In the past couple of days, the Internet became abuzz when it was revealed that one person took just 5.5 hours to complete The Order: 1886. Some have already tried calling foul, saying that he did nothing but speedrun through the game. Others, including some in the industry itself, have claimed that any outlet reporting on this as news is simply offering up click-bait.

So, informing an audience that their $60 may only buy them a 5.5 hour long game with no multiplayer and no New Game+ is click-bait now? Sorry, but no. I'm typically staunchly against any sort of click-bait story or headline but in cases like this, this is actual news. It is the responsibility of the games media to inform their audiences on things like this that very directly affect them. Similarly, it is done with hopes of informing consumers if they may be getting ripped off prior to plunking down what is arguably a decent chunk of change for the latest releases. This is, after all, the sort of thing that people demanded of the games media, right?

So here we are, February 16 and my Twitter feed is lighting up with people defending the length of The Order: 1886. I saw people like George Broussard making "click-bait" remarks and generally ignorant statements on Twitter.


Here we see Jonathan Blow and Tommy Refenes also making "click-bait" remarks about an article that popped up on Polygon today. The article also talked about the 5.5 hours of game time for The Order: 1886.


Keep in mind that there is literally video proof about the length of time it took someone to go through the game on their first playthrough. We could see everything they did and did not do.

So we have those remarks, which I cannot help but find both laughable and distressing all at the same time. Apparently, even developers within the industry don't feel as though it is necessary for media outlets to be anything other than mindless PR machines for their latest and greatest games. Their remarks seem to indicate that we should be void of thought. We should hold no concern or a sense of duty to inform our audiences of things that they probably should know about. As a consumer, this is precisely the type of thing I want to be informed about. I have a feeling that if I'm interested in things like this others would like to know about it as well.

Now we also have articles like this piece at Forbes that essentially says that The Order: 1886 is longer than five hours, provided you pad out your game time.
My impressions of the game are locked behind embargo, but I will say this: The Order: 1886 is best played with a little patience.

Soak in the environments. Explore when you can. Read the bits of lore and correspondence you find. And set the difficulty on high (or at least medium) so that you get a proper challenge. This will take you well over five hours, though how long exactly I can’t quite say—and, of course, it will also depend on player skill.

Do not tell me how to play a game. Do not tell anybody how to play any game. I cannot fault the author for taking the equivalent of a leisurely stroll through The Order: 1886. I cannot fault them for stopping to smell the virtual roses or stopping to listen to NPCs converse. I cannot fault them for collectable hunting or cranking up the difficulty. We have all, undoubtedly, done all of these things in one game or another as the mood strikes us.

What I can fault them on is saying that doing all of those things is how the game should be played. And that you should do those things so that you will be well beyond that icky five hours of game time. This isn't how the world works. There is no consensus on how a game should or should not be played. You simply cannot sit there and tell me to do these things that could pad out a game's length because that's what you say should be done.

It's bullshit to sit there and say that the reported game length of 5.5 hours isn't "right" because the guy didn't play it how you think he should have played it. To sit there and say that the 5.5 hours was a "speedrun" of the game is equally absurd. To call it a "speedrun" is actively spreading false information and is both a disservice to those who do actually speedrun games and the gaming community in general.

By the level of outrage and general FUD being spread around today, you would think that outlets claimed that everyone and their non-gaming mothers would complete the game in five hours with 100% completion. I'm sick of seeing how the game media is doing nothing but click-bait or how we're nothing but a gaming focused "TMZ" simply for presenting something to our audiences that is verifiable through publicly released video proof.

I will leave you with this one last Tweet from George Broussard made mere moments ago.

Better make sure you pad out that game time to at least nine hours otherwise you won't be "normal." This is just the latest in the long line of similar nonsense and thinly veiled insults that I've seen throughout the day.

On a personal level, I don't tell you how to make games. I don't tell you how to play games. I also don't try to make you feel guilty if you choose to not buy a game. I'm not sure what the desired end result is for the sudden defensiveness from these people. I shouldn't be made to feel guilty or even insulted for being apprehensive that my $60 (or more) may not offer a sufficient amount of entertainment.