With Red Dead Redemption having recently released on PC – yes, that’s the original 2010 classic that has finally arrived on PC more than 14 years after the fact – a whole new audience is learning that the incredible attention to detail and obsessive hidden flourishes that characterize 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 can be traced back to that original game. There is a impressive amount of content hidden in these titles, details that were put there by the developers for the minority of players who notice.
With Red Dead fever back on the menu, this is a great time to discuss some of the details at hand. Whether they end up rewarding the player with tangible in-game benefits or just a nice view or line of dialogue, these are all out-of-the-way secrets that will likely improve the average player’s journey through these titles.
10
Cities and settlements are built over time
The game doesn’t even attract attention
Red Dead Redemption Developer Rockstar’s attention to detail is unparalleled. The developer is in a league of its own when it comes to giving its games details that would probably not even occur to most gamers. Take this – the cities and buildings in Red Dead Redemption 2 in fact, they grow organically over time. And not in any way that attracts attention – there are no big advertisements or posters announcing construction projects or anything like that.
Instead of, buildings and cities gradually change over multiple visitsa process that can last for dozens and dozens of hours. Seeing Valentine’s expansion grow over time, or railroads beginning to intersect on the map, serves as a testament to the obsessive attention to detail that Rockstar can manage.
9
The flying machine has an Easter egg
A story told in two games
Two of the things that help Red Dead Redemption The games stand out for their fantastical setting (which is also exceptionally well recreated in the games) and Rockstar’s meticulous and often understated plot.. Both points are in peak form with this particular entry, which covers both Red Dead Redemption games. The first game sees John Marston tasked with retrieving feathers for an inventor who is trying to create his own flying machine. In this game, this is simply a mission that explores the cool scenery of the time.
However, eagle-eyed players from the prequel Red Dead Redemption 2 will notice the skeleton of an unsuccessful flying machine equipped with bird feathers, it crashed into the map. This is probably one of many unsuccessful attempts that took place before the events of the original Red Dead Redemption or simply an Easter egg for longtime fans of the series.
8
Red Dead Revolver is referenced
The hidden gem that started it all
THE Red Dead series broke out in 2010 Red Dead Redemptionand 2018 follow-up Red Dead Redemption 2 is a direct narrative prequel to that game. What is unknown to many of the audiences who attended either of these two games, however, is that there was another Red Dead game that preceded these two – Red Dead Revolverreleased in 2004 and went relatively unnoticed at the time. Red Dead Redemption 2 pays homage to the game that started it all in a fun way.
During one of their many excellent conversations at camp, one of Arthur’s many possible companions, Hennigan Stead, tells the story of “[his] brother… [who] used to count [him] stories about Red Harlow… Legendary bounty hunter who brings savage frontier outlaws to justice” – a direct reference to Red Dead Revolver, which follows the exploits of Red Harlow. This isn’t the only time players can hear Revolver referenced in the series, such as joining bonfires in the original Red Dead Redemption can sometimes trigger similar reminiscences of the cult classic that started it all.
7
Unicorn sightings are special
Everything you’d expect a unicorn to do
THE Red Dead Redemption games are no strangers to the supernatural, myths, and folklore. The entirety of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare after all, it’s essentially a mix of horror stories and folk tales with a western, so it’s not really a surprise that a unicorn ended up making its way into this game.
What and One surprise is how easy it is to lose it – to catch the unicorn, players need to collect all four Horses of the Apocalypse and complete all Undead Hunter challenges. After that, they will be able to find Torquemada’s unicorn. Those who do will find it worthwhile. The unicorn ends up being the fastest horse in the gameand leaves a rainbow trail across the field.
6
Bloodstains are on another level
This seems a little excessive
One outrageously tiny detail that deserves so much attention is the bloodstain on Arthur’s clothes in Red Dead Redemption 2. Now, some of this is in line with the kind of thing players can expect from pretty much any similar game. Getting shot or injured leaves the player character with bloody woundsand the same applies to other characters.
But Rockstar goes further once again. For example, if Arthur carries or drags a corpse, his own clothes will be stained with blood where he was holding the dead person against him. No one would have criticized Rockstar if they had skimped on this detail, but the studio went ahead and added it to the game anyway.
5
Justice takes its course – with or without Arthur Morgan
An immersive world unlike any other
What sets Rockstar’s open-world games apart from the plethora of others flooding the market is the enormous amount of effort that goes into making the world feel like a real place, independent of the player’s actions or even their existence. In other words, the world in a Rockstar game is one that acts according to its own rules even without any involvement or provocation on the part of the player or the player character.
An incredible example of this – if Arthur visits Valentine after sunset, he might find a man trying to drown his wife alive in the trough. Obviously Arthur has permission to intervene and save the woman in many ways, but if he doesn’t, returning to Valentine a few days later, he sees the same man sentenced to public execution hanged for murdering his wife. Justice will not wait for the players Red Dead Redemption 2.
4
Stolen land is not ignored
Not shying away from the ugly side of history
There is a great fascination with westerns and cowboy stories because the setting is very exciting and represents many possibilities. But one side of the story that many media outlets set in that period fail to adequately portray is the story of the Native Americans, an entire culture of people who were displaced by invaders from the land they had inhabited for countless generations by then. Happily, Rockstar didn’t waver or shy away this unhappy and ugly side to the cowboy fantasy.
In Red Dead Redemption 2Valentine was built on land taken from displaced Native Americans. At night, if players are in the hills surrounding the town, they will hear the screams and wails of Native American mothers and their babies. It’s a sordid truth to history, and Red Dead Redemption 2 ends up sounding more authentic by not ignoring.
3
Aliens in fashion Cameron
What’s with these games and aliens?
The original Red Dead Redemption is positively obsessed with UFOs and aliens, which actually makes sense. UFO sightings were on the rise at this time in history, so it’s certainly period-appropriate, and cowboy movies and alien stories have had something of a parallel history in Hollywood and on TV also.
While there is plenty of UFO and alien-related content in this game to choose from, one of the most overt references to other alien media – James Cameron’s blockbuster Aliens in this case – it’s surprisingly easy to miss. If John is attacked by a wild animal in the middle of the cooldown animation, he ends up mumbling “Game over, man, game over!” Which, of course, is a direct quote from Aliens.
2
Cheat codes in plain sight
Remember when cheat codes were a thing?
Cheat codes are increasingly rare in the age of microtransactions and paid boosters, but they were once a proud tradition of the medium. Rockstar continued to include cheat codes in its games even as the rest of the industry was starting to move away from them in the early 2010s. Red Dead Redemption games, Rockstar has actually made it easier than ever for players to discover them making other characters or the world literally expose them to players throughout the game.
For example, the famous “You don’t look fine and dandy” The line in the first game can be entered as a cheat code that unlocks costumes for John. Or in the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, KEEP YOUR DREAMS LIGHT can be found inscribed inside a drawer of a building, and using the cheat code allows players to summon a buggy to move around the map at will.
1
Vampires stalk the streets
Another kind of undead nightmare
Red Dead Redemption 2 continues the first game’s obsession with the supernatural, including a Totally different type of undead monster to focus on – vampires. In St. Denis, Arthur can find five separate writings around the city to track down the vampire who is supposedly terrorizing the city.
This isn’t just an easter egg either – is a real encounter that rewards players with an ornate dagger as loot. This is in addition to the mystery of the killer terrorizing the city also being solved, of course. Although it is easy to play Red Dead Redemption 2 without ever tracking this thread, it’s a great example of the many hidden details that make the Red Dead Redemption series special.
- Released
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May 18, 2010
- Developer(s)
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Rockstar San Diego