| Red Dead | |
|---|---|
 Logo since 2010 | |
| Genre | Action-adventure |
| Developers | |
| Publisher | Rockstar Games |
| Platforms | |
| First release | Red Dead Revolver May 4, 2004 |
| Latest release | Red Dead Online May 14, 2019 |
Red Dead is a series ofWestern-themedaction-adventure games published byRockstar Games. The first entry in the series,Red Dead Revolver, was released on thePlayStation 2 andXbox in May 2004. Originally developed byCapcom,Red Dead Revolver borrowed elements from their 1985arcade titleGun.Smoke, to which it was intended to be a spiritual successor, but the game was cancelled in 2002. Rockstar subsequently acquired the rights toRed Dead Revolver and expanded on it.[1][2]
Red Dead Redemption, developed byRockstar San Diego (which also worked on its predecessor), was released in May 2010 forPlayStation 3 andXbox 360 to critical and commercial acclaim. Selling over 15 million copies by 2017 and winning many year-end accolades from multiple gaming publications, the game is considered to beone of the best games of all time. MultipleDLCs were added, includingUndead Nightmare, a single-player expansion later released as a standalone game. A Game of the Year edition of the game includes all of the additional content.
Red Dead Redemption 2, developed by Rockstar Games, was released on October 26, 2018, forPlayStation 4 andXbox One, November 5, 2019, forWindows, and on November 19, 2019, forStadia. The game was also widely acclaimed and a commercial success, generating $725 million in revenue in three days and selling 23 million copies in two weeks. It is considered an example ofvideo games as an art form and it is also regarded as one of the greatest video games ever made. Itsonline multiplayer component,Red Dead Online, was released inbeta on November 27, 2018, to mixed reviews, with a full release on May 15, 2019, which received more positive reviews.
| Year | Title | Developer | Platform(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Red Dead Revolver | Rockstar San Diego | |
| 2010 | Red Dead Redemption: Gunslingers[a] | Rockstar Games | — |
| Red Dead Redemption | Rockstar San Diego[b] | ||
| Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare[c] | |||
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 | Rockstar Games[d] | |
| 2019 | Red Dead Online[e] | ||
Notes:
| |||
| 2004 | Red Dead Revolver |
|---|---|
| 2005 | |
| 2006 | |
| 2007 | |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | |
| 2010 | Red Dead Redemption: Gunslingers |
| Red Dead Redemption | |
| Undead Nightmare | |
| 2011 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2013 | |
| 2014 | |
| 2015 | |
| 2016 | |
| 2017 | |
| 2018 | Red Dead Redemption 2 |
| 2019 | Red Dead Online |
Red Dead Revolver is the first entry in the series, released forPlayStation 2 andXbox in 2004. Set in the 1880s, during theAmerican Old West,Red Dead Revolver followsbounty hunter Red Harlow as he uncovers the plot that killed his parents years ago and exacts revenge on those responsible.[5] In terms of canonicity to theRedemption followup series,Dan Houser suggested thatRevolver is set in a separate universe, but a version of the events in the plot could still have taken place due to the nature of legends told in theRed Dead games' world.[6]
Red Dead Redemption is the second installment in theRed Dead series, and the spiritual successor toRed Dead Revolver. The game released in 2010 forPlayStation 3 andXbox 360. The game takes place in the year 1911, during the decline of the American Old West and theMexican Revolution.[7] Aspiritual successor toRed Dead Revolver,[8] the game followsJohn Marston, a formeroutlaw, whose family is kidnapped by theBureau of Investigation. In exchange for his family's return, John sets out to hunt down the surviving members of his former gang, in the process achieving closure and redemption for his past actions.
Undead Nightmare is anon-canonical expansion toRed Dead Redemption that follows John's efforts to find a cure for azombie plague that has infected his family.[9] A standalone disc, titledRed Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare Collection, which does not require the originalRed Dead Redemption game to be played, was released in North America on November 22, 2010.[10][11]Red Dead Redemption andUndead Nightmare were released for theNintendo Switch andPlayStation 4 on August 17, 2023, and forWindows on October 29, 2024, developed byDouble Eleven;[12][13] it is scheduled for release onAndroid,iOS,Nintendo Switch 2,PlayStation 5, andXbox Series X/S on December 2, 2025, developed by Double Eleven and Cast Iron Games.[14]
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel toRed Dead Redemption and the third main entry in the series, released forPlayStation 4 andXbox One in October 2018 and forWindows andStadia in November 2019.[15][16] Its story followsArthur Morgan, a member of the infamous Van der Linde gang in 1899, in the waning years of the American Old West, and the extinction of the age of outlaws and gunslingers.[17] The game features several returning characters fromRed Dead Redemption, including a younger and less-refined John Marston, his family, Uncle, and fellow gang members Dutch van der Linde, Bill Williamson, and Javier Escuella. A lot of focus is put on Arthur's morality and relationship with other characters, primarily John, with whom he has a nearly brotherly-like bond, and Dutch, whom he views as a father figure and mentor—and who slowly descends into madness as the gang faces more problems.[18][19][20]
Red Dead Online is the multiplayer component ofRed Dead Redemption 2 and was released in May 2019, after several months inbeta. Set one year before the single-player story, in 1898, it follows a customizablesilent protagonist who is framed for murder and arrested. After being broken out of prison, the player is tasked by their rescuers with finding the true culprits in exchange for proving their innocence. Since release, the game has received several content updates that expanded upon the game modes, missions, and other activities players can partake in. A standalone client for the game was released in December 2020.
In October 2018, Dan Houser said that Rockstar might develop a future entry in the series depending on the success ofRed Dead Redemption 2.[21]
In each game in the franchise, the player takes the role of an outlaw in the waning years of the American Old West. All three titles are third-person (althoughRed Dead Redemption 2 also gives the option to play in first-person), yet there are crucial differences between them. The first game in the series follows a linear storyline with fixed, limited locations.Red Dead Redemption, however, provides the player with anopen world setting and gives them various options for exploration, random encounters and side-missions.Red Dead Redemption 2 is the biggest and most immersive of the three, providing far more options and activities for the player than in its previous titles. Combat and gunplay are a fundamental part in the franchise; players can cover, blind-fire, free-aim and can get into physical altercations with enemies. A large number of weapons are introduced in all three games, typically rifles and revolvers. Horses, stagecoaches and trains are the primary methods of transportation in all three games due to the period in which they are set.
The trademark game mechanic of the series is the Dead Eye system, which bridges the gap between the protagonist's exceptional shooting prowess and the limitations of the human player's speed and coordination. For a short period, it allows the player to aim at targets in slow motion for better accuracy. After painting their targets, time goes back to normal as the player then attacks with a flurry of bullets in rapid succession. The Dead Eye system inRed Dead Redemption andRed Dead Redemption 2 has been refined, as it levels up as the game progresses, giving the player more options when using it.[22]
Red Dead Redemption brings a new mechanic to the franchise that has been improved inRed Dead Redemption 2: a morality system where the player gains positive or negative "honor". Good deeds like saving townsfolk from danger will level up the player's honor, while malicious actions like harming innocents or committing theft will lower the player's honor. The player should be considerate of the honor system, as it can influence how the world interacts with the character.[23]
All games in the series take place during the days of the Wild West.Red Dead Revolver takes place at an unidentified point in time during the 1880s, whileRedemption is set primarily in 1911 (with the epilogue taking place in 1914), andRedemption 2 is set in 1899 (with the epilogue set in 1907). WhileRevolver's aesthetics and atmosphere are reminiscent of the films set during the Wild West, the other two games depict the final two decades of this time period, as new factories, machines, motor vehicles, and modern technology appear all throughout the United States, marking the modernization of society. InRedemption andRedemption 2, the map undergoes several changes between the two different time periods, such as new houses being built, and NPCs sporting new looks.
Red Dead Revolver's setting is quite transient, as Red moves from town to town throughout the game. The most prominent location is the town of Brimstone, which acts as a hub between several missions. The game takes place in the United States, in an unidentified region of mostly desert, although some levels also feature a forest or mountain setting.
Red Dead Redemption offers the player a more significant interaction with the environment, and its location is bigger than in the previous game. It ranges from canyons to deserts, but the player is unable to reach to the outer limit due to the borders surrounding the area (mountains and deep ravines). There are several towns and settlements that the player can visit, each with their own citizens (with whom the player can interact). The map spans two fictional U.S. states, New Austin (which is mostly desert) and West Elizabeth (which features lush forests and a mountain area), as well as the Mexican state of Nuevo Paraiso (which is also mainly a desert area).
Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is greatly expanded compared to its predecessor's, and is far more immersive, lifelike and responsive. Both New Austin and West Elizabeth fromRed Dead Redemption make a return, although they have been expanded with new regions and towns, while three new states have been added: Ambarino (which is mostly a mountain wilderness), New Hanover (a wide valley that incorporates multiple small settlements, including the town of Valentine), and Lemoyne (composed ofbayous and plantations, and the location of the small town of Rhodes and the large industrial city of Saint Denis).[24]
The following list contains only main and supporting characters from theRed Dead franchise, who play a significant role in the narrative of the game(s) they appear in.
| Character | Red Dead Revolver | Red Dead Redemption | Red Dead Redemption 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single-player | Multiplayer | Undead Nightmare | Single-player | Red Dead Online | |||||
| 2004 | 2010 | 2018 | |||||||
| Cast | |||||||||
| Red Harlow | Robert Bogue Jason Fuchs(young) | Mentioned | Robert Bogue | Mentioned | |||||
| John Marston | Rob Wiethoff | ||||||||
| Arthur Morgan | Roger Clark | ||||||||
| Jack Swift | Gregg Martin | Mentioned | Gregg Martin | ||||||
| Annie Stoakes | Carrie Keranen | Mentioned | Carrie Keranen | ||||||
| Shadow Wolf | Chaske Spencer | Mentioned | Chaske Spencer | ||||||
| Buffalo Soldier | Benton Greene | Benton Greene | |||||||
| Sheriff Bartlett | Gene Jones | ||||||||
| Nate Harlow | Kurt Rhoads | Mentioned | |||||||
| Falling Star | Messeret Stroman | Mentioned | |||||||
| Governor Griffon / "Griff" | Bert Pence | Mentioned | |||||||
| General Javier Diego | Robert Jimenez | Mentioned | |||||||
| Colonel Daren | Dennis Ostermaier | Mentioned | |||||||
| Mr. Kelley | Joseph Melendez | Mentioned | Joseph Melendez | ||||||
| "Curly" Shaw | Lloyd Floyd | ||||||||
| "Bloody" Tom | Christian Tanno | ||||||||
| "Ugly" Chris Bailey | Erick Devine | Erick Devine | |||||||
| Sheriff O'Grady | Stephen Schnetzer | ||||||||
| Pig Josh | Dennis Ostermaier | Dennis Ostermaier | |||||||
| Bad Bessie | Heather Simms | Mentioned | |||||||
| Mr. Black | Geoffrey Arend | Mentioned | |||||||
| Professor Perry | Geoffrey Arend | ||||||||
| Katie O'Grady | Ursula Abbott | ||||||||
| Grizzly | Erick Devine | ||||||||
| John "Jack" Marston Jr. | Josh Blaylock | Marissa Buccianti(1899) Ted Sutherland(1907) | |||||||
| Abigail Marston (née Roberts) | Sophia Marzocchi | Cali Elizabeth Moore | |||||||
| Dutch van der Linde | Benjamin Byron Davis | Benjamin Byron Davis | |||||||
| Bill Williamson | Steve J. Palmer | Steve J. Palmer | |||||||
| Javier Escuella | Antonio Jaramillo | Gabriel Sloyer | |||||||
| Uncle | Spider Madison | James McBride John O'Creagh(singing voice) | |||||||
| Edgar Ross | Jim Bentley | Jim Bentley | |||||||
| Archer Fordham | David Wilson Barnes | Character is silent | |||||||
| Bonnie MacFarlane | Kimberly Irion | Mentioned | Kimberly Irion | ||||||
| Drew MacFarlane | Chuck Kelley | Mentioned | |||||||
| Marshal Leigh Johnson | Anthony De Longis | ||||||||
| Deputy Jonah | Brad Carter | ||||||||
| Deputy Eli | Frank Noon | ||||||||
| Nigel West Dickens | Don Creech | Mentioned | |||||||
| Seth Briars | Kevin Glikmann | ||||||||
| Irish | Kevin Harrison Sweeney | ||||||||
| Colonel Agustín Allende | Gary Carlos Cervantes | ||||||||
| Captain Vincente de Santa | Hector Luis Bustamante | ||||||||
| Captain Espinoza | David Anzuelo | ||||||||
| Abraham Reyes | Josh Segarra | ||||||||
| Luisa Fortuna | Francesca Galeas | ||||||||
| Landon Ricketts | Ross Hagen | Mentioned | |||||||
| Professor Harold MacDougal | Joe Ochman | ||||||||
| Nastas | Benjamin Byron Davis | ||||||||
| Norman Deek | James Carroll | ||||||||
| D.S. MacKenna | Jay O. Sanders | Jay O. Sanders | |||||||
| Mother Superior Calderón | Irene DeBari | Irene DeBari | |||||||
| Sadie Adler | Alex McKenna | ||||||||
| Charles Smith | Noshir Dalal | ||||||||
| Micah Bell III | Peter Blomquist | ||||||||
| Hosea Matthews | Curzon Dobell | ||||||||
| Leonard "Lenny" Summers | Harron Atkins | ||||||||
| Susan Grimshaw | Kaili Vernoff | ||||||||
| Sean MacGuire | Michael Mellamphy | ||||||||
| Simon Pearson | Jim Santangeli | ||||||||
| Leopold Strauss | Howard Pinhasik | ||||||||
| Mary-Beth Gaskill | Samantha Strelitz | ||||||||
| Tilly Jackson | Meeya Davis | ||||||||
| Karen Jones | Jo Armeniox | ||||||||
| Molly O'Shea | Penny O'Brien | ||||||||
| Josiah Trelawny | Stephen Gevedon | ||||||||
| Reverend Orville Swanson | Sean Haberle | ||||||||
| Kieran Duffy | Pico Alexander | ||||||||
| Mary Linton | Julie Jesneck | ||||||||
| Leviticus Cornwall | John Rue | Mentioned | |||||||
| Andrew Milton | John Hickok | ||||||||
| Colm O'Driscoll | Andrew Berg | ||||||||
| Catherine Braithwaite | Ellen Harvey | ||||||||
| Sheriff Leigh Gray | Tim McGeever | ||||||||
| Tavish Gray | Madison Arnold | ||||||||
| Deputy Archibald MacGregor' | Greg Hildreth | ||||||||
| Beau Gray | Bjorn Thorstad | ||||||||
| Penelope Braithwaite | Alison Barton | ||||||||
| Angelo Bronte | Jim Pirri | ||||||||
| Colonel Alberto Fussar | Alfredo Narciso | ||||||||
| Levi Simon | Jeffrey Gurner | ||||||||
| Hercule Fontaine | Guyviaud Joseph | ||||||||
| Rains Fall | Graham Greene | ||||||||
| Eagle Flies | Jeremiah Bitsui | ||||||||
| Colonel Henry Favours | Malachy Cleary | ||||||||
| Captain Lyndon Monroe | Jake Silbermann | ||||||||
| Cleet | P.J. Sosko | ||||||||
| Joe | Ian Bedford | ||||||||
| Anthony Foreman | David St. Louis | ||||||||
| Thomas Downes | Peter Lettre | ||||||||
| Edith Downes | Jayme Lake | ||||||||
| Archie Downes | Paul Thode | ||||||||
| David Geddes | Jeff McCarthy | ||||||||
| Jesicca LeClerk | Lisa Datz | ||||||||
| Horley | Larry Bull | ||||||||
| Old Man Jones | Gary Desbien | ||||||||
| Marshal Tom Davies | Mike Keller | ||||||||
| Samson Finch | Julian Rozzell | ||||||||
| Alfredo Montez | Emilio Delgado | ||||||||
| Teddy Brown | Daniel Stewart Sherman | ||||||||
| Amos Lancing | Unknown | ||||||||
| Jeremiah Shaw | Unknown | ||||||||
| JB Cripps | Larry Kenney | ||||||||
| Madam Nazar | Daniella Rabbani | ||||||||
| The Woman With No Name | Ebony Blake | ||||||||
| Maggie Fike | Stephanie Roth Haberle | ||||||||
| Lemuel "Lem" Fike | Unknown | ||||||||
| Danny-Lee Caton | Unknown | ||||||||
| Reid Hixon | Unknown | ||||||||
| Harriet Davenport | Emilea Wilson | ||||||||
| Gus Macmillan | Unknown | ||||||||
Note: A gray cell indicates that the character does not appear in that medium.
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(October 2016) |
| Game | Metacritic |
|---|---|
| Red Dead Revolver | (PS2) 73/100[25] (Xbox) 74/100[26] |
| Red Dead Redemption | (PS3) 95/100[27] (X360) 95/100[28] (NS) 83/100[29] (PS4) 77/100[29] |
| Undead Nightmare | (PS3) 87/100[30] (X360) 87/100[31] |
| Red Dead Redemption 2 | (PS4) 97/100[32] (XONE) 97/100[33] (PC) 93/100[34] |
TheRed Dead series, particularly the second and third games, are critically acclaimed.Red Dead Redemption, averaging 95% on both review aggregate websitesMetacritic andGameRankings, won numerous awards, including Game of the Year byGameSpy andGameSpot,[35][36] and is considered to be one of thegreatest games of all time.[37][38][39][40][41] Reviewers praised the visuals, music, acting, open world gameplay and the story. A Game of the Year edition containing all additional content was released in October 2011.[42]Red Dead Redemption 2, averaging 97% for both console platforms on Metacritic, was also widely acclaimed by critics, who praised the same aspects as well as its significant level of detail,[43][44][45] winning a number of awards from publications.[46][47]
Red Dead Revolver sold 920,000 copies in North America as of July 2, 2010.[48]Red Dead Redemption broke the records of its previous game, having shipped over 11 million copies by August 2011[49] and over 15 million copies by February 2017.[50]Red Dead Redemption 2 however, marked the franchise's highest commercial achievement. In three days, the game generated $725 million in revenue, officially having the largest opening weekend in the history of entertainment, as well as being the second highest-selling entertainment launch, behindGrand Theft Auto V, another widely popular title from Rockstar Games. Two weeks after launch, the game shipped over 17 million units, thus exceeding its predecessors' lifetime sales.[51] By September 2025, theRed Dead Redemption games had shipped over 106 million units, including over 79 million forRedemption 2.[52]
Red Dead Revolver is also its own universe, but the world of Red Dead Redemption was always meant to be a world in which the myths and realities of the American frontier collide.
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