To sayGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Editionwas a disaster would be an understatement.The collection of threeGrand Theft Autogames-Grand Theft Auto 3,Vice City, andSan Andreas- was supposed to be the quintessential way for players to experience Rockstar Games' first forays into the open-world genre. Developer Grove Street Games' promise of visual and gameplay enhancements proved too little to combat the number of bugs, technical problems, and half-hearted art direction.
There are reports that due to the negative feedback forGrand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Editionand the growing demand forGrand Theft Auto 6, planned remasters ofRed Dead RedemptionandGrand Theft Auto 4have been scrapped. While there is no hard evidence that these remasters were in development, it is a shame that fans won’t see them anytime soon. While remasteringGrand Theft Auto 4requires developers to bring Liberty City’s assets to modern hardware, a remaster ofRed Dead Redemptionmight not be as difficult to create.
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The southmost portion ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s map is home to two sections of the firstRed Dead Redemption.New Austin consists of a vast desert areato the west that slowly transforms into a prairie and a wetland as players move eastward. This area serves as the first explorable territory inRed Dead Redemption,and the final territory players can unlock inRed Dead Redemption 2.
West Elizabeth, on the other hand, is made up of a densely forested, mountainous area to the west and a large empty prairie to the east. This is the final area players can explore in the first game, and one of the last few places that is introduced inRed Dead Redemption 2. ThoughRed Dead Redemption 2doesn’t use the setting of New Austin as frequently as West Elizabeth, both areas are fully rendered. It would be a shame to not use these spaces to their full potential in aRed Dead Redemptionremaster, as the backdrops are already in place. All Rockstar has to do is fill them with activities and content that are appropriate forRed Dead Redemption’s story and time. Add in Nuevo Paraiso -Red Dead Redemption’s southern Mexican territory - and the map is complete.
Though it has been four years sinceRed Dead Redemption 2released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, its graphics, animations, and assets are still years ahead of what can be found in many modern games. For example, thehorse physics that were hyped up by Rockstar Gamesso many years ago (that includes the individual muscle movements, realistic behavior, and shrinking testicles) are still a sight to behold.
Instead of starting from scratch, fans ofRed Dead Redemptionlikely wouldn’t mind a remaster that uses the same assets found inRed Dead Redemption 2. Developers would need to modify some of these assets to suit the 1911 setting, but having base objects to work with makes their lives much easier. It also wouldn’t hurt to improve some ofRed Dead Redemption 2’s assetsusing modern techniques that were introduced after the game released.
Voice Actors Could Reprise Their Roles
Thanks to the success ofRed Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games and the people who worked on the project have enjoyed a good amount of publicity; especially the voice actors who portray its main cast. Benjamin Byron Davis delivers Dutch’s lines with such power and conviction that it is difficult to see his transformation from stalwart leader to half-crazed lunatic. Likewise,Roger Clark’s portrayal of Arthur Morganmade his character integral to the series.
Seeing as most of the actors inRed Dead Redemptionreprise their roles in the sequel, it wouldn’t be crazy to see them agree to a remaster.Rob Wiethoff, who plays John Marston, reprised his role inRed Dead Redemption 2- a job no one thought he would undertake considering he left the film industry soon after the first game. Getting Wiethoff back into the saddle for a remaster ofRed Dead Redemptionmight be a matter of striking while the iron is hot. SinceRed Dead Redemption 2’s cast knows how good the franchise can be, getting them all back into the studio sooner rather than later would make sense.
This isn’t to say that remasteringRed Dead Redemptionis an easy task. Far from it; the amount of work needed to bring anopen world ofRed Dead Redemption’s scaleinto the 2020s is staggeringly high, and forcing it to happen is only going to rush the finished product. Rockstar Studios may have been right to cancel a remaster ofRed Dead Redemption, but if it ever goes back to the idea, it should consider usingRed Dead Redemption 2as a framework.
Red Dead Redemptionis available now for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
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