‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Trailer: The Wild West Is Dying (And I’m Dying To Play This)
Holy fuck, is this game really going to exist? Like, soon?
Polygon:
Red Dead Redemption 2’s third trailer, released today by publisher Rockstar Games, offers a deeper look at what players will be doing when they step into the cowboy boots of Arthur Morgan this fall. You can watch the trailer above.
Here’s the plot synopsis that Rockstar gave along with the second trailer in September: Red Dead Redemption 2 is “the story of outlaw Arthur Morgan and the Van Der Linde gang as they rob, fight and steal their way across the vast and rugged heart of America in order to survive.” Morgan, as we saw in that trailer, functions as something of a debt collector for Dutch’s Gang. In addition to using tactics such as verbal and physical intimidation, Morgan does things like rob banks, which is what the gang is known for.
The original Red Dead Redemption was set in 1911, after the frontier had closed. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel — the new trailer indicates that it takes place in 1899:
America, 1899.
The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed.
After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him.
After multiple delays, Red Dead Redemption 2’s release is now scheduled for Oct. 26 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, which would put its launch almost eight and a half years after its predecessor debuted. Rockstar has not announced a Windows PC version, to the consternation of many PC gamers.
Update: The trailer seems to confirm that John Marston, the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption, will appear in Red Dead Redemption 2. In the original game, Marston had to find and take out his former cohorts in Dutch’s Gang, including Dutch van der Linde himself. It looks like he might’ve had an ax to grind, a reason to hunt down his ex-comrades beyond the fact that his family had been kidnapped.