The Biggest Red Dead Redemption 2 Challenge Could Have Ruined it if Not for Lazlow Jones
One of the highest-rated video games ever made is Red Dead Redemption 2, which was the final original game that Rockstar published in 2018. There were many ifs and buts regarding the game at the time of development. The co-owner of Rockstar Games, Dan Houser, was cautious about any repetitions in the plot of the game.
However, the greatest challenge was portraying the fictional US of the late 1800s in a game that was released in 2018. Culture, background, setting, and social conventions were all very different between the game’s timeline and today’s world. But the most challenging part was depicting the humor in the game.
Red Dead Redemption 2‘s Comedy Was Completely Different Than That of Today
As already mentioned. Red Dead Redemption 2 is set in the era of 1899 in the US. So, it was quite normal that Lazlow Jones had to face a bit of difficulty in writing the whole game, keeping in mind the cultures, habits, and conventional practices of that time.
The most difficult was shaping humor into the game, as putting smiles on people’s faces today through jokes from 1899 is going to be pretty tough. In an interview with Indy100, this is what Jones stated:
Writing humor in an 1899 time period was distinctly different than the comedy Dan and I had written for GTA 5 but it had to be amusing with today’s sensibilities. If you look at comedy from 1899, what they considered funny we might not find funny anymore so it was finding that twist that was a challenge – but I loved it.
Jones also revealed that at the time of writing this game, all of his subscriptions to magazines were stacking up in the corner as he was reading magazines of the late 1800s. There were instances when Dan Houser corrected Jones’ work multiple times for using a word that didn’t appear until 1905 when the proposed scene was from 1899.
Dan Houser Was Concerned About Another Challenge in Red Dead Redemption 2
You take on the role of Arthur Morgan, a senior member of the Van der Linde gang, which was first introduced in the first game and is headed by the “pseudo-messianic” Dutch. This is a drama-cum-tragedy from the West. Rockstar was captivated by the Dutch’s leadership, the Van der Linde outlaws, and the story of how everything ultimately fell apart.
Dan Houser, co-founder of Rockstar Games, was somewhat concerned about any repetition in the game’s plot, though (via GQ Magazine):
A lot of video games work on the same premise that you start as a weak person and end as a strong superhero. But what if you start as a tough guy? Someone who’s already very strong, someone that is emotionally confident of his place in the world. Arthur’s journey is not about becoming a superhero, because he’s almost one at the start, but is going to be taken on a more intellectual roller coaster when his worldview gets taken apart.
In spite of all the worries, the game ended up becoming one of the most realistic games ever made. Throughout its history, Rockstar has experimented with these illusions of life. The in-game characters in Rockstar titles had their own routines and appeared to be there even when you weren’t.
These minor details are present throughout Red Dead Redemption 2, such as whether you are muddy or clean, if you are carrying a gun, or if your torso has a stain from deer blood. The world understands your position within it, and AI characters react to you and to one another contextually.
Despite all the challenges, it’s good to see that both Houser and Jones did a great job in surfacing Red Dead Redemption 2, which later went on to become one of the greatest games of all time.
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