First Look & Reaction to 'Red Dead Redemption 2'
Shaun Cordingley
Red Dead Redemption 2 was both the best and worst kept secret in video games recently--everyone knew it was coming, but no one knew anything about it, or what was going on. Well all this week, Rockstar Games has been teasing their fans: first with their logo in red, then with the shot above (without the name), and letting us know that a trailer was coming today, and now finally we get our first look at it:
First off, I'm moderately sad that it is Red Dead Redemption 2 rather than being Red Dead 3 (or with a new name, like Red Dead Retribution), as I have been a fan of the series since Revolver, but that is a farily small concern, plus I completely understand that Redemption was way more popular, and continuing that brand makes sense...especially if this game is somehow tied into the John Marston story. Now I won't spoil Redemption for anyone who hasn't played it (somehow...despite it being 6 years old) but from the trailer above, the only real way I can see that working is if Redemption 2 is a prequel where we are perhaps spending time in Marston's gang (that we were tasked with hunting down for the FBI in Redemption). That. and understanding that RDR took place in 1911, the final decade when the west was still wild (before the jazz age and like...depression and such), it would be hard to continue the story forward without introducing cars etc.
The game looks gorgeous in the trailer, but we all know better than to fall for that (it's a trailer, when we see game play, or most likely, when we turn the game on at home for the first time, we'll see what it looks like), however this will be Rockstar's first game made for this generation of consoles, and considering how amazing their games always look, and how well they utilize the power of the consoles they're programming for, I have high hopes that Redemption 2 will be at least close to as pretty a game as this trailer makes it look.
I also have a few 'in the back of my brain' concerns about Redemption 2 just because we do not have any real details yet. This is a game that I am instantly excited about, and roars near the top of my wishlist, but that's built on what the original was: a meaty, single-player, third-person action game set in the West...and until I know that RDR2 is not going to be a persistent, online world where you "can" play by yourself but it's not really the way the game is meant to be played (ala The Division or Destiny), I will have that worry in my head.
Now I get it, Grand Theft Auto Online is a helluva juggernaut for Rockstar Games, and has been incredibly successful, but for me, the experience I wanted from them was Grand Theft Auto V. I'm by no means against online gaming, even played GTAO for a while, but that online multiplayer world is not what I am looking for when it comes to Red Dead: that is a lonely, beautifully told story that I loved playing on my own. If they do the same thing they did with GTA? Fine. Splitting that right down the middle so I get both a huge, 30+ hour single-player game on one side, and then when I'm done with that I can wander into an Online world (just like GTA), then I'm in...just please give me (and I know there are others like me) a solid, solo campaign as well...going to be waiting 7 years for Red Dead Redemption 2 since RDR (and had waited 6 years for Redemption after Revolver), it would just kill my heart a little bit to see a franchise I'm so fond of get swept into the "always online, play with your friends" mode...
Regardless, that's just me being stressed about an unknown...which isn't healthy.
RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2! WOOOOO!
There. Better.
-S (@Shauncord)