4. The Honorable John Marston
Although it feels like blasphemy for me to suggest areas where Rockstar might improve their seminal western series, I couldnt help feeling like they could have done more with the alignment system. They went for realism for sure; commit too many crimes and youll soon find the game becomes quite difficult. Money is scarce, especially in the early stages of the game and paying off bounties to avert being pursued by lawmen and bounty hunters can quickly become impossible if youre too badly behaved. True to the genre, if youre a wanted man youll have to steer clear of the towns, making it pretty difficult to access missions without recreating the finale of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Youre better off steering clear of populated areas until youve saved up enough to clear the price on your head. In a real western though, a wanted man would most likely have found himself in a group with other villains, strength in numbers and all. Marston was invariably a good guy and so it paid to play him that way. He was an anti-hero of course, but no matter which action he took, whether it resulted in death, destruction or mayhem, he was motivated by something pure: the protection of his wife and son. But how about the choice in Red Dead Redemption 2? Maybe this is a big ask, but how about a dual narrative in which there are two rival factions; Lawmen and Bandits? And depending on your characters chosen morality you could experience a larger over-riding story from a point of view within your chosen faction. While this would certainly be a huge change in direction from the original Red Dead Redemption, its clear that Rockstar are always looking for ways to innovate. It might mean more work for the poor voice actors and it might mean adding to the budget, but this would be one sure-fire way to add tailoring our gameplay experience. Itd also give us that illusive second playthrough, keeping us Redder, Deader and for longer.