Despite its predecessor having only released five years ago, many fans are already wondering what kind of experienceRed Dead Redemption 3will eventually provide. While the game has not yet officially been confirmed, the huge success of past franchise releases has led to a large likelihood that Rockstar will eventually produce a sequel, which itself will surely garner similar amounts of attention.
The main point of contention surrounding this discussion ofRed Dead Redemption 3is what potential setting the game will possess, with the past three releases for the IP focusing on marginally different time periods towards the end of the Old West. If the next addition to the series is to portray a similar setting, then it is likely that it would continue the recent franchise motif of exploring the impacts of modernity, as well as the change it brought to such an iconic yet unstable era of human history.
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The firstRed Dead Redemptionreleased in 2010, being the latest-set installment of the franchise with its predominately 1911 setting. Because of this, many believe that the firstRDRdeals with the impact of modernity in the most detail, with most of its core themes relating to change and how the more archaic ways of the world were becoming unsustainable.
Going as far as to show motor-vehicles and modern weaponry, the originalRed Dead Redemptioncaptured a fascinating time in history in which two completely opposing lifestyles briefly overlapped, with the wild frontier and its outlaws being tamed by sprawling cities and increasing governmental intervention.2018’sRed Dead Redemption 2was set slightly earlier, yet still strongly focuses on how untenable the outlaw lifestyle was becoming across the frontier. Given the presence of outlaws as the central characters throughout most of the franchise, it is clear as to why this modernity is usually framed in a negative light, although this could be something that is presented differently in future installments.
Many fans have long theorized thatRed Dead Redemption 3could tell the tale of Jack Marstonfollowing the events of the first game as an older man caught between two worlds, grappling between the archaic lifestyle of his parents and the imposing new world of industrialization. If this were to be the case, then the franchise would have the perfect figure to convey more positive elements of modernity in the Old West, as well as the negatives that it can herald.
Jack Marston would still have intimate knowledge of the outlaw lifestyle, and would be aware of its freedom but also the moral cost that it demands. Having initially grappled with modernity in the way of invasive government agents that tore his family apart, the idea of Jack coming to terms with the benefits of this same modernity as an older man would be a fascinating point of character development.
Many fans have pointed out how Jack would likely have fought in the First World War due to his age, and this first-hand experience of the devastation that modern technology can bring about would add an ever deeper layer of complexity to Jack’s overall opinions of such change. Adversely, the advent of things like modern medicine could hark back tothe avoidable fate of Arthur Morgan, further subduing Jack to the positive change that modernity can bring about. While it remains to be seen what directionRDR3will take, it seems like it is time for the franchise to explore the benefits of modernity as well as its pitfalls to add another layer of complexity to one of its most popular themes.
Red Dead Redemption 3is not confirmed to be in development.
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