Having just finished it in two sittings / one day (running about 9 hours or so), I'm unashamed to say that I was pleasantly surprised by this game. There's terrible stealth sequences, the gunplay isn't fantastic and it's incredibly linear, but... well, Ilike cinematic games. Metal Gear Solid 1 and 4 are my tied favourites, and the latter has definitely copped flack over some of the things this game does wrong as well.
I honestly think this is the first game to truly supplant MGS4 as the posterchild for the "Cinematic Game"
This is pretty much the definition of a "Cinematic Game / Experience"
and that does pose some issues...
- If I were to go by feel, this game is roughly 55% cutscene or scripted sequence. Even things which you could very well have controlled like storming an enemy fortification (with no acrobatics or fanfair).
- To "compensate" for the sheer amount of non-interactive content, The Order has a swathe of seemingly random quicktime events which, in many instances, serve no real purpose. Heck, it gets so bad that in some cases I wouldn't realise I had control back and would stand there waiting for a prompt for me to climb something they apparently expected me to climb normally.
- Not only are there random quicktime events, they inevitably lead to an instant-death on failure rather than branching like some other recent titles. Thankfully they consistently have an autosave right before such events.
- The Order has massive and possibly even unintentional difficulty spikes (looking at you shotgun-dudes and heavies with shotguns). It isn't helped by the passive pattern you can fall into when playing this game, as you are indeed not the largest influence on what is happening most of the time.
But being "Cinematic", to me, somehow absolved it of these issues.
Even with all the problems, I really like what they did with the game overall. The reasons I can point to are some of the same reasons I like good movies. It has some great cinematography. The score is solid, as is the sound mix. The setting is fantastic, and the world feels very lived in. The pacing is breakneck, but with just enough in the way of breathers.
In terms of plot, though it lacks a true payoff, it's also pretty darn fun. It has an almost comic-book-movie-esque quality in its execution and pacing. In my second session, honestly couldn't stop playing because I was legitimately intrigued by how everything was unfolding.
Oh, and this is easily the best looking game (technically speaking) I've seen thus far. What really lets it down is the fluidity of some of the animations, which really stands out when contrasted with the fidelity of the actual visuals. I could go into some of the great art design too, but I’ll leave it there.
This game is essentially an 1800s, Folklore-inspired John Wick - and if that sounds cool to you, it may well be right up your alley.
Is the execution of a plot important to you in a game? Do you like fast-paced action/thrillers? Are you fine with some rough edges on the gameplay side of things when presented with an impressive looking movie/game hybrid?
Then you're like me, and like the concept of a "cinematic game". And I'm pretty sure that's okay - you just have to be comfortable with being in a very small minority.
The Order seems designed for just such people - I can definitely see why some reviewers rated it quite highly whilst the majority hated it (I'd give it 4 stars).
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