Though released in 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to impress its players with the game's intense attention to detail. In an image from u/JayMan505, Arthur Morgan looks like something out of Greek mythology with a scar reminiscent of God of War's Kratos.
Red Dead Redemption 2 drops players into a fictionalized world based off of the late 19th century wild west. Developer Rockstar approached the game with an emphasis on realism and this can be seen all over. The game's cores system, recoil in the game's weapons, and wounds players and NPCs receive all try and replicate real life. These wounds can be grizzly and lead to scars such as the one in this post.
In u/JayMan505's picture of Arthur Morgan there is a deep knife wound that spreads from the character's right chin up past his right eye. The gash and surrounding blood turn the cowboy into "The Ghost of Sparta" from the highly successful God of War series. Kratos wears a scar across his right eye as well and, through a knife fight in Red Dead Redemption 2, so does this version of Arthur Morgan. The post on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit is only missing the red and white skin tone of the Greek god and it would be a perfect match.
Bullet wounds, knife scars, and explosive damage each impact the look of NPC and characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and these systems are responsible for this pairing. It may seem like these two characters have little in common but Morgan and Kratos aren't completely different. Both have quite complex and difficult pasts and each try to mentor someone. Arthur Morgan wants John Marston to leave the outlaw lifestyle and Kratos seeks a better path for his son, Atreus.
The realism in Red Dead Redemption 2 is a large part of why it is one of the best selling video games of all time. The core systems that relate to a player's health, the realistic wounds, and the NPC interactions help get the player more invested in the game. They make the world feel more real and add a layer that most games tend to avoid.
Then again, a lot of the reason why players look to video games is because they would like an escape from reality. While Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't hold much of what the outside world holds today, its systems can feel too realistic. Even chore-like to some. Then again, without the grizzly wounds, the world wouldn't have this Arthur Morgan-Kratos inadvertent cosplay.
Red Dead Redemption 2Â is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
