I remember seeing the initial trailer for The Order: 1886 live during E3 2013. I was 17 at the time and while I’m only 20 now, the last few years of game trailers and releases have taught me how to restrain my hype. Seeing Sir Galahad with his arc gun and Lafayette with the thermite launcher repelling the half breeds as they advanced on our heroes by the stationary carriage excited me to no end. Setting the game in London excited me even more, as London and the UK in general was rarely featured in video games. I was fully expecting The Order: 1886 to be my game of the year whenever it eventually released.

Then it did release. I recall reading a thread on Reddit about how someone had streamed the game in its entirety over the course of about six hours and how a large portion was made up of cutscenes, how the gunplay and mechanics were nothing revolutionary, how it was essentially nothing more than a glorified tech demo to show off the capabilities of the PS4. So I held off, I didn’t drop £45 on it at release, I decided to wait until I could pick it up for much cheaper. That time came about a week ago, I finally caved and bought The Order: 1886 off eBay for £15. I thought it must surely be worth at least £15, I’m a sucker for a decent story and I already knew the game looked outstanding so I took the plunge. And it was worth it.

Aesthetically, The Order: 1886 looks phenomenal. Despite being incredibly linear, Ready At Dawn put immense detail into areas of each environment most players won’t even see. The architecture as you chase a Lycan through Whitechapel, the various rooms you can explore which serve no purpose except to house a collectible, the gun models and effects; every single texture is arguably flawless. While it’s obviously not quite at the level of some PC games with ultra settings, it definitely showcases the power of the PS4.

Games don’t always have to revolutionise existing concepts to be considered impressive and The Order: 1886 is a prime example of that idea. The world and alternate timeline created combined with how the game ends, without giving away any spoilers, sets Ready At Dawn up perfectly for a sequel to build on what they’ve started and learnt. Which is where they need to take this, while the shooting mechanics and wave-based sections of enemies became a little mundane, they can fix that for the sequel. They can make it a little more open ended, make the game longer with an ending that doesn’t leave so many unanswered questions, they can turn the world of The Order into a series looked upon fondly, albeit with a rocky start.

I’m not claiming the game is especially good and if you dislike shooting and/or linear experiences in your video games then this is one to stay away from, but if you are a fan of the genre, The Order: 1886 is worth playing. Even if you borrow it off a friend or trade it in when you’re done, there’s a lot more to it than meets the eye. And at the end of the day even if you do dislike it when you’re done and thought you wasted your money, at least it’s an easy platinum trophy.