Digital Foundry: The Order 1886

[Dr. Pezus]

The Order: 1886 may well prove to be a highly divisive title - but for all its controversies, we're equally confident that it represents something very special, a sneak-peek at the future direction of real-time graphics on console hardware. Ready at Dawn's visual technology is simply immense: so good, so precise, so realistic that at times it's like you're playing a game that looks as good as a pre-rendered movie. This is a milestone in the development of next-gen visuals.

Implementing the very latest rendering technologies and integrating them with a superb level of consistency throughout the rendering pipeline, this is clearly a stunning visual showcase. Every element of the scene, from environmental materials to clothing, hair and skin is exceptionally rendered, beautifully lit according to how light interacts with their physical properties. There's little - if anything - in the way of hard geometric edges to give this game an old-school gaming aesthetic, while the more traditional high detail texture work found in most games gives way to a softer, more filmic look.

Performance is the icing on the cake, and an area where we had some concerns. Initial game footage we saw revealed some clear frame-rate issues - and even the 2014 Gamescom demo exhibited noticeable performance hiccups, despite the letterboxed 1920x800 rendering resolution. The final game is a world apart: Ready at Dawn aims for a locked 30fps and for the vast majority of the experience it doesn't deviate from the target, with most of the dropped frames occurring on cuts, making them totally unnoticeable. There are very rare performance dips during the most intense of combat scenes, but these are mild judged by the standard of the majority of 30fps titles.

However, it's fair to say that Ready at Dawn has different objectives in mind. The Order: 1886 is a profoundly linear, dare we say it "cinematic" experience, where the developer revels in its immense technology, bombarding you with beautiful visuals, often to the detriment of the gameplay. To illustrate, the first hour of gameplay sees almost 50 per cent of the duration dedicated to cut-scenes, with exploration and combat equally divided at around 15 minutes a pop. For those that like to play games, not watch them - regardless of the visual magnificence - The Order: 1886 can be initially very offputting, but it puts the priorities of the developer into perspective.

Fundamentally, it all comes back to the point we made in our 2014 gaming round-up - graphics are evolving at a breakneck pace, but gameplay remains rooted very much in the last generation. And perhaps what disappoints the most with The Order: 1886 is that this imbalance is actively tipping in the wrong direction - where the emphasis on the graphical glory actively seems to come at the expense of the quality of the gameplay.

More at the link, although more than half of the article is concerned with the length of the game and not the technical specifics.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&jsonp=vglnk_14243596899966&key=de2ccb8ca8943c06669720e0a267a9f6&libId=e40b2048-72ec-4ad9-9ee1-7d2500de9f25&loc=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fshowthread.php%3Ft%3D995300&v=1&out=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.eurogamer.net%2Farticles%2Fdigitalfoundry-2015-the-order-1886-performance-analysis%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dsocial%26utm_campaign%3Dsocialoomph&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.neogaf.com%2Fforum%2Fforumdisplay.php%3Ff%3D2&title=Digital%20Foundry%20Performance%20Analysis%3A%20The%20Order%3A%201886%20-%20NeoGAF&txt=More%20at%20the%20link

[Legend]

wait even digital foundry is worrying about its gameplay?

[Max King of the Wild]

Sounds phenomenal. Can't wait till tomorrow. BTW - I find nothing more repulsive in critiques than complaining about lack of new gameplay. Yet, when Uncharted and Halo come out and don't bring anything revolutionary to gaming they'll get a pass... When's the last time someone brought something unique to theatres?

[Dr. Pezus]

wait even digital foundry is worrying about its gameplay?

Lol yeah. Honestly I find their little snippets about gameplay and also their recent generic comment about XBL being more "robust" than PSN (and let it influence their conclusion) really out of place. It's not their job to talk about the gameplay or give opinions that aren't backed up.

[Dr. Pezus]

Sounds phenomenal. Can't wait till tomorrow. BTW - I find nothing more repulsive in critiques than complaining about lack of new gameplay. Yet, when Uncharted and Halo come out and don't bring anything revolutionary to gaming they'll get a pass... When's the last time someone brought something unique to theatres?

I actually thought Birdman was very unique.

[Max King of the Wild]

I actually thought Birdman was very unique.

What was so unique about it that other movies have not done before?

[Dr. Pezus]

What was so unique about it that other movies have not done before?

The cinematography and also the plot itself

[Max King of the Wild]

The cinematography and also the plot itself

yes, but plot is irrelevant. Any game can come out with a unique plot. I havent seen birdman so you are going to have to tell me what it did that no other did to bring it to a different level

[Legend]

How about fricking Boyhood? That's innovationr ight thar

[Xevross]

Read the summary and I'm not going to bother reading the rest. Since when do DF write reviews?

[Max King of the Wild]

Read the summary and I'm not going to bother reading the rest. Since when do DF write reviews?

since the talking points were predetermined in 2013

[Dr. Pezus]

yes, but plot is irrelevant. Any game can come out with a unique plot. I havent seen birdman so you are going to have to tell me what it did that no other did to bring it to a different level

You asked me what is unique about it lol. The plot is very very important to movies so that plays a big part. The cinematography is more unique though. It's shot like it's all one take, makes it feel almost like a play instead of a movie.

[Dr. Pezus]

How about fricking Boyhood? That's innovationr ight thar

Yeah I was going to mention Boyhood too. but it's really only innovation if you know they filmed it over so many years

[Mmm_fish_tacos]

since the talking points were predetermined in 2013

They've been doing it for awhile now.

[Max King of the Wild]

You asked me what is unique about it lol. The plot is very very important to movies so that plays a big part. The cinematography is more unique though. It's shot like it's all one take, makes it feel almost like a play instead of a movie.

i understand plots are important for movies. But same can be said for games. Point I'm trying to make is that you don't hear movie critics make statements like, "this movie didn't do anything unique from standards of the last 100 years. You just sit there and watch a screen for a couple hours" like they do in game reviews.