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Red Dead Redemption 2’s release is just about here and we’ve put together a list of things you may want to know before jumping into this giant big open world. Here are 10 Things We Know About Red Dead Redemption 2.

Gang

Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the Vanderlin gang after a heist goes wrong this forces them to go on the run trying to avoid the lawmen and bounty hunters. With all this going on the gang starts to face some tension and the threat of the game disbanding starts to get more and more real. This isn’t concrete but it’s safe to assume that we get to see the gang fall apart. And maybe even see John Marston break away from the gang or getting captured by the feds.

I think it’s also safe to assume that we’ll see the black border Massacre as well seeing that it has been talked about heavily in Red Dead Redemption 1 and the timing lines up.

Different Angle

When GTA 5 launched on PS4 Rockstar made it so you could play the entire game and first-person. It made the game feel surprisingly different just from changing the camera angle. And in the red dead 2 Rockstar made the same move by making the entire game playable in first-person.

It’s anything like GTA 5, it definitely doesn’t control like a first-person shooter. But it’s still 100% playable. We’ve only got a little bit of footage of it so far, and from that little bit I’ve seen I can tell you that I’m definitely gonna mess around with it for a little bit.

Gang’s Moral

Not only is your gang a huge part of the narrative in Red Dead 2 but it’s also a big part of the gameplay as well. it’s your job to keep gang morale up. Your camp is something that you can invest in as well with time and money. Donating money to the camp will give you the ability to upgrade it later on and you’re also able to go out and chop wood or even go hunting for food to add to the camp supply.

You can, of course, interact with everyone at your camp with the camp morale affecting how they respond to you. Keeping morale up is definitely a good idea because your gang members can give you leads on new money-making opportunities, and they’re also able to join you in the open world as a backup.

Map & Towns

As expected Red Dead 2 takes place in a living breathing world with a map filled with things to do and places to explore. You have frontier towns like Valentine which is your typical looking western as a town. Then you have cities like Saint-Denis, then you have a Bayou town, then, of course, is Blackwater and some other smaller towns mixed in. With wilderness and other biomes all in between, each town city and settlement will also be home to their own cast of townsfolk and exercise activities like poker.

GTA 5’s Los Santos felt very populated in like a real living City and I’m sure Red Dead 2 is going to feel even more lived-in than that.

Horse

Your horse is way more than just a way to get around this time. In Red Dead 2 you actually build up a bond with your horse and you have to take care of it. The more you take care of your horse the more you bond with it and bonding can actually unlock additional skills for your horse and overall provide a smoother ride. Brushing your horse, petting it after it gets spooked, and feeding it are all things that you’re gonna have to do to build up that bond.

You’re also able to have more than one horse at a time and store them at stables all over the map. Having different horses is very useful too, seeing that different breeds are better for different scenarios. Therefore, maybe there’s one that’s better during a fight, or maybe one that’s faster, or maybe one that’s just an all-around good boy.

Health

While you will have your horse and guns to take care of in Red Dead Redemption 2, the most important thing to take care of is yourself. Eating and bathing are two things that you’re gonna have to do regularly.

If Arthur’s health or stamina gets low it will affect how he controls making him dizzy and making his vision all blurry. Eating will restore these bars and make Arthur feel better. Keeping yourself clean is also something you’re gonna have to do, if you’re dirty, smelly, or covered in blood people will react to you differently. Walking to a shop covered in blood and dirt doesn’t guarantee you service and you may be kicked out. Your hair also grows as the game progresses so if you like the clean shaven look you’re gonna have to hit the barber every so often to get a trim.

Activities

Seeing that Red Dead Redemption 2 is an open world game Rockstar is definitely going to be filling it with extra side activities to keep you busy when you need to take a break from the main story.

There are activities like hunting, robbing stores, you have the option to head into town to acquire a bounty that you can hunt down. Then there are cards to be played, dominoes to be played, you can also play a five-finger fillet. You can go dancing, you can also catch a stage show, and then, of course, there are side missions which are supposedly going to be much more involved this time around and may even be multi-part missions.

Hunting

Hunting was a pretty important mechanic and Red Dead Redemption. Hunting and collecting pelts from different animals was a great way to make cash and also unlocked outfits, hunting returns and Red Dead 2 but some changes have been made to it.

For one the skinning animation is much more gruesome, it actually shows Arthur skinning it and rolling up his pelt. You now also have to store the pelt and the carcass on your horse and actually get it into town and sell it. Also, it does spoil over time so you don’t want to take too long getting it to town. The carcass you could also sell outright or bring it to a butcher pay them to cut it down for you so you can use it for cooking.

Legendary animals are also making a return which if you don’t remember you had to hunt to craft all the badass outfits in Red Dead Redemption 1. Overall this time hunting is just way more involved.

Weapons

Weapons have gone through major changes this time around. First off weapons are fully customizable with you being able to engrave them with different designs or maybe wrap the grip in leather.

You’re also able to see every weapon you have actually on Arthur so you’ll see two pistols, two longer weapons like a shotgun and a bow, and any throwable that you’re carrying. Just like Max Payne 3, if you’re using a rifle and you switch to a pistol Arthur will still hold the rifle in one hand while shooting his pistol.

Weapons will also degrade over time, hopefully not as bad as Breath of the wild. So you will have to keep up with your weapons cleaning them and what not to prevent them from jamming. You’re also able to shoot weapons out of enemy’s hands or even outright break them if you want to take a less lethal approach.

Dialogue & Conversation

Rockstar is adding a new dynamic conversation system into Red Dead 2 that actually sounds pretty interesting. Not only are there different dialogue options but what you say and how you say it will affect the outcome of a situation. You’ll also have the ability to talk your way out of certain situations as well.

When you aim at someone with your gun holstered it actually opens up a dialogue menu with different choices to choose from. There are going to be a ton of different random encounters throughout the world that you can run into. Each one having a different reaction depending on how you deal with it.

There is an example online where Arther actually saved someone from a snake attack and a few days later after walking around a town that NPC popped up and noticed Arthur. It turned out that he was the owner of the town’s gun shop and he offered Arthur a free gun of his choice. It’s nice to know that you can interact with the world more than just your gun.

Those are the things you need to know about Red Dead Redemption 2.