Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Turn One RDR2 Faction On Its Head

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home December 31, 2024 4 Views 6 Min Read
Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Turn One RDR2 Faction On Its Head

Over the course of two (admittedly quite big) video games, the Red Dead Redemption series has crafted an incredibly vivid world. This world is filled with realistic characters and interweaving dynamics, bustling locations, and a handful of memorable factions, all of which take heavy inspiration from real-world history.

Tapping into real-world history gives Red Dead Redemption an extra layer of authenticity, and that authenticity makes its world feel all the more immersive. That’s especially true when those very real historical elements are attached directly to the story’s stakes, such as the case with Red Dead Redemption‘s Pinkerton Detective Agency, a faction that a hypothetical future Red Dead Redemption 3 could turn on its head.

Honor gain and loss symbols over Valentine from Red Dead Redemption 2

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Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Flip The Pinkerton Agency on its Head

The Pinkertons Have Been a Major Antagonistic Force in The Red Dead Redemption Series

A real-life organization founded in 1850 by Allan Pinkerton, the Pinkerton Detective Agency was a private security and investigation company that rose to prominence in the 1860s when it was hired by President Abraham Lincoln to conduct espionage missions against the Confederate forces during the American Civil War.

In Red Dead Redemption and its sequel, the Pinkerton Detective Agency plays a prominent, antagonistic role, with two of its leading members – Agent Milton and Agent Ross – seeking to wipe outlaws out of the West, a quest that leads them into direct confrontation with the Van der Linde Gang. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the Pinkertons chase Arthur Morgan and the rest of the gang across the West, having been hired by Leviticus Cornwall to apprehend Dutch following the gang’s robbery of one of his trains.

While the Pinkertons don’t manage to capture any of the Van der Linde gang alive in 1899, Agent Ross returns a decade later to finish the job. He captures John Marston’s family and extorts the ex-outlaw into hunting down his former gang mates. Despite following Ross’ orders, Marston never gets to see the freedom he was promised. With all of Red Dead Redemption‘s protagonists being outlaws, the Pinkerton Detective Agency is painted quite clearly as the overarching villain of the series, overtly representing the new kind of law that threatens their way of life.

Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Put an Interesting New Spin on the Pinkertons

But Red Dead Redemption 3 could flip fans’ perception of the Pinkerton Agency on its head by putting players in the boots of a Pinkerton agent. The game could begin as a sort of Wild West version of L.A. Noire, where players investigate various crimes and hunt down the outlaws responsible.

This would give Red Dead Redemption 3 the unique opportunity to show what it looks like on the other side of the fence. Thrilling train robberies and daring bank heists might not look so impressive when faced directly with the innocent lives lost in their wake.

Rockstar might be a bit hesitant to base an entire game around the Pinkerton Detective Agency following the real-world organization’s failed attempt to sue the publisher back in January 2019 due to RDR2‘s negative portrayal of the agency.

With Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 both focusing on themes of urbanization and the sudden downfall of the Wild West from an outlaw’s perspective, it might be interesting for the third entry to explore the completely opposite perspective, where the increased urbanization means increased peace, at least in the mind of the player-character at the start of the game.

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