.
It feels like an act was missing, the game was treading awfully close to being borderline Halo 2 offensive in that regard.
I'm very glad I played through it though, it leaves me wanting more but I'm not entirely sure it's for the reasons the developers actually intended - I feel short-changed rather than pumped for a sequel.
I just finished the game myself and I have to say that these reviewers are out of their fucking minds. I agree with almost everything they are saying but 65???? wtf? This game is at least a 75-80. This is by no means a bad game and 60s are usually reserved for those kinds of games. Everything worked well and I would even say the story was great if you get passed the cliff hangerish ending.
Eh? What's the point of having 0-60s then? Here's a bad game. Let's not get too hung up on arbitrary and subjective numbers. What matters is if you agree with the content, which apparently you do.
It's interesting, because this is the first third person shooter I've ever played where I can't recommend it to people that like third person shooter's like Gears and Uncharted. It's like:
"If you like Gears and Uncharted, this may not be for you, but if you like Heavy Rain and Beyond Two Souls, this may be for you." lol. It's weird.
I'm really enjoying it so far, but then again, I really like Heavy Rain (I haven't played Beyond Two Souls yet). I also really like Uncharted (not a fan of Gears, however). I'm looking forward to collecting my thoughts once I finish it, and writing my final review. I don't use scores in my reviews, though, as I don't find them particularly useful in any way, shape, or form. Hopefully the text will be informative for those that like to read the what's and why's of reviews.
Ok after completing it yesterday and slept on it, here are my impressions
Positive:
- Best looking game I've ever played
- Length was fine for me. About 8 hours.
- Gun play is amazing. Really has that Gears of War feeling to the weapons and sounds. Super satisfying
- Characters and voice acting is top notch
- Quite liked the story. It has definitely set things up for a sequel and has laid the foundations
- Art direction is amazing. Music is too
Negative:
- Lycan fights were meh
- Newspaper clippings were hard to read. Every slight movement of Galahad's hand blurred the text
- Ending wasn't that great
- Collectibles not tracked in each chapter
- This game should of had a horde mode for 4 players. It screams it.
Final thoughts:
Really enjoyed it to be honest and was much better than I expected. I knew what I was getting into as I expected a cinematic heavy Beyond: Two Souls sort of game (which I also loved despite reviews).
I really hope RAD make some dlc for this game. Even if it's a horde mode, some story dlc. Even if it's standalone dlc. I just want more of it.
There are a lot of things that need improving and here's a list of suggestions I'd like to see in a sequel if RAD are blessed with the chance to make one...
1. Codex like Mass Effect/ Dragon Age would be ideal for this. Any collectibles can be dropped in there to expand the lore
2. If they are going to roll with interactive QTE's for the next one, make them affect the story or a particular scene. Different outcomes of your actions etc.
3. More focus on the Lycans and you know what... make them formidable opponents and not just QTE fest fights.
4. More gameplay segments and better pacing. Whilst I enjoyed walking around and taking in the sights. Going from heated gun battle to just walking around casually felt a bit weird.
5. When interacting with objects, make them mean something. Say if you need to do some detective work which involves picking a few things up to find hidden messages etc... Rather than just looking at beautifully rendered objects like RAD are just saying "Hey look how amazing this looks, LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT'S BEAUTYYY" -.-
6. Co-op mode? Either separate or built into the campaign ala Gears of War. Would be cool. Especially if your partners get split up and end up playing in different areas of the game. I feel this would have worked well with this one in a fair few sections of the game.
That's all I can think of for now. I wasn't particularly hyped for this game as I pre-orded with some vouchers I had so I kind of went in blind, not expecting a whole lot. And knowing this is RAD's first console game, I wasn't expecting Naughty Dog level of quality in terms of gameplay, but I came out surprised and glad I gave this game a go, despite reviews and such. It's definitely worth a punt in my opinion and going by the trade in prices dropping already, it should be a cheap romp for some of you fairly soon
I do have one issue though, with your sequel ideas. This one in particular:
[B2. If they are going to roll with interactive QTE's for the next one, make them affect the story or a particular scene. Different outcomes of your actions etc.][/B]
Sorry, but I don't want that. That is like Heavy Rain. I don't want The Order to become like that. It would just feel pointless. People wouldn't want to fail the QTE's to see the bad outcomes. They would just reload, like what most people did in Heavy Rain.
Gonna have to disagree with the romance commentary. I think some are reading too deeply into things that aren't there. There is no intended romance in the game (only a whimsical what if we never had this life etc)
For Galahad / Igraine, their lifestyle / sworn duty is what prevents anything further from happening and the two imply as much during their comments in the hospital.
Spoiler for people who haven't completed
as for Galahad / Lakshmi, the "my gallant knight" is in no way romantic and is used by her sarcastically, the only other references are from Igraine's mistaken impressions (see Officer Doyle's early commentary on circumstantial evidence) and the torture scene at the beginning if you miss one of the first QTEs — which again, is a result of Igraine's testimony
Not every story needs to have an active romance. This one does not. It hints at something that could have been if not for the way things were
- and then shows how circumstance / circumstantial inferences can have someone you were close to to see you differently
(I won't say any more than that for spoiler reasons, I guess but I'm sure gaf can get my meaning)
Just finished the game too, quite an experience.
I really don't mind the hand holding and the corridor aspect. I think it was kind of nice to have a studio try something new, even if that something new is in the middle between video game and a movie.
The cutscenes are so impressive, to think that all of this is real time is quite the feat.
Also for the bosses, I kind of don't mind the fact that they are QTEs, the other option is often having a bullet sponge boss with a life bar of 1000hp. When I'm fighting a guy that is kind of my size I would rather see that dynamic fight.
One actual problem I would have with it is that characters seem to change behavior too quickly. "We will not kill anyone.", 5 minutes later they are killing everyone. If you are building a cinematic experience I want the actions of the cast to be believable.
TLDR; A beautiful experience, if you don't mind the fact that this is less of a "game" than everything else out there. In a sense it reminded me a little bit of Sword & Sworcery, not a gameplay driven game.
Just started. Definitely a slow opening. I feel like they use cut scenes for simple dialogue when nothing is really happening and I could have still been in control of the character. It'd be like in last of us if every time Ellie spoke there was a cut scene interruption
Finished the game and while I enjoyed it the game is really hurt by the last hour or so given the relatively short length. Not sure what happened in the game's development but the entire last act is rushed almost to the point of incomprehensibility.
The villain is revealed 30 minutes before the end of the game and is pushed to the side for his lackey whose presence makes very little sense. I was almost shocked when the game ended because what happened didn't even seem like all that big a deal given the revelation had just occurred.
When people say it feels like the third act is missing they really aren't kidding, the game just ends out of nowhere. I would actually say it's far worse than Rage just because I actually care about this game's story. Nothing is resolved!
