On May 18, 2010, Red Dead Redemption was first released to the world, making it a 10-year-old game now. It was technically a follow up to Red Dead Revolver, but one that blew its predecessor out of the water, setting up a successful Wild West legacy that Undead Nightmare would capitalize on and RDR2 would perfect.
When people think of video games, they don't really think of westerns. And when people think of westerns, they don't typically think of video games. What Red Dead Redemption did was find a way to bridge these almost dichotomous ideas, molding them into one piece of art celebrated by gamers the world over. On Red Dead Redemption's 10-year anniversary, playing Red Dead Redemption 2 may be the most appropriate celebration, but looking at the two games is also well worth while.
Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2: John Marston and Arthur Morgan
Because RDR followed Red Dead Revolver, many thought the third game would be named something other than Red Dead Redemption 2. There was really no need for this, though, as its redemption arcs are what bring these games to life. In the original game, Marston is a man trying to redeem his self after a life of lawlessness, bringing in his former gang members to protect his wife and son from the Bureau. In the second game, Morgan is a man on his death bed realizing that the life he has led is detrimental for Marston (who has a family, while Morgan lost his) and gives his life to try to bring Dutch around and set Marston free.
This "redemption" arc is the life, blood, and soul of the franchise. Rockstar Games, in both titles, delivered a story that defined the game instead of relying on the sheer craziness of its GTA franchise.
Red Dead Redemption: A Wild West Tragedy
These redemption arcs make the game series a tragedy, as hero after hero and good man after good man see their life destroyed by a handful of choices. Truthfully, the only ones to seemingly escape this life are Sadie Adler and Charles Smith. They seemingly escaped a life that consumed everyone else.
Dutch, for example, is a tragic hero, as while he loses his way and basically turns on everything he cared about, he had a "plan." A way of life he sought to preserve, ultimately understanding his own nature by his death in the first game. Marston and Morgan fall on this sword too, dragged down by a life they had led due to the mechanizations of others. They believed independence, family, and a pull away from civilization, while civilization killed what was left of Marston, and a snake in the grass—Micah—broke Morgan's family apart.
RDR features one of the saddest deaths in gaming history, if not the saddest death period, and Morgan's was almost as heart-breaking. Morgan's fate wasn't hard to speculate; after all, he doesn't appear in the first game. But these moments are the crux of this tragedy genre, and it ends hinting at just one more.
Jack Marston: The Last Enemy to Be Destroyed
Looking at the final two missions show how this motif, established 10 years ago, likely plays out in the long run. John Marston's "The Last Enemy That Shall be Destroyed" is his final mission, in which the Bureau betrays and kills him, just after his life returned to normal. In Red Dead Redemption, Dutch's final words insinuate the Bureau will not stop with him, and it becomes clear in both games that there is always one more enemy. As Dutch says in Red Dead Redemption 2, revenge is a fool's game.
But that's exactly what Jack Marston does in "Remember My Family." After his mother's death, he hunts down Edgar Ross, ending a rivalry that chronologically began a lifetime prior. Jack Marston is actually the first character Edgar Ross speaks to, back when his mentor threatened Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. As such, it's easy to see that "family" here isn't just his father, Jack exacts revenge for a lifetime of grievances up to and culminating in his father's death.
What goes around comes around in the game of revenge, though, with Jack likely becoming the new "enemy to be destroyed" and the Bureau seeking to exact revenge for Ross' death. There's no happy ending to the story of Red Dead Redemption, something established a decade ago now that enraptures fan's to this day, and if Jack Marston is ever explored more, expect one more gravestone before the franchise is done.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
