So the new Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer dropped yesterday and it reaffirmed most of the things we already knew: most importantly that this game is going to be awesome. Talk about pedigree, the first Red Dead Redemption was an absolute mammoth of a game. This thing was the most intricate open world game set in the wild west anybody had ever seen, and was packed full of incredible characters, mini games, and side quests. It sits high up on my list as my number 2 game of all time, because not only was it a game that was fun as hell, but also because it had an incredible story to match.

There were a few cinematic moments in that first Red Dead Redemption game that made me feel things I didn’t think a video game could make me feel, a quality that I’ve already lauded in my favorite game of all time The Last of Us, it’s a little harder to play these (because Red Dead Redemption is only remastered for Xbox One, and Last of Us is a Playstation exclusive) but let me tell you, if you consider yourself a gamer, a fan of video games, or someone who just thinks video games are okay, then you owe it to yourself to play these games. I mean it when I say they are worth renting a game system or borrowing one from your buddy to play- they are the groundbreaking single player games of our era and must be respected as such. I only give the Last Of Us an edge because it was paced a little better than  Red Dead which had a campaign so long it was almost exhausting.

Let’s talk a little bit about the new game- obviously with this much hype, there’s always the worry that a game won’t live up to its expectations. I think that is true 99% of the time, but that 1% is Rockstar. Rockstar puts out one game every six years and it’s because they’re fucking dope. We’re talking GTA IV in 2008, Red Dead Redemption in 2010, Max Payne 3 in 2012, GTA V in 2013 , and now five years later (consider that much time was spent remaking games such as GTA V for next generation consoles) we’re looking at Red Dead Redemption 2. These are powerful, highly lauded games across the board. If there’s anyone I trust to take make a sequel to a game of the year winner, tease it for years, delay it, and knock it out of the park- it’s Rockstar Games.

In terms of stuff we can expect in this one, it looks like we’ve got a bunch what we’ve come to love from Rockstar games and the Red Dead Redemptions: robberies, gunfights, brilliant set pieces, beautiful gameplay (no not much gameplay was shown in the trailer, but again, this is a Rockstar game), and wonderful, fleshed out characters. 

The questions that remain are how much of what worked in GTA V will be brought back here, in what obviously is a very different game, such as the ability to switch between multiple characters, and developing the multiplayer into an online social space. 

In regards to the canon of Red Dead Redemption- there are few things I’m curious about as well. One, the talk of the interweb is that John Marston (protagonist of the previous game) can be spotted in there trailer. I 100% agree with this and am not all that surprised since this has been marketed as a prequel to 2010’s game. That being said, I wonder whether we’ll be able to play as John Marston again, because that would be good, very good. There’s also a question of timeline, will this game go past the events of the first Red Dead Redemption? Or will it live strictly in prequel land? Unsure, but it brings me to my last observation- the one thing that really caught my eye is that the story for this game seems very similar to the last one. The whole “the wild west is dying and outlaws don’t belong anymore” thing was the whole catalyst behind the first game- as we saw Marston trying to adapt and outplay his foes in a rapidly changing landscape and society. With that in mind, I’m a little perplexed as to why they're so similar- but to be honest, it was such a rich source of material, both thematic and otherwise, for the first game that I won’t complain if they lean on it again. 

That’s it folks. October 26th. Mark that on your calendars and save up your vacation days. Regardless of your passion or lack of passion for all things western, you should give this game a chance - it’s going to be a good one.