A New Red Dead Redemption 2 Gameplay Trailer Is Coming Today

Rockstar has confirmed there’s a brand-new Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer coming, and it’s just a few hours away!

Taking to Twitter to announce the news, Rockstar has stated the video will be released at 9am Eastern (2pm UK time).

Here’s everything we learned from the first gameplay trailer…

Red Dead Redemption 2 Gameplay Trailer Overview

YouTube video

A lot goes on in the new Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer, so I’ve listed out and explained everything in detail below. For reference, I’ve also included a list of all of the areas that were covered in the trailer.

  • The characters and story
  • Open World environment
  • Towns/settlements
  • Hunting
  • Camps
  • Trading and economy
  • The bond with your horse
  • Interactions with NPCs
  • Hand to hand combat
  • Firearm combat

Also, it should be noted that everything shown in the new Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer is entirely gameplay footage.

I’ll go into more details about each of these features below.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Back Story and Characters

There will be a rich diversity of different characters and personalities in Red Dead Redemption 2.

The protagonist is Arthur Morgan – a senior member of the Van der Linde Gang. The story will focus on the Van der Linde gang’s glory days.

The gang spends their time robbing from the rich, stealing from banks and trains, and running from the law. There’s of course lots of killing involved too.

The trailer made it clear that the wild west was moving slowly towards a civilised society and the Van der Linde gang were doing all they could to stick to their outlawish ways.

RDR2’s Open World Environment

During the latest trailer, we got a few glimpses of the open world environment we can expect to explore in Red Dead Redemption 2.

The first thing you will notice is that the world feels huge and expansive. There will be large open areas for you and your gang to travel through on horseback.

The environments shown in the trailer really immerse you and place you right into the old wild west lifestyle.

The variety in terrain types is impressive. The trailer showcased the following areas:

  • Large pine forests
  • Mountain ranges
  • Lakes and rivers
  • Open fields
  • Swampland
  • Dense forests
  • Deserts

There is also a living, breathing ecosystem of wildlife in Red Dead Redemption 2. All of the animals will have unique, intelligent behaviour that will respond to you and other animals nearby.

Some animals, like wolves and bears, can be dangerous, and will even be seen attacking non-hostile prey.

Here is a look at all of the animals seen in the Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer:

  • Deer
  • Moose
  • Variety of birds
  • Bears
  • Wolves
  • Opossums
  • Lizards/geckos
  • Crocodiles
  • Farm animals like chicken, sheep, and cows

Towns and Settlements

There will be a variety of towns and settlements in the open world. Some will be larger and more civilized, whilst others will just be small settlements or very small towns.

The amenities in the towns and the attitude towards your gang will depend on what type of town you are visiting. Larger, more civilized towns may have a larger lawful presence and you may be less welcome in such places.

On the flip side, smaller towns may be more open for you and your gang to visit without such harsh criticism from the locals.

Hunting

The wildlife won’t just serve as a distraction. There will be an in-depth hunting feature that will be useful for gathering resources to make money or to take back to your camp.

Hunting will have its own mechanics and challenges. Players will have to stalk wildlife out in the open world and hunt them down. In the gameplay trailer, we saw the player using a bow to take down prey.

If you injure but don’t kill your prey, you’ll need to use a ‘hunter sense’ to track down the injured animal.

So far we know that animals will give resources like animal pelt that can be sold, and the animal itself can be taken back to your camp.

Red Dead 2 Camps

The camps in Red Dead 2 will play a very important role throughout the game. Because the Van Der Linde gang are outlaws, they are constantly on the run.

Throughout the story, you’ll be forced to move location and set up new camps in different locations. No matter where you are set up, the same camp features will be present.

The camp will essentially be your home and resting space and you’ll be able to play games like poker, and potentially help around the camp by feeding livestock or performing other chores.

Players will be encouraged to interact with each and every last gang member living in the camp.
Each member will have a story and a potential mission to follow. Talking to members could also reveal new secrets or fun things to do.

All camp members have their own personality and Rockstar has put effort into making sure every last person in the gang has their own believable traits.

It was revealed during the trailer that players can hunt animals and collect resources to bring back to the camp. Doing so will help to keep the camp morale high. So far, we don’t know why camp morale is important.

Trading and Economy

There will be a number of different stores in the towns you visit that you can purchase items from. We don’t yet know how extensive the item economy will be in Red Dead Redemption 2, but you’ll be able to purchase new weapons and other general goods and supplies.

I’d assume that you’d be able to purchase new horses and new equipment for your horse as well. Unfortunately, the trailer didn’t show anything about that.

The Bond With Your Horse

The bond with your horse will be very important in Red Dead Redemption 2. You will need to care for your horse to build a stronger bond. Doing so will help to give you better physical control over your horse. This will make it easier to ride, especially during combat.

If the bond with your horse is poor, your horse may also act erratically.

There will be the opportunity to own multiple horses. Different horses will have different roles. For example, some horses may be better at carrying more, whilst others may be faster. The saddle and saddle bags on your horse can be used to carry weapons, gear and supplies for you or your camp.

Interacting with NPCs

Players will be given multiple communication options when seeing NPCs. The options you have will depend on the situation, but basic examples can include greet, antagonize, callout, or aim weapon.

The conversation choices you make will have an impact on how the NPC responds. Making the right decisions during tense situations will be important.

For example, you could threaten a witness not to tell anybody about the crime they saw you commit. You could also try to defuse a situation between you and an angry sheriff to convince them to let you go.

More violent options will be available for intimidating and robbing civilians. Throughout the game, you’ll be able to decide how ruthless or honorable you’d like your version of Arthur Morgan to be.

There will be consequences for all of the decisions you make and the overall attitude from civilians will change depending on how you act.

Hand to Hand Combat

Hand to hand combat will be the most in-depth, satisfying combat system we’ve seen from a Rockstar game yet.

Take the Grand Theft Auto 5 hand-to-hand combat and then elevate it to a new level. New combat features include all of the following:

  • Grappling
  • Punches
  • Dodges
  • Blocks

Players should have lots of control over how they engage in hand to hand combat and the AI will respond intelligently.

Firearm Combat

Firstly, the Dead Eye system will be coming back to Red Dead Redemption 2 and it will be better than ever.

We also know from the trailer that there will be a variety of weapons, each of which will have their own unique features.

The examples we saw in the trailer include:

  • Scoped rifles
  • Shotguns
  • Revolvers
  • Bows

Each weapon will have realistic recoil, reload, and other weapon mechanics.

Summary

That pretty much wraps up everything that was shown in the Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay trailer. We’ll be getting a new one very soon that will show off all of the following:

  • Missions and robberies
  • Activities like fishing
  • Enemy gangs and their importance in gameplay
  • A closer look at deadeye system

 

Words by Ollie Green.