PS4 Exclusive ‘The Order: 1886’ Attracts ‘Uncanny Haterade’ Says Ready At Dawn

The Order: 1886 saw controversy over the past week after a now-pulled YouTube video showed a speed-run of the PlayStation 4 exclusive taking just five and a half hours. This created a firestorm of controversy for the single-player only shooter that has frustrated developer Ready at Dawn to the point that game director Dana Jan has referred to the backlash as “haterade.”

The controversy over the supposed length of The Order: 1886 created a flurry of articles at the beginning of the week from multiple outlets. This included no less than three articles on the same day from Forbes, for example. The swirl even provoked Ready at Dawn Founder Andrea Pessino to dismiss “clickbait rumors.”

Note: I am done commenting on clickbait rumors about game length, “downgrade” idiocy and such nonsense. Don’t bother asking.

— Andrea Pessino (@AndreaPessino) February 13, 2015

Pessino did come back later and clarify with DualShockers that, yes The Order: 1886 can be beaten in less than six hours if players try to speed through the game and ignore all of the side content. He said that the studio’s internal metrics show completing the game on normal difficulty can typically take between eight and ten hours when played at a normal pace. The hardest difficulty might take as many as 12 hours if the player takes the time to explore the game world.

This isn’t the first time that The Order: 1886 has been under fire for controversy, however. The decision to go with a movie-like aspect ratio of 2.40:1 (1920×800) was one of the first items to come under fire. This was later followed by Ready at Dawn defending the decision to run at 30 frames per second (fps) instead of 60 fps as “cinematic” (via Kotaku). the game being peppered with quick-time events (QTEs) that the developer dubbed “interactive cut-scenes,” and accusations that the visuals were downgraded complete with meticulous examinations.

These items have led The Order: 1886 to be the butt of jokes on various gaming forums and social media outlets. One that the game’s director, Dana Jan, says is just the new haven for bullying.

“We have this uncanny ‘haterade’ for our game no matter what,” the game’s director Dana Jan told Develop. “People are looking for something to throw at our game, some reason to hate it. I’m excited to hear what people who have actually played the game think about it, how do they feel about the quality and the quantity? I think by and large that most people are going to be satisfied.”

“I just feel like these days it’s so easy to be negative and I think the internet is the new playground for bullies. Who goes out of their way to really go and say something positive, right? It takes a lot more effort to say something nice than to say something negative, and I think people are excited to jump on some bandwagon of negativity. It’s just for the people who are excited for this game, I feel bad for them that they have to sit through this ecosystem that the internet has created which is full of negativity, it’s really kind of gross.

“I don’t think people need to go out there and be unbiased supporters of our stuff or anything either. I want them to make up their own minds about the game period. It just seems like the pendulum swings the other way so frequently. I mean, we’ll see, right?”

The first reviews for The Order: 1886 won’t arrive until Thursday followed by the game’s release on Friday, February 20. We’ll see if the PS4 exclusive warrants the “hate” it has received once it is finally in gamers’ hands.

[Images via The Order: 1886]