The newest outlaw in the west revealed in Red Dead Redemption 2

Fans of Rockstar’s smash hit Red Dead Redemption were hit with a surprise trailer today for the upcoming sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2. The trailer shows off a glimpse of the story we’ll be experiencing and proves the rumours true that this will be a prequel to the original. However, rather then putting us in the younger shoes of John Marston we’ll be playing as the brand new “protagonist”, Arthur Morgan.

Arthur looks to be a bit of a bad guy — which makes sense as he’ll be one of the members of Dutch Van der Linde’s infamous band of outlaws; the same gang that both John Marston and Bill Williamson were members of in their prime. As we’ve already seen a younger Dutch in this trailer don’t rule out the chance that John and Bill will make an appearance.

Misdeeds of Arthur aside Rock Star have a knack for making individuals of questionable morality likeable with some great characterisation and writing. Joining this handsome new addition, if I do say so myself, looks to be a couple of other new faces including a woman with a penchant for hand stabbing and a Native American man who Arthur seems to be recruiting.

This matches the vibe of the original poster release which showed multiple characters riding together. While the original felt very much about a story of isolation, Red Dead Redemption 2 feel like it will be a story of camaraderie, trust and betrayal. Perhaps the reason we’ve never heard of Mr Morgan is because he raised his own group to stand against Dutch — which can only end well.

The world looks stunning — but we shouldn’t be surprised by that. There are a couple of small hints about returning mechanics from Red Dead Redemption and Rockstar’s other title, Grand Theft Auto, with horse wrangling and what looks like bank heists. I’m more interested though to see if we’ll see the return of the split narrative over more than one character that was a big hit in Grand Theft Auto V.

I’m sure all will be revealed with a gameplay trailer in the near future. While we unfortunately won’t be seeing this brand new western extravaganza this year due to delays Rockstar have promised a loose Spring 2018, so that’s our Autumn. Be sure to check out the trailer below and let us know if your excited to get back out into the Wild West.