The first twoRed Dead Redemptiongames contain some of the most layered and emotionally effective storytelling Rockstar has ever accomplished, made all the more impressive by the huge scale of the games' worlds. BothRed Deadgames contain sudden twists that some players are still digesting several years after the release of the last game.
Many fans will be hoping that a thirdRed Dead Redemptionwill one day release to take the series to even greater heights. If it does,Red Dead Redemption 3will need to avoid one major series tradition if the games are going to remain unpredictable. There are ways it could do this, however, while still expanding upon some of the major themes explored in theRed Deadgames so far.
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Death hangs over the stories of bothRed Deadgames. The sudden death of protagonistJohn Marstonin the originalRed Dead Redemptionremains one of Rockstar’s most memorable twists. Due to his absence from the first game, many fans predicted the death of the prequel’s Arthur Morgan well beforeRed Dead Redemption 2released. Though they were correct, Arthur’s story ended up exploring death from a very different angle. Instead of dying in a sudden shootout, Arthur finds himself diagnosed with tuberculosis and contemplating both the good and bad he has done in his life as he enters its final months.
The death of the “Old West,” or at least reality’s ability to support the romanticized stories of characters like Dutch Van Der Linde, is another major theme across both games.Red DeadRedemptionbegins just a few years before the start ofthe First World War, making it extremely late for a western.Red Dead Redemption 2largely takes place in the late 19th century, but the sense that the lifestyle of the Van Der Linde gang is doomed to decline still haunts its main characters.
Though John’s death is sudden, both games impress upon the player the sense that their protagonists' worlds are coming to an end. The only way for men like John Marston to have a shot at survival is to become a participant in the death of the Old West, rather than a casualty of it. John attempts to do this by agreeing to take down the other formermembers of the Van Der Linde gang, and in the end that still doesn’t save him. Arthur’s long illness encourages both the character and the player to reflect on their actions and the possibility of any form of redemption when death remains the final destination.
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While the continuation of John’s gunslinger legacy by his son Jack could hint that there’s still hope for the Old West lifestyle, its actual implications are far darker. As an outlaw in 1914 Jack’s prospects seem even more bleak than his predecessors', particularly after killing Ross. In 1914Jack Marstonis dressed like a walking anachronism, and by avenging his father it seems likely he has signed his own death warrant.
Jack exists in an America with no frontiers beyond the reach of the federal government, and by killing a former agent of the FBI’s precursor he puts himself in direct opposition to a new world that’s far more powerful than him. InRockstar Games' westerns, even the last man standing seems doomed.
Red Dead Redemption 3couldn’t kill the player character for a third time without feeling predictable. The two games so far, however, have been deeply invested in exploring death and decline, and have used the deaths of their main characters to explore broader inevitable change. This raises a major question: it is possible to create a game where theRed Deadplayer charactersurvives that still explores this major theme of the franchise?
Theending ofRed Dead Redemptionsuggests, at least to some extent, that the answer is yes. It is possible to have a character like Jack make it all the way to the end of the story while still impressing upon the player a sense of their ultimate doom and the death of their world.Red Dead Redemption 3, however, has an opportunity to explore an earlier period than either of the other two games. This might allow it to explore a slightly different angle to this theme.
In the first twoRed Dead Redemptiongames, the turnover from the 19th to 20th centuries roughly marks the death of the Old West. However, just asRed Dead Redemption 2took place before the first game, a third game could explore an earlier decade. It could be interesting to follow a character who lives in the Old West during whatDutch Van Der Lindewould consider its heyday, and who survives the events of the story.
The are some reasons this could be interesting based on the themes explored in the game so far. Jack shows that this character could still end up seeming utterly doomed, despite surviving to the end of the story. The themes of constant change explored in the first two games also show how someone living in the height of the Old West could still come to feel like the world they grew up in is dying.
TheRed Dead Redemptiongames focus on people struggling against inevitable change, despite knowing and not being cognizant of its inevitability. InRed Dead Redemption 2,Dutcheven tells a US Army captain that “you can’t fight change,” a lesson Dutch himself most struggles to actually apply to his own life. Part of Dutch’s delusion, however, is also that things are only just beginning to change.
Red Dead Redemption 3could star a protagonist who explores the idea that there is no escape from this struggle, no matter when they are are born or what their fate is by the end of the story. No matter when the next game’s narrative starts and ends, with the right story,Red Dead Redemption 3could use the temporary survival of its protagonist and its western world as another stark reminder of the inevitable fate of both.
Red Dead Redemptionis available for PS3 and Xbox 360.Red Dead Redemption 2is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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