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Okay, Ready At Dawn, But What Do You Mean By “Better?”

Ben-Dutka 20 Comments

In the eyes of many, The Order: 1886 was a disappointment. Not my eyes but the reality is that many gamers and critics just didn't like it.

Perhaps this prompted a recent quote from Ready at Dawn boss Andrea Pessino on Twitter . He says that next time, the team will make sure to make a "better game." This statement is accompanied by some impressive strength training.

Okay, firstly, I hope the team has read – or will now read – my review. Secondly, I'd really like to know what Pessino means by "better." Should the next game have better AI, more incentive to replay the adventure, and fewer QTEs (or QTE segments that have a bit more depth)? Yep. I'd say these are all elements that can be improved and I doubt many would disagree. But if you say "better" and you mean a complete restructuring of your vision, we've got a problem.

I know everyone hates linear these days and the more extreme the linearity, the more people bash it. Calling it "outdated" is not only incorrect but insulting to those who wish to tell a quality story; it's merely a different style of adventure and it's perfectly legitimate. It seems like every single new game on earth is open-world or, at the very least, has significant open-world/sandbox tendencies. Even the new Uncharted will be more open. None of this is necessary, in the first place, and in point of fact, openness doesn't automatically increase the quality of a game.

Contrary to popular belief, a story-driven linear quest can be every bit as good as any open-world game in existence and very often, we get vastly superior stories out of linear adventures. There's a very good reason for that. So, if Pessino is talking about simply ditching the "old-fashioned" structure of The Order and bowing to industry pressure that speaks more to widespread attention deficit problems than to gamer intelligence, I won't be pleased. I would also like to point out that the cut-scenes in that game would actually be considered short when compared to some of the CGI- and FMV-heavy titles of yesteryear.

Anyway, even if we don't get a sequel to The Order: 1886 , I sure hope Pessino and Co. stick with an idea that, if done correctly, can be amazing.

Related Game(s): The Order: 1886

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Ready At Dawn Shows Off Prototype Vids Of The Order: 1886

John-Shepard 6 Comments

If you didn't know, developer Ready at Dawn started working on The Order: 1886 way back in 2011.

And to see what the game looked like back in 2012, check out some prototype footage, spotted by Gearnuke .

Ready at Dawn describes the footage as having "primitive" character motion as compared to the final product:

"You might notice that the character’s motion is more primitive than in the final product. Our initial approach was heroic proportions and handkeyed stylized animations, but after sprinkling motion capture into the game, we pushed in a more realistic direction."

The developers also showed off an early prototype of their real-time transformation system for the Lycans. The team's goal was to make these transformations happen in real-time and as they said:

"One of our focuses for The Order: 1886 was to have immersive cinematics that transitioned smoothly into game.The way we accomplished this was to make EVERYTHING real-time.

This meant that our transformations had to be solved in a way that matched the quality bar we were going for throughout the rest of the game, while making a system light enough that it would still run in real-time."

This is pretty cool stuff, especially if you have an interest in the nuts and bolts of game development.