gamescom 2018: Red Dead Redemption 2 Preview

The wild west is back in Red Dead Redemption 2, picking up in the year of 1899 where the era of outlaws and lawmen hunting them down is starting to come to a close. Technology is becoming more and more prevalent, and the way of the cowboy is getting to be obsolete. Why ride a horse when you can get one of those brand spanking new horseless carriages! Some stragglers of the old west lifestyle are still holding out, though, and one of those stragglers is you.

Red Dead Redemption was a title that, when it came out, had almost no competition. Sure it was similar in ways to other games that Rockstar Games had already put out such as the GTA series, so it wasn’t entirely new in the way it’s played, but the era was one not often seen these days. Even Western movies are hard to come by anymore, but clearly there’s a market for at least one type of Western or Old West style game as people have been chomping at the bit for its sequel.

As with all sequels to anything, there are of course concerns that Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t be as good as the first, as most sequels just aren’t as good as the original it seems. Perhaps that’s why we’ve all had to wait about eight years for it. When it seems that some studios are releasing games every year, it’s actually refreshing to see a dev who will take their time. After all, since GTA Online is still doing impressively, Rockstar probably didn’t feel the need to rush with Red Dead Redemption 2. Considering I’m a little nervous about Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Odyssey as that turn around seems to have been kind of quick, I’m definitely a person who would rather the game come out finished rather than rushed and buggy.

The gameplay demo shows us a beautiful game with all the stunning visuals that we expect from the world of Red Dead Redemption. Similar to the days when Konami swore the next Silent Hill game would adapt to how you play and be even scarier, Rockstar has declared that Red Dead Redemption 2 will have a “living world” instead of just an open one. So what does this mean? Well apparently, for starters, it means ball shrinkage if you’re riding a male horse. Why? It’s Rockstar, don’t ask, just let it go. When they say “more interactive and detailed than ever” they mean it.

“As long as I get paid or you get shot, I’m happy” is the quote I heard that made me even more excited for the game. Yeah, that sounds weird, I’m sure, but that is exactly the kind of thing I expect from a game like this. It’s like Battlefield: Bad Company where you could expect not just fun gameplay, but great dialog. Lines that catch you off guard and make you laugh or react in any way just helps pull you further into the game, and Rockstar definitely is a company that knows how to pull people in and does so in as many ways as possible. As the player, you truly feel like you are a part of this living and breathing world, and I’m eager to see just how this works out.

With cautious optimism, I am definitely looking forward to the 26th of October, the current release date for Red Dead Redemption 2. The cautious part is a little less with Rockstar than it is with other devs such as EA and Ubisoft, as rather than focusing on pushing games out, Rockstar seems to have a bit more of a patient approach. I think we’re all just mostly glad to see that Red Dead Redemption 2 didn’t go the way of Half-Life 3 and become a meme that would never be released. I for one am looking forward to going back to the wild west and watching my horse’s balls shrink to judge the weather for the day! Thanks, Rockstar!