Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
Published , by Charles Singletary Jr
The experience in Red Dead Redemption 2, as is the case with all Rockstar games, will vary wildly from player to player. The main narrative will set the foundation and guide players along, though, and we now have an idea of how long that story campaign will run at launch. Courtesy of a publication's deep dive into the development process, we've learned that Red Dead Redemption 2 features a 60-hour campaign.
The conversation about the game's length was framed around actor performances and one of the love interests of lead Arthur Morgan. As explained in the Vulture feature, the removal of one of two love interests and some technically unsound missions resulted in five hours being taken out of a 65 hour campaign.
Dan Houser, Red Dead Redemption 2's producer, stated that the team decided the additional love interest "didn't work". Regarding the other missions, “they were never going to work technically or be quite slick enough, or they felt superfluous," he said. "We removed a mission on a train where you had to deal with bounty hunters, because it was fun at first, but then it wasn’t. This part of the process is always about compromise and horse trading. Everyone always loses bits of the game they love.”
Is the story the main draw for you? Will it simply going to be a footnote on your Red Dead experience as you deviate from the beaten path as soon as you start? With the additional adventures that have been teased, like heists, mini-games, duels, and more, players will have a lot of distractions to indulge in or ignore as they work through 60 hours of story. Red Dead Redemption 2 launches October 26, 2018, on PS4 and Xbox One. In November, Red Dead Online will go live in beta test form. Stay tuned to Shacknews for additional updates.