What I Want From Red Dead Redemption 2

 

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   Last Thursday was a pretty busy day for entertainment, with the first trailer for Logan and the first footage of the Nintendo Switch (my article on that located here) being shown, but another big trailer was dropped that had me excited: the first teaser for Red Dead Redemption 2. While it didn’t show much, looking more like a teaser for a movie than a game, I saw quite a few things that got me stoked and have me excited for the 2017 release date. Now, as a huge fan of the original Red Dead Redemption, I have some things that I’d like to see from the next installment. So what do I, a lowly blogger who will buy the game anyway, want from Rockstar? Well, let’s find out!

1. Blast From the Past 

     One of the most unique things about Red Dead Redemption wasn’t just where it was set, but when it was set. By placing the game in 1911, Rockstar presented a world where the American West was dying out, giving way to the progress of the East and finally embracing civilization. It provided a stark contrast when traveling between the more Western-ish towns of Amarillo and Rathskeller Fork and the more modern towns of Blackwater, and set the mood for what the story would ultimately be about. Protagonist John Marston, a former outlaw, was set out to kill the remaining members of his old gang just as the Wild West was being put down. It provided a fitting backdrop, and was perfect for the tragic story that was about to unfold. 

     Given that Red Dead Redemption 2 looks like more of a traditional Western, it seems like they can’t move any further into the future, so why not go back into the past a little further? Imagine how great it would be to see the Wild West in its heyday and getting to ride around the bustling frontier towns before industrialization came in and choked them all, or a Great Plains type area filled with bison when the creatures numbered in the millions, not just thousands! There’s so much to explore in so many areas of the West that the possibilities boggle the mind, as there are plenty of stories that could be told. Here are a few ideas: 

• The Civil War- Yes, the great war between brothers has been covered multiple times in media, but not so much in video games (at least not well). Plus, this game could explore a facet of the war that we don’t often see stories written about at all: the effect of the war on the West. With most of the fighting contained in the East, what did the battle between the North and the South do to the cattle ranchers and outlaws that roamed the territories? Maybe the protagonists we’ve seen in the image have made both sides angry and we get a tale of fleeing from the armies of two nations? Or perhaps the war left the West open for exploitation by criminals and our heroes band together to do the right thing? Lots of possibilities here that I think should be explored. 
• The Building of the Railroads- By the time Red Dead Redemption rolls around, the most important piece of transportation in the old days, the railroads, are up and running. However, we never really get to see the pain and turmoil that went into making them, and Red Dead Redemption 2 could change all that. From the plight of Asian migrant workers to the seizure of the land for the railroads, let alone robber barons and corrupt landowners with armies to back them up causing trouble, one of the most important and overlooked periods of time in America’s history is ripe for exploration and could give the player a lot to memorable experiences. 
• The Mexican-American War- One of the most intriguing parts of Red Dead Redemption is the detour John takes into Mexico, where he finds himself embroiled in a civil war and forced to help the rebels overthrow a corrupt dictator. It’s implied during a conversation John has with a rebel that the Americans have their hands in the war, so why not go back to the point where Mexico was on more level footing with us? There are so many stories and battles that take place solely in the West that could make for some exciting campaign missions, and it would also provide us with the chance to return to Mexico at a time when they were more prosperous and powerful, which in my opinion is a very interesting prospect. 

2. Three’s Company 

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     In Rockstar’s last big game, Grand Theft Auto V, players were given the ability to switch between three unique protagonists, each with their own stories and activities to do. Though the stories were connected and they were all needed to advance the main plot, it was a new thing for Rockstar games and it paid off beautifully. Thanks to the strength of the writing, performances, and gameplay, I was always excited to flip over to play as Franklin or Trevor and never got bored trying to see what crazy thing I could do with them next. I think the logical thing to do would be to keep the progress going by keeping this feature for Red Dead Redemption 2.

     While giving us three protagonists again would expand the world and provide more content, I’m more excited by what types of stories we could get from having three completely different characters. Of course we’ll probably wind up with a cowboy (it IS a Western, after all!), but why not look to other character types? Why not be a marshal or a bandit as well, or maybe an escaped slave or a soldier? We could finally have Rockstar’s first female protagonist in here as well, as there were plenty of female outlaws in the Old West. There’s also the possibility of playing as a Native American character, something I personally feel would be great for players to experience, particularly if the game takes place during the Indian Wars. Seeing the complete destruction of a proud people could provide for some powerful material on par with or greater than the first game, and I think that Rockstar would be foolish to pass up on the opportunity.

     Despite there being seven protagonists on the poster, I think there should maybe only be four playable characters at most. Leaving more characters playable would inevitably create a headache for the development team and ultimately probably shortchange some characters in favor of others. Unless they choose to pull a Sonic Adventure and break the game up into different acts focusing on a different character each time, I think they just need to stick to three. It worked before, so why break the wheel now? 

3. The Magnificent Seven Ride 

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Will they fight like seven hundred? Given that it's Rockstar, probably.

     Look at that teaser poster again and tell me you weren’t thinking of The Magnificent Seven movie that released this year. I mean, there are seven cowboys and they are the only real advertising this game has right now, so why wouldn’t they be important to the game? While I just outlined why I don’t want a ton of playable characters, that doesn’t mean that I don’t want a lot of characters in general, especially if we’re going to be getting anything like the Magnificent Seven. Rockstar usually knows how to handle characters, so I have no doubt that going around the West and recruiting a team of badasses would be a fun and rewarding experience as the player gets to know these people and perform missions with them. It could also give it a very Mass Effect feel, where you genuinely grow to care for the people you’re fighting beside and provides a true emotional punch should anything happen to them.

     If the player will be tasked with assembling a team like this, I hope that we’re going to be getting some bigger-than-life set pieces to justify the number. Whether it’s defending a town (like the Seven did in the movies) or robbing a train or storming an enemy fort, I want to see something like we saw in GTA V’s heists: planning, moving pieces into place, selecting the crew, and then execution. I can only imagine the kinds of crazy antics a team of cowboys could pull off in the Old West, and I’m sure Rockstar won’t disappoint. 

     Something that could be really cool is if Rockstar follows The Magnificent Seven’s lead and diversifies the cast, and this IGN Rewind trailer breakdown provides some hints that this might be happening. Regardless of the exact location or the time period, this game could make up for the faults of the movie by presenting us with a true team of misfits from all walks of life coming together for one purpose, with all the natural conflicts that result from it. Plus, given that they won’t have the time restrictions of a movie, I hope that Rockstar can really make the team feel like one unit, with each character feeling like real people as well as being important to the overall narrative of the game. 

4. Show Me A Villain 

     One of the things I found most unique about Red Dead Redemption is that there wasn’t one main antagonist, but several minor ones that were merely obstacles to John’s path to reuniting with his family. While some of them were used well in the context of the story, where John’s true enemy was his past and the world around him, I really missed having a true villain to challenge the hero. Hopefully the sequel can give us one and make it work! 

     By this point, there are plenty of blueprints to making a good Western villain. You can make one a charismatic bandit (Calvera in the original The Magnificent Seven), a corrupt soldier or group of soldiers (the Union Army in The Outlaw Josey Wales), a fellow gunslinger (Angel Eyes in The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly), or even the law itself (Little Bill in Unforgiven), among countless other examples. Special props can be given if the villain is actually relatable and compelling, which Rockstar should know how to do by now given their work with Dutch Van Der Linde in the first game. His own tragic end isn’t how I think the next one should go, but I hope it shows their commitment to making strong characters, even if they’re evil.

     A conversation I always have with movie folks is why Marvel movie villains suck so much, and whether or not it actually matters. After all, we come to see Captain America when we see a Captain America movie, not the Red Skull, right? I’m of the opinion that a hero is only as good as their villain, and many of the classic Westerns have that quality to them, regardless of how long the villain is actually onscreen. True Grit wouldn’t be as great to me without the presence of Tom Chaney, as his crazy menace provided a good foil for the heroic and effortlessly badass Rooster Cogburn, and the same could be said for movies like Once Upon a Time in the West with Henry Fonda’s ice-cold murderer Frank against Charles Bronson’s equally awesome except heroic Harmonica. Westerns have been good without great villains, but there’s something about a truly imposing and dangerous villain that just elevates the genre to a new level, and I hope that Red Dead Redemption 2 follows suit. 

5. Why So Serious? 

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You might say he's.... Unforgiven... Eh? Eh?

     Red Dead Redemption is the first video game I ever openly wept at the ending of, with the story of John Marston reaching a brutal and heartbreaking conclusion. It was clearly a take on Westerns like The Searchers and The Wild Bunch, but the most obvious point of reference is Unforgiven. Both John Marston and William Munny are aged killers drawn out of retirement to protect their families and wind up going down a tragic path in a world that has moved beyond them, and the similarities don’t end there. The dark tone worked well for the first game, with each and every step surrounded by violence and evil, but why should the sequel just copy that feeling? Why not make something a bit more, dare I say it, fun?

     I’m not saying that the game needs to be a farce, but I would actually like to go in and have a really good time and have the characters do the same. I haven’t been able to complete a replay of Red Dead Redemption because I know how it ends and I can’t bear to do it all over again and have my heart broken. For a sequel, I’d like to have motivation to explore the world and take on sidequests and not know how things are going to go, but have a great time doing it. Especially with a band of so many characters, there are going to be moments where levity prevails, and the first game had these as well. I’d just like to see something a little more like 3:10 to Yuma, where the story is plenty serious but the action is so much fun that it allows you to enjoy yourself while watching it. And even if the game ends like The Magnificent Seven, having those fun times with the characters will only make it more impactful. 

     There are plenty of other things I could write about here, but I think these five are enough of a good starting point for any discussions on the game. What do you guys think? Am I wrong, or did I not add something you think is important? Comment below and let me know! Rockstar, don’t screw this up! I’ve been waiting for this for six years, damn you!

Red Dead Redemption 2 will drop in Fall 2017, at least for now. You know how delays are, folks.

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