The Order 1886 – Blurring the lines between game, cinema and genre

Much can be said of The Order 1886. And much has been said. If there’s one thing we can conclude from all the commotion and controversy surrounding this title, it’s that it’s something divergent.

There are those claiming the game is ‘generic’ and doesn’t do anything new. But is this really fair? Sure, it takes elements from various popular games, ranging from Resident Evil to Gears of War to Uncharted. But it combines these elements in such a way a new ‘recipe’ emerges.

There aren’t a lot of games that are so focussed as The Order: 1886. The game knows what it wants and stays on this path. The result is something distinctly The Order.

We’ve seen a development the last couple of years of trying to bridge the gap between gameplay and cutscenes, creating one seamless experience. The Order is probably the game that comes closest to achieving this – cutscenes, gameplay segments and quick time events all blend together and flow naturally from one to the other. As a result – and also because of the stunningly photorealistic graphics – the game just looks and feels like a live action movie. But it’s not just realism in terms of graphical details, it’s also animations, filters, a certain amount of depth of field, the way materials look. At certain points playing this game feels unreal. It doesn’t feel like you’re walking through a realistic looking game world, it feels as if you’re walking through a real world. Is that a paradox: the unreal feeling you’re playing something that’s real?

In the end, The Order is what it is, and it doesn’t compromise. That alone is commendable, regardless of the result.