Why we need a sequel to: The Order: 1886

Fighting werewolves and vampires? Check. Cool steampunk weapons to take them down with? Check. An interesting concept that mixed real history with Arthurian myth in Victorian London? Cheque. This all sounds pretty interesting on paper, and a lot of it worked in The Order: 1886. Recently, we’ve seen a bit of an uptick in interest in this game, especially with the visuals, which were way ahead of its time.

At the time of its release, The Order: 1886 was lukewarmly received by critics. The world, graphics, achievements and more were intriguing, but two major problems arose in the length and some of the gameplay segments, which amounted to nothing more than quick-time events. Perhaps rose-colored glasses cloud my vision, but I think the reception to this game was harsh, and The Order: 1886 was crushed before it had a chance to flourish.

If you don’t know, The Order: 1886 was a 2015 third-person cover shooter that put you in the role of Sir Galahad, a knight of the Round Table charged with protecting queen and country, dispatching half breeds such as werewolves and vampires, and taking down rebel organizations before they can get ahead of themselves. Throughout the story, you fight your way through several beautiful levels and discover that the true enemy is within.

The Order: 1886 was certainly not a perfect game. But there was so much potential in the premise. It’s rare to see truly interesting and original worlds these days. Horizon is the example that comes to mind, which after finding incredible success got a lot of love from fans and the industry. No luck for The Order, it seemed. Of course, we don’t know what happened behind the scenes, but it’s still hard to imagine what could have been with this game.

A sequel could have brought us much more intrigue in this world, one corrupted by vampires influencing The Order itself from behind the scenes, while Galahad becomes a bit of a 19th-century Batman in London, tracking down and putting down all the supernatural creatures at the top of society.

In the days when we enjoy shorter experiences as much as the 100-hour RPGs we get, there would certainly be room for a dark, gritty and visually excellent game like The Order: 1886. Even if it was a bit short, it accomplished a lot and not just in the graphics. There was a great sense of immersion used in The Order: 1886. It pulled you into its world and made everything believable, even if it remained in the realm of fantasy. Moreover, something worth paying attention to is how threatening it made the werewolves you encounter.

Unlike Redfall, or any other game that hypes up a supernatural being as a threat only for them to go down in a few shots, The Order: 1886 made sure that every encounter with a lycanthrope was memorable. For most of the game you could easily enough make your way through others, but then came the reminder that you’re nowhere near the top of the food chain.

There are plenty of action games these days that consider cinematic atmosphere sometimes even more important than pure gameplay, and so it feels strange that Sony never decided to try again with The Order: 1886. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like we’ll ever hear more of this concept, as the developers behind it have been bought up by Facebook. Still, sometimes it’s enough to reminisce, reflect on what could have been and remember that not every game needs to give you 200 hours of content, nor should we dive too eagerly into new concepts, because soon we’ll only be left with established franchises and remakes.