Story by Mark Beresford
After being teased for days by Rockstar, we finally got a greater look at their latest iteration of the western frontier in a sneaky trailer drop for Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDRII).
While it was gleaming with all the gloss of next gen console cut scenes as it was confirmed to be PS4 captured, some people were a little annoyed by the lack of gameplay footage and the oversaturation of cut scene.
We know the title’s production has been challenged after multiple delays, a still undefined release date, information and storyline leaks along with the departure of key designer Leslie Benzies early last year, however most still remain faithful that Rockstar will once again pull out a generational game changer when it finally drops in 2018.
So where does this leave us? Well, in a better place than you’d expect if you look in the right places. One of the aforementioned information leaks came via a Reddit post last year that was loaded with details, at the time dismissed by fellow users. After watching Rockstar’s latest footage however, things are starting to line up very well with the Rockstar insider account.
It seems we’ll have a departure from the previous two title’s Marston family protagonists, and the storyline will follow a new introduction to the Red Dead universe in Arthur Morgan. The straight up hardened cowboy who’s working in Dutch’s gang (yep, that’s Dutch van der Linde, the prequel status is confirmed) appears to do away with the good vs evil of the previous games and instead just hits evil hard with multiple misdeeds already shown.
The other suggestions is that the game will centre around a ‘travelling caravan’ style gameplay, wherein you roam across the western plains, outrunning the FBI to perform missions and tasks with the gang members of your choosing. Rockstar has already implemented this method in another title with GTA Online Heist Modes and build the mission gameplay of GTA V on a cycling of multiple characters too. We’ll have to wait for further in game action till we know this one for sure, but the amount of thieving, hold ups and robberies busting out of the two minutes, it’s fair to say most of the activities are going to be firmly placed on the wrong side of the law.
We can see the bow and arrow scene pointing towards the hunting elements of the game making a return, so those pelt collections will start building up again, alongside a possible inclusion of water movement with a trio wading through a bayou and the faithful horse nabbing lasso should be taking a welcome place also. While it’s all hard to tell from the cinematic footage, dual wielding pistols may finally make their debut to the fans delight.
In that leak last year there was also an inclusion of a map, which builds off the Eastern side of Red Dead Redemption’s original locations, based loosely on the Texas area of the United States. If the leaked information is to be believed, RDRII will include its own version of New Orleans and the Rocky Mountains, both of which have suspiciously close imagery to in the trailer.
The final piece of the videos puzzle is a fierce suspicion that a Marston may in fact be returning (in a fashion), as Red Dead cannon states that Dutch took in John Martson as a child. The internet has already ignited with theories that the middle-silhouetted character as the mansion explodes is in fact the original Marston. The estimated timeline does seem to match up and it would be a nice subtle inclusion should Rockstar wish to include him as a side character for a period, potentially linking up with the franchise favourite building his ranch at Beecher’s Hope to complete the story arc.
For now, all we can do is wait with bated breath for Rockstar to feed our gun slinging addiction some more, but was there anything we missed? Let us know your thoughts and theories (via Twitter) on what will undoubtedly be one of the biggest games of 2018.
Pic via Rockstar
