The Order: 1886 In 2015, it was the epitome of cinematic ambition. A dark, alternate London, half Victorian, half Tesla fever dream, wrapped in bombastic visuals – but with meager gameplay. While the visuals thrilled critics, the gameplay couldn't keep up. Too linear, too short, too little replay value – these were the main criticisms. But what many don't know: A sequel was already in development. And it would have changed everything.
Creative Director Ru Weerasuriya confirmed in a VGC Interview Julien Chieze revealed that a comprehensive pitch for the sequel already existed. It mentioned significantly larger battles, a multiplayer mode – and not one, but two sequels: The Order: 1891 and The Order: 1899While the first sequel was in an early concept phase, the third installment was never officially started, though it had already been roughly planned. An entire trilogy – buried under the ashes of dashed expectations.
A steampunk dream that was never allowed to take flight.
What The Order: 1886 What made it so special was not only its setting, but also the vision behind it. Ready at Dawn, a studio with roots in Sony's PSP era (Daxter, God of War: Chains of OlympusWeerasuriya wanted more than just a pretty game: they wanted to build a universe. According to Weerasuriya, there are even ideas for sequels set in the 20th century – moving away from the Victorian era and into industrial progress and global conflict.
The planned multiplayer mode was originally part of the first game but was scrapped – presumably due to time or budget constraints. It was intended to be the centerpiece of the second installment. It's tragic, then, that none of this ever came to fruition. The mixed reviews of the first game were enough to shelve the project – permanently.
Andrea Pessino, co-founder of Ready at Dawn, had already addressed the cancellation earlier. After The Order 1886 The studio turned to VR development and celebrated successes with Lone Echo – and was acquired by Oculus parent company Meta in 2020, but later closed.
A case for the history books?
In retrospect, it remains The Order: 1886 A case of inflated expectations and creative impatience. Had Sony been bolder, they might have actually realized the trilogy – including larger battles, multiplayer extravaganzas, and a story that extends far beyond 1886. Instead, the game remains a fascinating entry in the list of "what could have been" titles in PlayStation history.
Will anyone ever dust off this IP? Probably not. But in the dark alleys of this alternate London, at least the memory of something bigger still flickers – the game we never got.
It was really good. It's a shame there wasn't a part two.
I thought it was great too! The story was superbly told. I'm surprised there was never a sequel.
Yeah, it was okay, but the gameplay and stuff was rather boring.
The Order had real potential. Instead, hundreds of millions are being pumped into pointless games like Concord, etc.
The game was damn awesome and I'd rather play 1000 games like that than all that third-person drama nonsense like The Last of Us etc…
The reviews were simply ridiculous. I remember one particular reviewer from a major magazine criticizing the game for making it impossible to distinguish between gameplay and cutscenes.
Then later came God of War and suddenly everything was okay and totally innovative.
like a weather vane in the wind.
The order was massively wronged and the game had shown a direction that would have been better for PlayStation than where we are now.
But if everyone is so stupid as not to buy it, and the press simply gives it an unfair rating, then it's no wonder.
The main thing is that every piece of garbage game gets top marks and is a mega hit these days... sure.
I bought it at launch, and I also felt it was too short and had no replay value. If there was no multiplayer, they could have at least included a small skill tree like in The Last of Us Part 1. Or they could have lowered the price; back then the game cost €70, considering how cheap Claire Obscure is and how much content it offers. I know it's hard to compare, but it's no wonder the game flopped.
What annoys me so much is that Supermassive has been doing pretty much the same thing since the PS4 generation and seems to be getting worse and worse, but they keep going.
The Order was awesome, looked amazing, the setting was fantastic, the story was cool… simply an awesome game, but it doesn't go any further than that.
Yes, especially the setting with the… ah, I don't want to spoil anything, people who've played it know, but the setting was unique. The game simply lacked a bit more depth, not an open world, but a simple progression system. And yes, the 32:9 aspect ratio was, and still is, awful. I'd love a remastered version of the game with fullscreen and 60fps support, and maybe a Horde/Mercenaries co-op mode.
That would be something.