Summary
With the story and characters ofRed Dead Redemption 2being so engaging and memorable, it is easy to forget the more implicit content that the game also offers. Befitting of such a large-scale world that rewards thorough exploration, the title is jam-packed with Easter eggs that range from fun discoveries to sinister and supernatural happenings.
Hiding away supernatural elements for dedicated fans to discover is a common practice for Rockstar, and the world ofRed Dead Redemption 2was the perfect vessel to take this to the next level. By being such a heavily detailed title,RDR2easily leaned into the “Weird West” tropes that often go hand-in-hand with Western stories, and the game does not shy away from exploring this to the fullest.
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The term “Weird West” describes a piece of media that blends classic Old West stories with other genres, mainly sci-fi, horror, and fantasy. While the name of this mash-up only came about in the 1970s, the concept of mixing Wild West stories with the supernatural has been around for much longer. There is something deeply engrossing about the isolated towns of the Wild West having to deal with things like zombies or aliens, with theRed Deadfranchise exploring this in detail with2010’s iconicUndead NightmareDLC.
While a lot of the firstRed Dead Redemption’s Weird West elements came through this DLC, 2018’sRDR2took pride in including horror and sci-fi tropes in its base story. In terms of horror Weird West elements inRDR2, fans will remember theunnerving vampire encounter in the city of Saint Denis. By following a trail of death and carnage, the player can come across a vampire feeding on a helpless victim, providing an undeniable supernatural twist to the world ofRed Dead.
There are other horror-inspired encounters inRDR2, such as anUndead NightmareEaster egg that zombifies the game’s protagonist, but the title focuses much more on sci-fi Weird West tropes above all else. Quite famously, the player can trigger a detailed alien encounter inRed Dead Redemption 2that sees a UFO fly over the protagonist, tying in well to similar UFO appearances in Rockstar’sGrand Theft Autofranchise.
As well as this, a prominentStranger mission inRDR2confirms the existence of time-travelin the game’s universe, with the protagonist witnessing a man return to his childhood home from the future. The fact that such a staggering revelation features in easily-accessible side-content is a great example of just how far Rockstar took Weird West tropes withRDR2, with fans not having to look far to come across some seriously supernatural findings.
There are of course more muted Weird West factors inRDR2, with theNikola Tesla-inspired Stranger missionsfeaturing a seemingly sentient robot that can be found roaming around the map. The title even touches on fantasy-inspired Weird West portrayals, with a Viking helmet and hatchet strangely being present within a tomb to the map’s North East. The development ofRed Dead Redemption 2was clearly driven by an intense passion for the period of the Old West, as well as the countless stories that have been told about it. This is more than obvious when considering the wide range of Weird West elements that feature across the game, covering a mix of sub-genres and supernatural occurrences.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
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