In 2004,
Rockstar Games released the first game in the series
of Western-themed action-adventure games.
Fourteen years later, in 2018,
Red Dead Redemption 2 was released, and
it is a masterpiece with amazing characters,
stunning graphics,
an epic story,
and a magnificent open world.
In fact, it is considered one of the best games of all time.
So, let’s see how this legendary franchise evolved
over the years.
This is the Evolution of Red Dead Redemption
It all started in 2000 when an American video game developer
named Angel Studios began working on Red Dead Revolver.
The studio was funded by Capcom,
a Japanese company that has created many commercially successful franchises,
including Resident Evil,
Street Fighter,
Mega Man,
and Monster Hunter.
Yoshiki Okamoto was a game designer who worked at Capcom.
In 1985, he created an arcade game named “Gun.Smoke”,
a Western-themed game and an inspiration for Red Dead Revolver.
Okamoto worked together with Angel Studios to create Red Dead Revolver.
However, due to both companies having cultural differences,
development was troubled, and the game remained unplayable.
In 2003, Okamoto, who was essential for developing the game, left Capcom,
and Red Dead Revolver was canceled.
But then Rockstar Games decided to acquire the rights and revived the game
in what would become the first installment in the Red Dead series.
In May 2004, Rockstar Games published Red Dead Revolver
and released it for the PlayStation 2 and the Xbox.
Red Dead Revolver was an action-adventure game and a third-person shooter,
in which players could fight using an arsenal of weapons
such as handguns,
rifles,
shotguns,
and dynamite.
Players could complete different levels with usually a boss battle at the end.
Depending on how well specific objectives were completed,
such as weapon accuracy or the time it took to finish the level,
players received rewards to purchase new weapons or characters.
Players could freely explore a small town named Brimstone,
where they could interact with NPCs.
However, the game lacked an open world and had a linear storyline.
In the story, players assume the role of bounty hunter Red Harlow
who was on a quest for revenge after the murder of his parents.
The game also had a local multiplayer,
in which one or two players could fight in three game modes.
While Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 are both massive successes
with millions of copies sold and considered one of the best games of all time,
Red Dead Revolver didn’t even come close to that success.
In fact, it only got a score of 73 on Metacritic,
and just 920,000 copies of the game were sold.
Fun Fact
Red Dead Revolver introduced a feature
that would return to future games in the series, known as “Dead Eye.”
It is a targeting system that
temporarily puts the player in slow motion to shoot enemies.
For the next game in the series, Rockstar Games went all out,
creating one of the most expensive video games ever made.
Over its 5-year development time,
Rockstar improved its propriety game engine to increase technological capabilities,
leading to one of the best-selling and most praised video games of all time.
In 2010, Red Dead Redemption was released
for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Just like its predecessor, the game was played from a third-person perspective.
This time, however, players could freely roam in the open world,
in which they can explore prairies,
hunt for wildlife,
complete missions,
gamble,
and fight in intense gunfights.
Players could utilize a wide variety of weapons, including revolvers,
shotguns,
explosives,
lassos,
and rifles.
Rockstar felt inspired to use the potential power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
So, the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine was significantly improved
to increase its draw distance rending capabilities.
Players control John Marston and complete missions to progress through the story.
To traverse through the expansive open world,
players use different breeds of horses, which could be tamed, stolen, or purchased.
Besides horses, players can also utilize trains and carriages.
The game introduced a morality system
by which the player’s actions change how other characters respond to the player
and affect the character’s level of honor.
By capturing an outlaw, players would gain honor.
If the player had high honor,
NPCs would greet them, and they could receive benefits in stores.
While if the player had a low level of honor,
NPCs would act insecure, and stores may close their doors.
Besides the morality system, the game also introduced the bounty system,
which was, of course, inspired by Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto wanted system.
When a player commits a crime, witnesses run to the nearest police station,
and when the law is alerted, the Wanted meter appears with a bounty set on the player’s head.
The more crimes the player commits, the higher the bounty and the more lawmen will hunt the player.
There was also an online multiplayer,
where up to 16 players could engage in cooperative and competitive gameplay.
In multiplayer, players could level up and obtain rewards, such as new titles,
breeds of animals,
and golden weapon skins.
To keep players entertained, Rockstar also released multiple DLCs.
These added new multiplayer modes,
minigames,
weapons,
and characters.
Red Dead Redemption was highly praised for its excellent graphics,
beautiful music,
immersive story,
epic gameplay,
and expansive open world.
Critics consider it as one of the best video games ever made.
It even won multiple awards,
including Game of the Year by Spike Video Game Awards
and Game Developers Choice Awards.
IGN loved the game and said quote,
On Metacritic, Red Dead Redemption scored a very impressive score of 95.
Analyst estimated that the marketing and game development costs were around $100 million.
So, in order to even break-even, at least 1.75 million copies had to be sold.
Well, luckily for Rockstar, it far exceeded those sales,
became one of the best-selling video games of all time.
In total, a whopping 23 million copies of the game were sold.
Fun Fact
In total, over 800 people worked on creating Red Dead Redemption.
Creating such a legendary game was far from easy
and required extreme effort from the developers.
In fact, the game’s development received controversy
for unethical working practices at the studio,
including twelve-hour workdays and six-day workweeks.
Rockstar had a strong desire to create a zombie game.
The team found the American countryside in Red Dead Redemption
the perfect place for a horror-themed game
and decided to create a zombie version of Red Dead Redemption
with a darker and spookier environment and its own story.
Also released in 2010 was Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare.
It also became available for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
Undead Nightmare was a standalone expansion pack to Red Dead Redemption.
The game added a zombie single-player campaign and followed John Marston,
a former outlaw who seeks to find the cause
and possible cure to a zombie plague that has infected his wife and son.
The game was set in an alternate timeline with a story that lasted about six hours.
Besides the story, there were also many side quests that also fit the zombie horror theme.
Unlike the original game, there were no fast travel options,
and instead, the player must travel by foot or undead horses.
There were also two multiplayer modes: Undead Overrun and Land Grab.
In Undead Overrun, up to four players fight cooperatively to fight off waves of zombies.
Land Grab wasn’t connected to the undead theme.
Instead, players must secure seven areas across the game’s environment.
Undead Nightmare is considered to be one of the best downloadable content packs ever made.
It was praised for its zombie theme and originality.
XGN said in their review quote,
The DLC received a score of 87,
and over 2 million retail disc copies were sold.
Soon after the release of Red Dead Redemption,
Rockstar Games started working on the sequel.
The game’s development lasted over 8 years,
an incredibly long time for a video game.
Just like its predecessor, Rockstar decided to give it their all,
and it even became one of the most expensive video games ever made.
In 2018 Red Dead Redemption 2 was released.
The game was released for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
In 2019 it also became available for PC.
Just like its predecessor, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a Western-themed action-adventure game.
Besides the third-person perspective, players can also play through a first-person perspective.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has a massive open world with countless things to do in it.
Players can hunt,
do heists,
shootouts,
interact with the NPCs,
complete missions,
and there are many side activities,
including bounty hunting,
finding collectibles,
and gambling.
To make the world interactive, there are countless random events in the game,
such as crimes committed by other people,
ambushes,
public executions,
and animal attacks.
Hunting is an important part of the game,
which provides food,
income,
and materials for crafting items.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of amazing details,
such as where the player hits an animal
and with what weapon affects the quality of the meat and pelt.
It also affects what traders are willing to pay.
After players kill an animal,
they can skin it immediately or carry the carcass, which will rot over time and attracts predators.
The story is set in 1899 and follows Arthur Morgan, who is the main protagonist.
John Marston is back in the game, this time as a fellow gang member.
Players can swim as Arthur, but not as John,
which is a reference to the previous game, where swimming led to instant death.
In the story, players can make choices that affect the plot.
Both Arthur and John have to be maintained.
Players can sleep and eat to replenish their cores,
which affects the rate at which their stealth and health regenerate.
However, when the player eats too much, they can gain weight,
leading to better damage absorption but less stamina.
When it’s cold and players don’t wear warm clothes, their cores will rapidly drain.
So, in order to not overheat or freeze, players must wear sufficient clothing.
Back from the previous game is the Honor system
that affects how the player is perceived after certain actions.
If the player does good deeds like helping strangers or sparing opponents in a duel,
they will gain the player's Honor.
Well, if the player does something bad, they will lose honor.
Honor also influences the story,
gives players discounts at shops, and unlocks special outfits.
Gunfights are an essential mechanic in the game.
The game has countless weapons to choose from,
such as rifles,
shotguns,
explosives,
revolvers,
lassos,
knives,
and tomahawks.
The combat is redefined with new mechanics, including dual-wielding and the ability to use a bow.
Some features are also back from the previous games, including Dead Eye,
which can be upgraded as the player progresses,
and the bounty system, which sets lawmen on their way to hunt players whenever they commit a crime.
We’ve already talked about some of the amazing details in Red Dead Redemption 2,
but there are countless more that really make this game stand out.
Here are a few:
Hair grows realistic over time
When you kill someone, lawmen will show up and remove the bodies
Dead bodies will actually rot over time and attract bugs
Weapons require cleaning to maintain their performance
And my favorite, male horses have testicles that become smaller in cold environments
Red Dead Redemption 2 became the first game
from Rockstar specifically built for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
These new consoles allowed for a more interactive and larger world.
The graphics were also significantly improved compared to its predecessor.
Music also plays an important role in the game.
Woody Jackson, who also created music for the first Red Dead Redemption game and Grand Theft Auto,
also composed Red Dead Redemption 2’s original score.
There are three types of scores.
First, there is narrative, which is the music that is played during the story.
Second, there is interactive, which is played when the player is roaming in the open world.
And third, there is environmental, such as campfire songs or characters playing music in the world.
In total, over 110 musicians worked on the music for the Red Dead Redemption 2.
While previous games were made by distinct studios,
this time, Rockstar decided to combine all its studios into one large team to facilitate the development.
In total, over 2,000 people worked on the game.
While Red Dead Redemption was already one of the most
expensive games ever made with a cost of around $100 million,
the sequel was even more expensive,
and analysts estimated that the development and marketing costs combined
were between 370 and 540 million dollars!
In 2019, the multiplayer mode for Red Dead Redemption 2 was released,
known as Red Dead Online.
The multiplayer adds a new story where up to four players can complete tasks to advance the narrative.
Besides the main story, players can also do various side missions and events.
In these events, up to 32 players can partake and do various modes,
including a deathmatch and a race mode.
Just like the single-player, online also has a morality system.
Some story missions can only be initiated if the player’s Honor is at a particular level.
By completing activities, players earn experience points and raise their character ranks.
In addition to in-game cash, online adds gold,
which can be used to purchase luxury and special items.
At launch Red Dead online received criticism that the rewards were too low.
Some players calculated that a single gold bar could take an estimated eight hours to earn in the game.
Since then, Rockstar has re-balanced the game.
Red Dead Online continually adds new free content.
These new updates included new story missions,
events,
free roam activities, and poker,
as well as new rewards.
Red Dead Redemption 2 was a massive success
and even had the second-biggest launch in the history of entertainment.
In its opening weekend, it generated a whopping $725 million in sales.
This was even more than the original Red Dead Redemption had generated in two weeks.
The sequel was very well received. In fact, it is considered one of the best games of all time.
It is praised for its story,
characters,
graphics,
level of detail,
music,
and open world.
Digital Trends said about the game quote,
and GameSpot said in their review quote,
Red Dead Redemption 2 even won 25 awards,
including Game of the Year by Steam Awards
and Titanium Awards.
On Metacritic, Red Dead Redemption 2 was the highest-rated game of 2018, with a score of 97.
As of December 2021, the game has already sold 43 million copies,
making it one of the best-selling video games of all time.
Fun Fact
The Pinkerton National Detective Agency is real.
It was founded by Allan Pinkerton in 1850,
49 years before the time setting of Red Dead Redemption 2.
When the game came out, the parent company of the Pinkertons,
Securitas AB, sued Rockstar for making them look distrustful and bad.
Rockstar denied the accusation and claimed the use of Pinkerton was fair use.
Eventually, the case was dismissed and settled outside of the court.
When Red Dead Revolver was released in 2004,
it wasn’t anything special,
but then in 2010, Red Dead Redemption was released and became a massive success.
The developers never even planned to create a sequel,
but due to the success of the original,
Rockstar decided to give it their all and released Red Dead Redemption 2,
which is considered one of the best video games of all time.
It’s truly amazing
how much this franchise has evolved over the years.
If you want to see how other games evolved,
then click the playlist on the right.