Rockstar focused on Red Dead Online, not Red Dead Redemption 2 single-player DLC

By Aaron Mamiit September 29, 2019

Red Dead Redemption 2 fans who are hoping for more DLC to further flesh out the game’s single-player story should not hold their breath as Rockstar Games is currently focused only on Red Dead Online.

The story of Red Dead Redemption 2, set in the tail end of the 19th century, focuses on Arthur Morgan, the lead muscle of the 23-man Van der Linde gang. Players are taken through a galloping ride of emotions as the plot unfolds, with their decisions shaping the story as they play through the game’s missions.

However, for those who could not get enough of Red Dead Redemption 2, it looks like the only choice is to jump into Red Dead Online.

In an interview with VG24/7, Rockstar Games’ lead online production associate Katie Pica revealed that the studio is prioritizing Red Dead Online, not single-player DLC for Red Dead Redemption 2.

“We’re 100% focused on online right now, because like I said, there’s just so much to do, and we’re just hoping to bring everything that a player can love about single-player into the online world, and fleshed out,” Pica said.

The plan for Red Dead Online is to keep adding content to expand its massive world. The Frontier Update, launched earlier this month, provides a glimpse of what Rockstar Games has planned for the future of Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online component.

“Our ambitions for our online games are just as high, and with Red Dead Online we are continuing to build and expand to match the world we created for Red Dead Redemption 2‘s story,” said Rockstar Games online producer Tarek Hamad.

The absence of further single-player mode DLC for Red Dead Redemption 2 may come as a disappointment for some fans of the franchise, especially after the massive popularity of the Undead Nightmare expansion for Red Dead Redemption. However, it looks like Rockstar Games is following its model for Grand Theft Auto V, which is now focused on GTA Online. That plan has resulted in massive success and shattered records to this day, so it is probably not a bad idea to try to replicate it with Red Dead Online.

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Aaron received a NES and a copy of Super Mario Bros. for Christmas when he was 4 years old, and he has been fascinated with…

Gaming

How to get fuses in Dead Island 2

A group of survivors looking stressed and annoyed.

eThere are going to be tons of things blocking your progress when trying to escape LA in Dead Island 2. Aside from the, you know, hordes of zombies, you will find plenty of gates and doors that need power to open. Most can be worked around by installing a battery or circuit breaker, but some require something else. Fuses aren't required at any point in the main story, but instead are limited keys that hide away some of the game's best loot. If you've been spotting all these gates and garage doors taunting you to open them, but lack the fuses to do so, we'll tell you how you can get your hands on some in Dead Island 2.
Where to get fuses in Dead Island 2

Unlike batteries or circuit breakers, fuses won't be found anywhere on the map while exploring. Instead, the only way to get these electrical devices is to purchase them. Obviously, your local hardware store isn't open for business anymore, so your options are limited to the vendors you come across such as Carlos in Emma's house or Ezekiel on The Pier. No matter who you get them from, you're going to be paying a premium. Each fuse costs $1,500, and the sellers usually only hold a few at a time. Even if they had the stock and you had the cash, your character can only hold three fuses at a time before needing to spend them to get more.

Gaming

Dead Island 2’s Amazon Alexa voice commands are novel, but limited

Dani lights a cigarette as zombies attack her from behind in Dead Island 2 key art.

I’ve always found myself interested in new technologies that could possibly enhance how we play or experience games. Whether it’s a computing innovation like cloud gaming or new controller features like the DualSense’s Haptic Feedback and Adaptive Triggers, I love testing those things out. That’s why I jumped at the opportunity to try Alexa Game Control during my recent hands-on preview experience with Dead Island 2.
When Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver’s Dead Island 2 finally launches on April 21, it will be the first game to support Alexa Game Control. By connecting one’s Amazon account to the game, players can use the voice-recognition capabilities of Amazon’s virtual assistant Alexa to perform in-game actions like taunting zombies or equipping their best weapons. I was curious to see just how deep this went, but after some hands-on time, this first implementation of it proved to be little more than a novelty.

Hey, Alexa
Dead Island 2 players can toggle Alexa Game Control on when they first show up in Bel-Air after the game’s opening. It has a dedicated tab in the Options Menu where players can choose to enable or disable it, choose whether they want it to work automatically or with push to talk, set the voice capture threshold, and decide which microphone they wish to use.
After enabling Alexa Game Control, I immediately noticed a ring at the bottom-left corner of the screen. When I spoke, this lit up with blue and teal colors, like the top ring on an Alexa device, and text confirming whether it could do the action or not would appear. Not having to say “Hey, Alexa” also means it implemented itself into the game smoothly. At first, I tried to see if voice commands would work for basic things like walking, jumping, and dodging, to no avail. After this, I hopped to a save I had placed later in the game and opened its tutorial menu to see what Alexa Game Control could really do.
Reading its tutorials and lists of commands, the limits of Alexa Game Control became clear. It mainly provides quick shortcuts to save you a button press or two in the middle of playing. In Dead Island 2, Alexa Game Control has four main uses: setting waypoints, taunting enemies, triggering emotes, and switching weapons. The tutorial menus give a complete list of commands that work, although each wildly varies in its usefulness.
Oi, zombie!
The funniest use of this voice technology in Dead Island 2 is taunting zombies. Shouting something like “Hey, dude” or “Oi, zombie” to get the attention of enemies that hadn’t detected me always made me chuckle. It’s also occasionally useful; at one point, I got a bunch of zombies to walk into a large pool of acid and die after taunting them. While it takes the same amount of time as walking up to the zombie to get their attention, I see the potential in voice technology that lets you interact with the world like this.

Gaming

It’s time for the age of always-online single-player games to end

Redfall Cover

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is one of the most anticipated PlayStation 5 games of the year, as it promises that DC Comics fans will get to see their favorite antiheroes wreak havoc in the Batman Arkhamverse. The co-op action game features a storyline straight out of Marvel's What If...? with most members of the Justice League getting brainwashed by Brainiac. And it has the distinction of featuring Kevin Conroy's final voice performance as the Dark Knight. On paper, it has a lot going for it.

There's just one problem, though. You can only play it online, even when you're going solo.