The length of the content or the story is irrelevant, its quality, however, is very important in a game

Feb 23, 2015 15:24 GMT  ·  By

Without a doubt one of the biggest pieces of news in the last week was the debut of The Order: 1886, the first all-new intellectual property from developer Ready at Dawn and the first major exclusive for Sony's PlayStation 4 this year.

The game's launch, as expected, was prefaced by a huge marketing campaign, with Sony promoting the third-person shooter in all sorts of ways. Meanwhile, the studio bragged about the graphics effects built into the game, its "filmic" cinematic style that used an ultra-wide visual angle, and other such things.

Throw in the many different videos, screenshots and other things offered by both Sony and Ready at Dawn, and fans had enough of aspects to talk about ahead of the game's actual release.

The game's length was the main topic of discussion and controversy

However, in the last few weeks everyone has focused on the actual length of the game's single-player campaign, as the shooter has no multiplayer mode and relies just on its story to deliver a pleasant experience.

Considering that most reviews and impressions peg the plot to last around 5 to 6 hours, things don't look that great for The Order: 1886.

Once players started sharing their stats after having played pre-release copies, Ready at Dawn went on the offensive and mentioned that those people rushed through the game and didn't even go back to gather collectibles and other such things.

What's more, the studio's executives emphasized that a game's length doesn't always result in quality, as massive titles can end up disappointing, while shorter ones can produce amazing results.

The studio has a point, up to a certain degree

I agree with Ready at Dawn. A game's length doesn't ensure its quality, but this doesn't mean that a 5-6-hour experience has any right to cost 60 USD/EUR, which is the price of The Order: 1886 on PS4. No matter how pretty or how atmospheric it is, if you know that your experience won't entertain players for long, use a smaller price and offer a fair deal to users.

Consider other recent blockbuster games that cost the same. Dragon Age: Inquisition required at least 80 hours for me to complete the story campaign and I'm now on my second playthrough while enjoying the multiplayer. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare needed around 6 to 7 hours for its story but its multiplayer offers all sorts of impressive things.

Even experiences that relied mostly on their story campaigns, like Sunset Overdrive, lasted longer and filled their worlds with other things to do. Infamous: Second Son, another blockbuster PS4 exclusive, needed 10+ hours to beat and its choice system more than motivated players to go through it once more just to see how things can turn out.

It's unfair to judge games by their length but it's more than useful to judge them as money spent and value gained. Without a doubt, The Order: 1886 packs a lot of value into its five to six hours, but it doesn't justify at all buying it at full price.

For 60 USD/EUR you can buy a myriad of stellar independent titles that easily offer more hours of entertainment. Many of them we've reviewed in recent weeks, from #IDARB, to Apotheon, Super Galaxy Squadron, and many more.

Ready at Dawn has mentioned that The Order: 1886 is the game it's wanted to make for a very long time. That's great and few developers get a chance to do such a thing due to financial aspects. However, not even this justifies charging full price while knowing that it doesn't match up to the value propositions of other, similarly priced games.

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