The Order: 1886 (PS4) vs. Ironfall: Invasion (3DS) vs. Gears of War (Xbox 360)

David and Goliath: comparing two exclusive cover-based shooters, and recalling the first Gears of War.

Tomorrow, the third-person cover-based shooter The Order: 1886 goes on sale. This PS4 exclusive was highly anticipated by many. During the advertising campaign, we were mostly shown short interactive cutscenes rather than battles. This gave rise to unpleasant thoughts that the most important component for an action game was not implemented in the best way.

After completing the game, one has to state a sad fact — all fears came true. Mediocre gunfights were compounded by problems such as an uninspired plot overloaded with empty chatter, monotonous level design, and the developers' not-so-great attempts to diversify the campaign.

This same month saw the release of an exclusive for the Nintendo 3DS portable platform called Ironfall: Invasion — also a third-person cover-based shooter, and also, to put it mildly, far from ideal. It's interesting to compare these two projects, especially since the leader is far from obvious. 

For fun, let's also recall the 2006 game that popularized the cover-based combat concept — Gears of War. 

The Order: 1886 (PS4) — 2015 release year

Ironfall: Invasion (3DS) — 2015 release year

Gears of War (Xbox 360) — 2006 release year

	The Order: 1886	Gears of War	Ironfall: Invasion
The authors successfully implemented and revealed an unusual universe	no	yes	no
Lots of empty chatter in the plot	yes	no	no
The game has more than three types of enemies with different behavior models and unexpected abilities	no	yes	yes
Many enemies, not just individual ones, charge head-on and force you to maneuver	no	yes	yes
Boss battles are primitive mini-games and require no skill other than timely button presses	yes	no	no
There are entertaining, albeit simple, mini-games for attention and logic	no	no	yes
Most of the time in this shooter is dedicated to gunfights	no	yes	yes
There are well-designed arenas with flanking routes that need to be used	no	yes	yes
The cover-based combat system is excellently implemented	no	yes	no
There are frankly unsuccessful attempts to prolong and diversify the campaign	yes	no	yes
The design is dominated by a gray-brown color scheme	yes	yes	yes
Interesting design solutions in the decoration of the scenery	no	yes	no
Additional challenges	no	no	yes
Co-op playthrough	no	yes	no
Competitive multiplayer	no	yes	yes
Part of the content is cut from the game and offered as a pre-order bonus or in an expensive collector's edition	yes	no	no
Excellent start to a promising series	no	yes	no
The game is worth buying a console for	no	yes	no
The game can be “completed” on YouTube or Twitch without losing anything	yes	no	yes
The game was made by a small indie studio	no	no	yes
Any mention of the game online causes fierce arguments with mutual insults	yes	yes	no

Overall score:

The Order 1886 — 19 negative points out of 19 possible

Gears of War — 3 negative points out of 19 possible

Ironfall: Invasion — 9 negative points out of 19 possible