‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Will Have Single Playable Character With Focus On Life With Van Der Linde Gang

One of the big questions concerning Red Dead Redemption 2 was answered Thursday through various previews of Rockstar Games’ upcoming western game. Arthur Morgan will remain the lone playable character throughout the single-player campaign, unlike Grand Theft Auto V, but the Van der Linde gang and how the protagonist interacts with them will play a major role.

Several previews of Red Dead Redemption 2 all confirmed no character switching will be present in the game. The best explanation of why perhaps comes from French website Jeuxactu’s interview with Rockstar North Co-President Rob Nelson.

“Yes, we thought about it and we decided that there would be no switch in the game,” Nelson said immediately before jumping into the why.

“This is the story of Arthur Morgan and the player will stay with Arthur during his adventure, which is a strong character. We liked the switch system in GTA V and we had a lot of fun with it, maybe we will do it again with another game, but in Red Dead Redemption 2, you are this man and you will share his adventure,” the Rockstar executive added.

Rockstar is crafting the story of Red Dead Redemption 2 to be Arthur’s journey from being the right-hand man to the leader of the Van der Linde game, Dutch, plus enforcer and camp provider to whatever the creative leads have planned for the end. That means all the attention will be focused on Arthur just like the original Red Dead Redemption was focused on John Marston.

“He is an outlaw in his thirties who lives in his own way, according to certain rules. And a lot of things happened to him in his life, some very critical that influenced him in his choices, and you, as a player, you will participate in his adventure. So, no character switch in Red Dead Redemption 2,” Nelson concluded.

Rockstar is still loading the game up with dozens of characters for Arthur to interact with and few will be as important as the Van der Linde gang themselves as they try to survive life on the run. The camp will be where adventures and robberies can be planned. Arthur will be able to talk with other members of the game there, which can lead to different activities.

Meanwhile, the overall camp mood will be set according to what happens in the game. If Arthur does a good job of providing the camp with food, money, and supplies, things will be lively. The mood will become more subdued and possibly angry if it is not well supplied.

Building relationships with the gang will become an important part of Arthur’s journey, but that will be the limit of managing the gang roster. The player will not be able to recruit random NPCs into the gang.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently set for an October 26 release on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Rockstar Games has not made any mention of a PC release yet.