Red Dead Redemption 2 - For a Few Redemptions More

Too late! Hopes already sky high, especially since I just learned that this game is only a few weeks away rather than the year or so out that I had originally thought.

I have to say, this looks amazing. I haven’t bought a console, because there wasn’t anything I had to have, but this may change that.

Same here. I was angling for a new gaming laptop later this year, now this threw a monkey wrench in that plan. I just may end up with an Xbox one, thought I might wait it out until Black Friday. Maybe. I would love to sit here and say, “I’ll wait and see if they ever release a PC version,” but the last RDR was SUPERB playing on the Xbox 360, and this one just looks like they turned every bit of that last game up to 11 this go round.

Get a gaming desktop PC and a console for the same price?

Yep. PC and PS4 is ideal combo. Sure PS4 is still redundant piece of toaster hardware, but as long as Sony keeps funding cool games exclusively for it, it’s nice to have.

Hrm … maybe. I like being semi-portable with my laptop. This is my third as my primary gaming rig, before that I had all roll-my-own built systems where I chased the pricing for each item. With a gaming laptop, the dream is usually chasing a current gen GPU 12 months post PC announcement or better, once they announce a new tech for PC. For better pricing, a bit longer than that. Watching things lately, a gaming laptop with a GTX1080 can be found for around $1300-$2000 or so, a little more if you need bigger drives initially (I do not.)

If I had a small enough form factor PC, I might do it, but I would worry the price wouldn’t be too much less. That’s probably a question for the gaming rig thread. Thanks for making me consider it at least, Scott. I’ll post there too.

The bundle includes a 1 TB PS4 Pro system, a DualShock 4 wireless controller and a physical disc copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 for $399.99, according to the announcement.

Revealed through the official Rockstar Games website, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be home to approximately 200 species of animals, including various mammals, birds, fish and more. All reportedly behave and react to the game’s environment in unique, logical ways.

For example, as in real life, deer, bison and pronghorn all travel in large herds, sockeye salmon swim upstream, possums play dead in order to be ignored by hunters (which may include the player), birds of prey soar on thermal updrafts, scavengers quickly seek out dead animals to feast upon, and more. It’s all an attempt to create a complex and realistic ecosystem where all members of the food chain must fight for their place.

We already knew horses were a big deal in Red Dead Redemption 2, but Rockstar is really putting in the work to make them varied and unique. There are 19 breeds of horse in the game, including Mustangs and Appaloosas, and each handles differently. They can be captured and broken in the wild, purchased from stables or stolen, depending on the player’s discretion.

As night fell again, we started to ride back to the Van der Linde camp, pushing the boundaries of our horse (who will completely collapse, tumble, and throw you off if you try and get it to trot down a steep slope), acting like buffoons (holding up on the d-pad with your gun unholstered will let you fire warning shots in the air, scaring off animals and people) and whistling non stop (Arthur will whistle for as long as you hold the button, and will eventually run out of breath).

A lot of work has obviously been poured into the game’s world, animation and cinematic presentation, in an attempt to create an experience that looks to impress you at every stage. It’s little surprising how superficially familiar Red Dead Redemption 2 feels at first–this absolutely plays like a Rockstar Games title. But that’s not a bad thing, and there’s a lot to be said for the sheer amount of new, intricate systems which apply to the world, your weapons, your horse, Arthur himself, and how all of that can interact. We’ve only had the briefest of glimpses at the laundry list of genuine additions, but the level of depth that they suggest is certainly an incredibly enticing prospect, and we can’t wait to experiment with them further.

Small Detail Spoilers

  1. Arthur’s facial hair grows in the game’s real-time, and his options when styling it depend on how long it’s gotten – just like facial hair in real life.

  2. Arthur can shave at his tent in camp, going clean shaven, keeping a full beard and anything between. He can trim the different areas of his face - chin, cheeks, sideburns - so they’re short, medium or long.

  3. To change his hairstyle Arthur will need to visit a barber in town.

  4. If you don’t eat and rest, Arthur will suffer from fatigue.

  5. Arthur will visibly lose or gain weight depending on how much food he eats.

  6. Bodies of downed enemies are marked as a small ‘x’ on the minimap, so you can go back and loot their corpses.

  7. Similarly, killed animals are marked with a paw print on the minimap.

  8. Fellow gang members will also loot downed bodies, so move fast or they’ll bogart all the extra cash and ammo.

  9. If you lose a hat or weapon it will reappear on your horse’s saddle; if you lose your saddle it will reappear at a stable.

  10. If you lose your hat, it will also appear as an icon on the mini-map.

  11. You can wear animal carcasses as a hat.

  12. Outfits are customizable to an insane degree. You can choose to have your pants tucked into your boot or not, or sleeves rolled up or not, for instance.

  13. Weapons get dirty and clogged up over time, or if you get them wet, so you’ll need to clean them to get the best performance.

  14. Similarly, your horse will get covered in mud over time, which slows him/her down, and will need grooming – though a horse can be cleaned by riding them through a body of water or a rainstorm.

  15. Arthur’s comments while grooming or soothing his horse will change depending on the sex of the horse.

  16. If Arthur is covered in mud or blood the reaction you’ll get from those around you will be different than if he were clean.

  17. Snow on Arthur’s clothing will eventually melt. Mud will harden and wipe away. Blood will dry.

  18. If you hold the trackpad to turn on the cinematic camera you can set a waypoint and hold X and your horse will automatically make its way to the destination. Or you can move around of your own accord.

  19. You can switch camera angles while in cinematic view.

  20. If you’re riding with other gang members, holding X in cinematic mode ensures you ride as a pack at the same pace as them.

  21. You can choose what position you ride in when you’re in a group.

On one hand, hype!

On the other, I would, you know, kinda like to find out some of the details when plaiyng the actual game.

I wonder how you go about losing a saddle. “Cotton pickin’ thievin’ bobcats!”

I’m going to wear you as a hat.

Ok, serious question here: with all the stuff that gets incorporated here, e.g., the need for adequate food consumption, hair growth, horse testicles size changing depending on the temperature - does the protagonist get to pee and poop?

No, but the horses have dynamic pooping action.

Damn it, Rockstar. PS4 bundle pre-ordered. Supposedly ships 10/26.

Barstein is super excited about dynamic horse pooping.

My resolve began to crack at the hair/beard options and carcass hats, but the crazy horseshitting was the final straw.

But seriously, waiting so long for GTA V to become available on the PC and listening to everyone talk about it was an awful experience. As annoyed as I am with Rockstar, I’m not about to put myself through the same ordeal again. I’d been looking for a good excuse to pick up a PS4 Pro anyway.

I am still waiting!

LOL, I meant GTA V. This head cold, man.

Some of this stuff seems more like busy work and not fun, but I’ll wait and see how it turns out. Some of this type of stuff was incorporated into San Andreas, and I thought it worked there OK without being too fun-sucking. OTOH, the frequent ‘man dates’ in GTAIV got annoying, and you couldn’t just ignore them because the rewards were worth the pain (for example, having a gun store come visit you).

Don’t get me wrong - it’s still pre-ordered. But it’s a concern.