The rumours are coming in thick and fast of late, of a return to the world of cowboys, shoot-outs and bandits. Red Dead could soon be returning to the forefront of the gaming world having taken it by storm nearly six years ago. Question is, will it be a sequel or a prequel? Said rumours suggest a prequel of some sort … but could a sequel work too?
Now obviously there’s spoilers in this article, but let’s face it. If you haven’t played Read Dead Redemption right through to the end, then you really shouldn’t be reading this article at all until you do. If so, why the hell haven’t you played it yet! Stop Reading this and get to it! Anyway, you have been warned…
Red Dead Redemption as a prequel makes sense. You’ll probably go back a few years to see the early life of our grand hero John Marston, before the threats to his family (perhaps before his family even exists) and delve into his criminal past. It might put a more darker tone on the character, less a vigilante and more an outright villain, until he sees the error of his ways by the end. We all loved his progression during the first game, so a chance to get more time with him would certainly please the fanbase. It’s all logical.
However, there’s just as many logical ways a sequel could work too, the obvious of which would be following the future of John’s son, Jack. Cast your mind back and you’ll recall Jack as a 19 year old at the end of RDR, a playable character in his own right with a future that’s entirely uncertain.
From there, Jack’s story could go off in an entirely different direction, and that comes down to his age. At 19, Jack is on the cusp of World War 1, a changing world around him full of more dangerous weapons and enemies. Later in life, we could find an older Jack surrounded by WW2. That itself could add a ton of new assets, ideas and potential stories as an older Jack comes to grips with a world he never thought he’d see. Then again, that might push Rockstar into direct competition with many 1st person shooters that have told just as many stories within that era.
new territories makes sense, but it’s reintroducing a number of familiar faces from the opening scenes that would set the tone going forward.
While I’m thinking aloud, just gonna throw this out there, if RDR does go backwards compatible on Xbox One, players could even transfer certain content from the first game to the second. Maybe that’s stretching things a little, but Microsoft could use that as a potential marketing strategy to bring in some punters, besides the fact that Rockstar want to reward returning fans.
What if John was hiding a secret the entire time, that his daughter was alive and well somewhere off in another part of the world? Worse still, what if John wasn’t even aware that she was alive after all? That leads to the possibility that this character could either become the main character of her own tale (and I’d take a kickass female lead within the RDR world any day of the week) or perhaps a villain?
Whatever way Read Dead Redemption arrives back into our lives, you can be sure it’ll have just as big an impact as its last outing. With a greater emphasis on multiplayer and making use of multiple leads in Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar could just as easily implement these ideas into the wild west, with a generous dose of twists. We’ll know for sure by E3, if the rumours turn out to be true…
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For the love of Marston, not Jack.
Legends of The West article about the Blackwater massacre in RDR was foreshadowing RDR2
nice if they could do both prequel & sequel within the one game, transporting back forth between generations Godfather 2 style