Rockstar Games released a teaser video of Red Dead Redemption 2 this morning, showing beautiful vistas of the Wild West.
It’s a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, the smash-hit, open world game from Rockstar that debuted in May 2010. I’m looking forward to this game because Red Dead Redemption had superb characters in hero John Marston (voiced by Rob Wiethoff) and a story that was epic in scope across 30-plus hours. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, in part because of its great story and ending.
Rockstar has refined its storytelling skills in games such as 2013’s Grand Theft Auto V, reconciling narrative with the unpredictable, player-choice driven nature of open worlds. And the graphics from the trailer look great, with plenty of atmospheric effects like smoke, long vistas, and birds flying around realistic blue skies. I have high expectations that the open world, storytelling, and modern graphics will bring us something outstanding.
Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t coming until the fall of 2017, so we have a long time to wait and speculate about it. In the wake of Westworld‘s outstanding debut on HBO, I’m hungry for a Western-themed game. (Sadly, I don’t see a Westworld game in the works).
Rockstar has also registered a copyright related to an online version of Red Dead Redemption 2. So we can expect a living online world as well.
In the trailer itself, we see views of sunsets, animals walking in meadows, sun shining through forests, birds flying over a river, a camp fire by a lake, buffalo and cattle roaming, a dog barking at vultures, canoes floating on shimmering water, a town with a lot of detailed buildings and citizenry, and the promise of action. It looks like its going to be an extremely detailed world, with the Rockstar touch. I can’t wait for this one to come out.