Watch the first trailer for 'Red Dead Redemption 2'

By Gabe Gurwin October 20, 2016

Red Dead Redemption 2 Trailer

After officially announcing Red Dead Redemption 2 earlier this week to whet our appetites, Rockstar Games finally pulled back the curtain today with the game’s first trailer. If you were expecting a happy-go-lucky version of the Old West, you’re going to be in for surprise — this might be the grimmest game Rockstar has ever made.

Over ominous strings and piano, we see a forest littered with wildlife ranging from deer to rabbits. Though mother nature still appears to be in control of the region, humanity encroaches as several settlers huddle around a small campfire in the dark. Elsewhere, a rancher leads a horse through a field and two settlers in a kayak paddle down a nearby river.

Though it was speculated that the game would take place before a rail system had been built, and could thus see the return of several of the original game’s characters in a prequel, this appears to be incorrect: a train, with smoke billowing from the top, speeds down a track as buffalo walk past.

In a nearby town, which appears to be located next to an oil drill of some sort, we see our first hint of conflict in Red Dead Redemption 2. All buildings are set ablaze, and a lone man riding a horse over to investigate.

“Listen to me. When the time comes, you’ve got to run and don’t look back,” an unidentified man — possibly the same person — says. “This is over.”

Could this be the voice of John Marston, the protagonist from the previous game? It’s impossible to know for sure, because even though his voice doesn’t appear to be the same as Marston’s in Red Dead Redemption, voice actor Rob Wiethoff has effectively left acting behind completely and the role could have been re-cast.

Red Dead Redemption 2 will release for both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the fall of 2017. Rockstar Games has still not confirmed or denied that a PC version exists.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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