It’s been more than six years since the critically-acclaimed open-world Western game Red Dead Redemption was released and Rockstar Games has finally announced a follow-up. The developer has confirmed that a new title is in development with a pair of photos on social media: one showing the company’s logo on a red splash reminiscent of the Red Dead brand and the other showing a group of seven cowboys climbing a hill, the sun and mountains behind them.
While it’s exciting to know that a new Red Dead game will be out in just a year’s time, we won’t know what Rockstar has in store when it comes to content until a full unveiling occurs. It’s safe to assume that the next Red Dead will borrow heavily from Grand Theft Auto V’s ridiculously successful online mode, but when it comes to single player content, we have no idea what to expect. Still, we’ve put together a few ideas for what we hope will be included in the next installment in the series.
10. An Even Bigger and Better Map
The map in Red Dead Redemption was one of the game’s main selling points. At the time, it was one of the biggest and most vast maps in gaming, and was beautiful! The map spanned a number of different areas including small towns, wide open plains, hilly areas and even a snowy sections with mountains. In Red Dead Redemption 2, which will certainly be available on next gen platforms, hopefully the developers will take advantage of this increase in power and make the map even bigger and more beautiful. Right now, the Grand Theft Auto 5 map is the standard and we believe that Red Dead Redemption 2 can be even better.
9. Hunting/Trading Marketplace
One of the very cool features in Red Dead Redemption was the ability to hunt animals, skin them and use those skins for a variety of purposes. We would love to see this expanded in the next installment of the series. More animals throughout the game and varying difficulties in hunting could be great, as well as a “marketplace” for trading. Whether in single player or multi, it would be great to have a place for NPCs and other players to bid and buy skins and body parts from various animals. The game could also have extremely rare animals out there whose skins, meats and body parts would fetch a fortune for those lucky enough to hunt and capture them.
8. Improved Mechanics
With all the positive and brilliant things about this game, the one gripe that a number of gamers have with it is the large amount of graphical glitches and hiccups that could occur during the game. Such glitches include getting stuck in objects, game crashes and the hilarious glitch where horses can basically climb any mountain/hill, even if it’s at a near 90 degree angle. Like Skyrim, the glitches and sometimes choppy mechanics didn’t ruin the game, but they could definitely be fixed. Hopefully game mechanics will see a vast improvement in the next Red Dead Redemption game, and they probably will as the game will likely be a next-gen only release.
7. Increase in NPC Interactions
Don’t get me wrong, the NPC interactions and “people watching” were among the best features that were included in Red Dead Redemption. From starting fights on the sidewalk with random individuals, to watching a kidnapper ride through town with a person tied to his horse, and even to watching two complete strangers come to blows in the saloon after some heavy drinking, the NPCs in this game were awesome. And we feel that this could be improved to include even more of these brilliant interactions. We really hope that they don’t remove this feature or limit it in any way.
6. Horses
What separates this game from every other open world sandbox game is that the main mode of transportation is horses. There are a few different horses available with different speed and stamina ratings. In the next installments of the series, we would love to see much more detail and customization in the horse aspect of the game, such as the ability to own multiple horses, as well as customize their looks and their stats. A “stable” feature would be great for you to hold multiple horses and be able to choose which one you feel like riding on that given day.
5. More Customization
Speaking of customizing horses, customization in all aspects of the game would be brilliant. Weapons, outfits and everything else in the game was fairly simple and undetailed, which wasn’t bad, but there definitely could be improvements. We would love to be able to customize how our protagonist looks as well as customizing our guns, a la Grand Theft Auto. With the added power of the Xbox One and the PS4 (and hopefully a PC port this time out) this is one item on this wish list that could definitely be accomplished.
4. A Living World
The map and world in Red Dead Redemption was beautifully created and very visually appealing, but one downside of the world is how a large portion of the area felt lifeless and empty. Don’t get us wrong, there was plenty to do, but there was lots of dead time just travelling. Now, this isn’t a big gripe as the land and soundtrack and was fantastic, but we would love to see more people riding on horses, walking around and other random and unexpected interactions during the long rides across the map.
3. Give Our Hero a Sidekick
Let’s face it, it got lonely sometimes in Red Dead Redemption. That is sort of the point, as John Marston was the stereotypical “lone ranger,” so the choice makes sense for Rockstar. However, it would be great if there was some character that our protagonist was able to rely on and become close with. We don’t want a character to ride on our coattails and follow us around all game, but the game lacked the interaction with another character that we are used to in these open world games.
2. More RPG Elements
It would be a massive advancement in the series if the next Red Dead Redemption game would come equipped with more things we could level up, create, sell and customize. For example, if we could have the options to level up our statistics, such as hand-to-hand combat, shooting or horseback riding, as well as being able to own and customize our own “home bases,” we would absolutely love that. While the game had some RPG-like qualities, it would be great to see them dive more into that area and give this game even more re-playability.
1. Factions
One of the absolute best and most fun features of Red Dead Redemption’s online multiplayer was the option to team up with your friends or other players and form a posse to take on your competitors. We would absolutely love to have the option to have something similar to this in single player mode. Using NPCs you meet along your travels on the road, in bars or wherever, it would be nice to have the ability to create a posse or gang and be able to call on these allies whenever we need them. There could be a leveling system, and maybe even the types of characters you have in your posse could influence the way you are treated around the world. This would be a whole other level of immersion and is right up Rockstar’s alley.
