Caesoose.com

Tag: Ready at Dawn

  • Weekly Gaming: The Order: 1886 (PS4)

    Weekly Gaming: The Order: 1886 (PS4)

    Oh The Order: 1886. It’s been many years since your first trailer when Sony announced the PS4, and holy shit were gamers the world over blown away by your visuals. Then you finally got released after many delays, only to get shit on and end up in the bargain bin for £12. Was it gamers expectations that let you down, or was the criticisms against you valid? Well lets take a look as over the course of the last week I finally managed to play through this gorgeously astonishing game.

    One thing can be said about The Order from the offset: it’s aimed high in it’s setting. You play as sir Galahad, a knight of a secret order that protects Great Britain and all it’s domains from mythological creatures that see fit to kill innocent people. Set in 1886, the world is going through turbulent change, with the British empire ensuring rule over India, all whilst trying to get the upper hand over America. It’s alluded to many times throughout the campaign, but knights of the order are a lot older than they first appear: some are rumoured to be so old in fact that they used to rule alongside King Arthur.

    This mix of elements seems like a genuine thrill from the offset, with the stage and setting a true wonder to behold. It’s a shame then that the story never quite pans out as you’d hope, with the setting of 1886 rarely actually being used. Throughout the campaign you see glimpses of this wonderful world, with streets looking gorgeous, signs looking authentically victorian, and even photographs and items looking authentic,  but for the most part you’re confined to corridors, sewers and back alleyways; never a great way to fully explore a fantastic setting like the victorian era.

    The reason I say that criticism is two-fold: 1. It takes time away from the absolute marvel that is The Order’s graphical fidelity 2. It affects the gameplay when you’re constantly in small corridors fighting off waves of enemies. Onto the first reason, the graphics. Holy shit is The Order a sensation to look at! Every nook and cranny of the aesthetic seems to have been meticulously fawned over, so much so that even when I completed the main campaign, I came back just to show my other half the splendour that is The Order’s graphics.

    Snippets of the victorian error look absolutely sublime in some area’s, with lighting, textures and models all combining to something that you could swear was real-life at times. It’s a shame then that, like previously mentioned, you spend a great deal of time in linear corridors or sewers. I understand the complications behind making a fairly open world: the amount of assets that would have had to be made would be staggering, even with the support of Sony behind a team, but even so, to have so many reused and boring locales is annoying and down-right shocking considering these segments don’t make use of the setting. 1886 was a fantastic year that the developers could have genuinely shown more of, instead we’re left with a game that really could have been set in any time period: for the most part you wouldn’t tell.

    Then there’s the gameplay, which turns into a simple case of running to the next area down linear corridors, ducking behind cover and killing endless hoards of enemies until you can move on again. At least when this is done in Gears of War the developers mix things up by giving you multiple ways to take on enemies, where as The Order sticks you in a confined area, a nuisance in later levels when enemies start bombarding you with grenades. Then there’s the fact that these small environments don’t leave much to be discovered. If entire houses were modelled we really could have explored this beautiful and fantastic victorian setting: instead we’re given stones and tiles as far as the eye can see, with multiple doors that can never be opened.

    I will say that one criticism levelled against The Order 1886 wasn’t deserved: it’s length. Many reviews and gamers online said that the game could be completed in 5-6 hours, making the game extremely short and poor value. I noticed that in my play through, which was fairly rushed, I completed it in 8-9 hours. Granted, this isn’t much more time than others were quoting, but it felt like just the right length, not too short, but not over-staying it’s welcome.

    Gameplay again was a little annoying when it comes to mythological creatures. For a game all about the knights of the round table and lycans, you’d expect there to be a lot of creatures to kill. Not so I’m afraid, with the vast majority of the game encompassing you taking out many, many human foes. There are a few warehouse scenes whereby you take on lycans in a confined area, but these are few and far between, and don’t do much to change up the gameplay. It’s a shame, as   the lycans and other creatures could have helped in mixing up the core combat loop, with some enemies maybe charging you or flying overhead at times. It would have certainly made the combat more engaging, and if anything, made the game as a whole more replayable.

    So as a whole, The Order 1886 unfortunately did deserve many of the criticisms levelled at it. Whilst the setting was interesting, and the graphics absolutely sublime, the rest of the game falls apart when stretched to 8-9 hours. I hope the developers at Ready at Dawn get another chance to make another The Order, as there were hints of greatness here, the rest of the game just needed the same level of polish the graphics had.

    3/5

  • Gaming Week 44: God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)

    Gaming Week 44: God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)

    FUCK THE FIREEEEE
    This pic doesn’t say much about Ghost of Sparta, only that it’ll include Kratos and… fire?

    Note: The following will not include screenshots of gameplay due to the PS Vita’s inability to take pics of PSP games. If you wish to see screenshots or gameplay, by all means Google Ghost of Sparta.

    Earlier in the year I bought both the original God of War PSP titles on the PSN sale, something that I felt was a huge bargain for only £2.87 each. I wrote a piece here about my feelings and experience with it. (I apologise for it’s length, during this year of writing I feel I’ve gotten better at writing, something I feel a comparison to this article would show easily.) This is the second game, one that I finally re-downloaded and played whilst I was on the bus and any spare moments I had around the house.

    Ghost of Sparta starts out with Kratos, on his throne as the God of War (chronologically, this game takes place after God of War 1), getting flashbacks of his life as a child, sparing with his brother Deimos. Deciding he can’t put up with the visions no more, he decides to travel to the temple of Poseidon to find the origins of his nightmarish flashbacks and hopefully, settle them once and for all. He sets sail with his spartan men towards this temple, only to be ambushed (as is always the case) by a massive sea monster. Taking control of Kratos, you’re taken through some tutorials on how to fight, and all of the other essentials required in playing the rest of the game. It’s unoriginal at this point in the series, but still a spectacle to behold, and one that makes you feel like a badass for taking on gigantic sea monsters at the beginning of the game.

    The controls are the same as they’ve ever been: left analogue stick to move around, X to jump, Square to slash quick, Triangle to heavy attack, and circle to grab, making this a similar ordeal to other games. There’s nothing new to add, the only difference is the items you eventually collect whilst exploring Ghost of Sparta’s world. These range from items that freeze other enemies (Horn of Boreas) to items that electrocute enemies, which has been done in previous games, but under different names and weapons. Quick Time Events (QTE’s) are back for finishing off enemies big and small, and can sometimes cause frustration, but are otherwise fairly simple to overcome. One day we’ll find a way to make QTE’s become a thing of history, but today is not that day.

    Level design is fantastic, ranging from the oceans of Poseidon to the volcanoes of Methana, it’s all glouriously rendered and lovingly crafted. Levels are linear by design, which is fine in a God of War game as its not the place you’re looking for free roaming action. The game makes sure you get enough space to fight enemies,  and breaks up enemy encounters with puzzles at good, regular intervals. People may complain about the puzzle elements, but it’s needed to maintain the pacing of the game, otherwise fight after fight would get boring and tedious by the end of the 5 hour game.

    The story of Ghost of Sparta flesh’s out the God of War universe without being essential to the main story. It’s good in showing why Kratos is so angry at the God’s, and helps to also shine light on his past with regards to his immediate family, where as Chains of Olympus concentrated on his daughter in the afterlife. You get to meet Kratos’ mother, who almost tells him who his father is, whilst also learning more about other greek Gods such as Thanatos, the God of Death. You don’t see any main God’s here, that’s left for the main story, but that’s ok as the cast of Ghost of Sparta is more than adequate to fill the plot out.

    Graphically, this is one of the most artistically realised God of War games to have come out of previous generation hardware (so all games except God of War 3). At times I was genuinely surprised to find I wasn’t playing a PS Vita game, as the views and graphics are spectacular for a PSP game, something I rarely say for old games made for old platforms. Hair and cloth physics play a part in making enemies and Kratos come to life, with fire effects and water making levels look gorgeous on the Vita’s 5 inch screen (and I’m sure, the PSP’s 3.5inch screen).

    There are a few niggles I have with Ghost of Sparta’s gameplay, namely the developers insistence on using enemies that can freeze Kratos in the same room as normal, fast enemies. It seems the developers done this to add a challenge to some of the fights you encounter, but it just comes across as frustrating and unpassable to the end user. I like to think I’m skilled when it comes to games like this, but I would die over and over in these instances, making the game a frustration multiple times.

    Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my time with Ghost of Sparta, and would suggest that if anyone has a PSP, this is a game that they must own to show off the potential of the PSP or PS Vita. It’s a full console game that makes no compromises, despite the fact it’s made for a portable console, and that my readers, is an achievement in itself.

    3/5