Summary
- A spin-off series based on Red Dead Redemption 2’s legendary gunslingers could be a great idea for Rockstar.
- Players could delve into the histories of famous gunslingers like Landon Ricketts, Black Belle, or Jim Calloway.
- A series of standalone games focusing on each gunslinger may bridge the gap between a potential third RDR entry while expanding franchise lore.
Though it’s been over five years since Red Dead Redemption 2‘s epic Western journey came to a close, fans have not stopped combing through its massively detailed world as well as hoping for more content to come. In 2019, Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 raised the bar for storytelling and world design in games, and has left its mark on the industry, with it still being hailed as an achievement that has yet to be matched in many ways to the present day.
Despite its enduring esteem and player demand, though, the studio has not since relayed what, if anything, it might be planning next for the franchise. With the upcoming entry in its other massively popular series, Grand Theft Auto 6, set to arrive this year, it’s quite likely that if Rockstar is planning another RDR entry, it won’t be arriving any time soon. But there’s an untapped well in Red Dead Redemption 2 that leaves plenty of room for the developer to create a splinter series that features some of the most interesting side characters introduced in the base game. While the Van der Linde gang’s story might be complete, there is another posse of sorts from RDR2 whose members would translate well into being the stars of their own titles: the collection of famous gunslingers.
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Though it wouldn’t be as straightforward of a sequel, Rockstar may have the perfect path to a possible follow-up to RDR’s Undead Nightmare.
A Red Dead Redemption Spin-Off Series Based on the Legendary Gunslingers Would Be a Bullseye
Red Dead Redemption’s Legendary Gunslingers Provide the Perfect Setup for a Spin-Off Series
During the course of his adventure, Arthur Morgan meets a heavily inebriated Jim “Boy” Calloway and his bedraggled biographer, Theodore Levin. The latter is penning the true tale of the famous gunslinger, but wishes to gather the full story from the other sources that Calloway crossed paths with. Arthur can agree to help and track down Red Dead Redemption 2‘s famous gunslingers:
- Billy Midnight
- Slim Grant
- Black Belle
- Emmet Granger
- Flaco Hernandez
There are also a couple of figures not directly encountered but who are depicted in one of RDR2‘s cigarette card collections as being part of the same circle:
- Landon Ricketts
- Bart Love
- The Butcher Boys
- Otis Miller Boys
- Jack Hall Gang
All of these would be a great springboard for Rockstar to let players delve more into their histories and experience the world from their perspectives.
What a Red Dead Redemption Spin-Off Series Based on the Gunslingers Could Look Like
Whether there will even be a full Red Dead Redemption 3 is the source of much speculation and fan theorizing. But with more content ever in demand, perhaps a series of smaller standalone games, each featuring a handful of the legendary gunslingers that round out their lives, would work well to bridge the gap.
Taking this direction, Rockstar could let gamers play through significant slices of each of the gungslinger’s adventures at their height, possibly switching perspectives between them in something like an anthology. Players could follow their exploits across the frontier either before they met their fates or ended up in the positions that Arthur finds them in during the events of RDR2. Fan-favorite Landon Ricketts, who players did meet in the first RDR, could likely carry an entire game himself, or at least be featured heavily in one that takes an ensemble cast approach.
Spending more time with any of these characters in their heyday as they built their reputation for being the fastest and most deadly guns in the West would be a great way to let players dive back into the setting while expanding on its already substantial lore through the eyes of a few of its most intriguing figures, and potentially provide a perfect appetizer for if, and when, a Red Dead Redemption 3 arrives.
- Released
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October 26, 2018
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol