In the days leading up to the release of The Order: 1886 some eager person popped the game into their Playstation 4 and somehow managed to complete the game in about 5 hours. They recorded the footage, promptly placed it on YouTube and everyone began to debate the merits of the game. Eventually the footage was pulled, but the damage was done; The Order: 1886 was a certifiably short game.

Generally speaking reviews were mixed to negative on the game. Most people addressed the time controversy by acknowledging the game was indeed short, but took slightly longer to complete (7-8 hours) than the YouTube video seemed to show. There was talk of quick time events and gorgeous graphics, rumination on gameplay and story. The words "boring" and "dull" seemed to pepper reviews. Polygon even opened their review with the rather stern statement that "Games like The Order: 1886 are why [they] don't pre-order games anymore".

Seeing as how press copies of games don't generally come flying into my lap, I panicked and quickly considered my own pre-order of the game. Should I cancel it? Did I really want another Thief on my hands? I quickly visited Amazon and saw the game had already shipped. It seemed I was about to trudge through what I was prepared to accept was probably one of the dullest games ever created.

When it arrived, I tossed the game in and gave it a go. What did I really have to lose beyond a few hours? So I started in, trudging through a slow opening and wondered what I getting myself into. Eventually some 7 or 8 hours later, I was watching the credits scroll. How did I feel about it all in the end? Pretty good. Decidedly entertained.

Everything people had been saying about The Order: 1886 was largely true. It was short and loaded with game elements that are not original or particularly in vogue. The story and character motivations can seem a bit silly at times. As I played the game for myself, I was acutely aware of seeing all the things that had been mentioned in the various reviews I had read. Yet despite all of it, I never found it to be dull.

Perhaps I did find the game restrained, but I think in many ways that is commendable. Not every game needs to be an endless series of high risk and high tension set pieces. The Order: 1886 is slower and more methodical in how it builds its incredibly realized world. It eschews the bombastic and instead delivers a game that is slower and subtler than its contemporaries.

In the end The Order: 1886 is seemingly the sort of game you make it. If you want and are able to immerse yourself in its detail and story, I think many more will walk away impressed. I found it easy to get lost in the world, inspecting all of its details. I found myself wanting to know more about this world. It is a game that shows rather than tells. For many, that will be a frustrating proposition, but for myself this game provided an exceptionally interesting adventure.