Originally developed by Capcom, Red Dead Revolver borrowed elements from their 1985 arcade title Gun.Smoke, to which it was intended to be a spiritual successor, but the game was cancelled in 2002.
[3][4] Red Dead Redemption, developed by Rockstar San Diego (which also worked on its predecessor), was released in May 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to critical and commercial acclaim.
[7] In terms of canonicity to the Redemption followup series, Dan Houser suggested that Revolver is set in a separate universe, but a version of the events in the plot could still have taken place due to the nature of legends told in the Red Dead games' world.
In exchange for his family's return, John sets out to hunt down the surviving members of his former gang, in the process achieving closure and redemption for his past actions.
Undead Nightmare is a non-canonical expansion to Red Dead Redemption that follows John's efforts to find a cure for a zombie plague that has infected his family.
[12][13] Red Dead Redemption and Undead Nightmare were released for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on August 17, 2023, and for Windows on October 29, 2024, developed by Double Eleven.
[16][17] Its story follows Arthur Morgan, a member of the infamous Van der Linde gang in 1899, in the waning years of the American Old West, and the extinction of the age of outlaws and gunslingers.
[18] The game features several returning characters from Red Dead Redemption, including a younger and less-refined John Marston, his family, and fellow gang members Dutch van der Linde, Bill Williamson, and Javier Escuella.
A lot of focus is put on Arthur's morality and relationship with other characters, primarily John, with whom he has a nearly brotherly-like bond, and Dutch, who slowly descends into madness as the gang faces more problems.
In October 2018, Dan Houser said that Rockstar might develop a future entry in the series depending on the success of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Red Dead Redemption, however, provides the player with an open world setting and gives them various options for exploration, random encounters and side-missions.
The trademark game mechanic of the series is the Dead Eye system, which bridges the gap between the protagonist's exceptional shooting prowess and the limitations of the human player's speed and coordination.
The game takes place in the United States, in an unidentified region of mostly desert, although some levels also feature a forest or mountain setting.
It ranges from canyons to deserts, but the player is unable to reach to the outer limit due to the borders surrounding the area (mountains and deep ravines).
[43] Red Dead Redemption 2, averaging 97% for both console platforms on Metacritic, was also widely acclaimed by critics, who praised the same aspects as well as its significant level of detail,[44][45][46] winning a number of awards from publications.