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Recently, I purchased The Order: 1886 from the PlayStation Network when it was on promo. It was a good deal at MYR 42.00. The download took about 2 days to complete on my crummy 8mb Streamyx line.
When I first launched the game, the text and dialog were in Japanese. I was like, "WTF!!". So, I googled around and found others with the same problem.
Managed to resolved it by simply change my default language from English (UK) to English (US). This has never happened before and I found it rather odd.
Gameplay
In any case, the game started off well enough. Initially, I found the camera angle and view of the character, being off center, unlike a FPS or standard third person shooter (TPS) very disconcerting.
Almost a third of the screen was blocked by the character and it made for awkward camera views in navigation and combat. The ability to switch between having the character standing on the left or right of the screen (using the Camera Bias option) helped a little bit.
I supposed the developers designed it that way to increase the "challenge" to the game. Took some getting use to, but eventually it became less annoying after I really got into the game and plot.
Photo Mode
One of the cool feature of the game is the "Photo Mode". According to a blog post from PlayStation, it was added much later during one of the game's updates.
When enabled, it allowed for video and imaging edits (if you like that sort of thing). What I liked about the Photo Mode was the ability to freeze the game, then allowing me to navigate the 3D environment to see what and where the enemies were, so that I could come up with an attack plan... lol. For example, where the ammo refills or weapons are located.
You can either use the Photo Mode or the Camera Bias at any one time. So obviously, I preferred the Camera Bias almost all the time :)
Combat
The combat of The Order: 1886 was unconventional, with a mixture of point and shoot, timed button presses, joystick directions and combinations of the aforesaid. Each of the combat method was tied to specific type of battle.
For example, the werewolf boss battles were left or right trigger button presses, swiping the joysticks at the indicated directions and timed correctly, then repeat. The normal werewolf battles were shoot, timed button presses to block, and button push to give the final killing blow. Not my type of combat gameplay.
The regular battles against human adversaries were more conventional, (aim and shoot) and were quite fun and challenging (partly due to the camera angles). I rather like the choices of weapons, and how the game forced you to only use those weapons available at that chapter.
I Definitely Want More! (Spoilers)
I felt that the game was really too short. Took me less than 10 hours to complete the game. I love the excellent costume and set design; what a really amazing and beautiful visual experience.
Overall, I treated The Order: 1886 as an interactive cinematic experience which has a nice story line with engaging characters in a well designed period settings flourished with steam punk elements.
I started off the game irritated at being forced to play the game with unfamiliar controls and camera options but ended with me wanting more of this world and story. I want to know what happens next. I want to take on the vampires in the Americas.
I want to buy the sequel!!!
