Quick opinion on this heavily hyped by critically slated game – it isn’t as bad ass you may have heard.  I am enjoying the campaign which is set in Victorian London and follows a group of Knights of the Round Table as they battle rebels, political uprising and lycans … yes, that’s right – werewolves!  It’s a somewhat Jules Vern inspired steam-punk action setting not dissimilar to Bioshock and is presented beautifully in some of the most detailed and well designed visuals yet seen on the PS4.

At it’s heart, the game is a cover-based shooter not unlike Gears of War and the combat throughout, whilst a little repetitive is well done and visceral and is never boring.  The encounters with the lycans are a little less involving as it’s quite simplistic and mostly dependent on quick-time events, something of an Achilles heel for the game.  I personally don’t have a major problem with quick-time events, and especially in such a story driven game as this, they can make you feel still involved as you watch the cut scenes.  The big pull for me though is the setting and some of the interesting weapons, which all handle well and seem well designed and are easy to use.  Yet the game lacks some of the ‘trimmings’ of other games … exploring is limited to just enjoying the scenery, and finding notes or models lying around add detail to the setting but aren’t anything you’re going to need to collect for any reason.  So yes, it’s very linear and has no replay value.  There isn’t a multi-player mode either, but don’t see how that would work for this game.

screenshot captured directly off the PS4

In this age of Dark Souls-style high difficulty games, The Order 1886 isn’t all that challenging – it has it’s moments (those annoying shot gunners) but this is mostly a focused story with some interesting characters, gorgeous visuals and a decent campaign.  Those arguing that 6-8 hours (depending on difficulty and your skill level) isn’t very long … I’ll agree it’s not amazing but it’s fairly average for a story driven experience these days (and last gen).  If I hadn’t been given it off a friend, would I pay close to £50 for it?  Probably not, considering the reviews – but I say trade in some games for it, borrow it or rent it, and you’ll come away satisfied.