10 Historically Accurate Details In Red Dead Redemption Games
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VOICE OVER: Mathew Arter
WRITTEN BY: Mathew Arter
Rockstar put so much detail into their game, and many players don't even realize just how accurately it represents the Wild West. For this video, we'll be looking at those moments and themes that exist within Read Dead Redemption II that are well researched and represent the truth of the era. Our list includes Pinkertons, Shotguns and Repeaters, The Aberdeens, Edmund Lowrey Jr., Tuberculosis and more!
10 Historically Accurate Details in RDR2
Welcome to Mojoplays, and today an Australian who knows nothing about American history is looking at 10 Historically Accurate Details in Red Dead Redemption II.
For this list, we’ll be looking at those moments and themes that exist within Read Dead Redemption II that are well researched and represent the truth of the era. Rockstar put so much detail into their game, and many players don’t even realize just how accurately it represents the Wild West.
Did you learn something today? Or were you already wearing smarty pants? Let us know in the comments below.
#10: Pinkertons
Many players will be sick of the Pinkertons by the end of their RDR2 playthrough. The Pinkertons are the private investigators who are contracted to arrest and disperse Dutch’s gang during the events of RDR2. They are also the group that forces John to hunt down his old gang in RDR1, and are in one way or another, responsible for the deaths of our two protagonists. The quantity and tenacity of the Pinkertons is much like their real life counterparts. Essentially cops for hire, they would hire themselves out to businesses, and even the government. They foiled an attempted assassination against Abraham Lincoln (just the one), and by 1890, it was estimated that there were more Pinkertons in the US military than soldiers, which explains why there are SO MANY OF THE PRICKS IN RED DEAD!
#9: Suffragette City
Throughout RDR2, the player can have both scripted plot encounters and random encounters with different feminists protesting for voting rights. These women aren’t asking for much, but can be hurt by both the player and NPCs. The historical accuracy to both the movement, and the reaction from the public is unfortunately all too true. The time of RDR2 is set right smack bang in the middle of the women's suffrage movement, and it would still be another 20 years from the end of RDR2 until women would be given the fair right to vote. I myself stand beside the protester in Saint Denis, and protect her from everyone that gets within 10 meters of her. Admittedly, after I’ve shot and killed 20 people, the cops start spraying bullets in every direction, but look, my heart is in the right place.
#8: Shotguns and Repeaters
One of the things that some people turned their nose up to when it came to Red Dead Redemption 1, was that playing (what was marketed as) Grand Theft Auto set in the Old West sounded kinda boring. No cars, rusty pistols, no explosions. Rockstar proved them wrong and actually allowed the player a wide selection of guns in both games, and the whole series was exceptionally exciting. Old West films have given us the misconception that the Wild West was all pistols and revolvers, but in actuality, it was shotguns and repeaters that dominated this time period. These guns are in excess in RDR2, and not only was this lots of fun, but it was also incredibly historically accurate.
#7: The Aberdeens
RDR2 is home to one of the most disturbing families to ever exist, the Aberdeens. Upon arrival, you realize that these siblings are more than just siblings, they are the “share the same bed” kinda siblings, they are the “share a toothbrush” kinda siblings, they are “illegally having relations with each other whilst trapping passersby and then drugging them and killing them and possibly eating their flesh” kinda siblings … they’re bad news. Many players wouldn’t know that these siblings are based on real world siblings John and Kate Bander who performed identical crimes during the 1870’s. Art imitates life, I just wish it was a different life.
#6: Cowboys of Color
As with almost any creative medium, when RDR2 dropped, there was a small section of the internet that called Rockstar ‘woke’ and claimed their diversity in the game was forced, unrealistic, and virtue signaling. That small pocket couldn’t have been more wrong if they tried, I mean they were wrong for many reasons, but let’s focus on historical accuracy. It’s documented that many people of color fled slavery to seek refuge in the West, and it’s believed by historians that a quarter of all cowboys in the West were people of color. Lenny’s inclusion in the story, as well as the way he’s welcomed by his brothers in arms, and the tales he tells around the campfire, are all historically accurate. Big tick for Rockstar.
#5: Cars Are Few and Far Between
Sure, it would have been easier (and possibly more fun) to drive around the landscape of RDR2 in an automobile rather than horse and/or buggy, but that wouldn’t have been HISTORICALLY ACCURATE! RDR2 takes place in 1899, whilst the first car was invented in 1886. Cars can be spotted throughout both games, but they are few and far between, as the game’s Western setting wasn’t the main hub for automobile access during this time. Cars were assigned to the uber wealthy and famous, and were not easy to spot. So consider yourself lucky you got to ride in one at all …scum.
#4: Edmund Lowrey Jr.
There is a serial killer loose on the streets of RDR2, and his name is Edmund Lowrey Jr. Throughout the game, the player follows clues and crime scenes, eventually finding their way to the sick murderer, who can be given a gruesome end depending on the player's temperament. The idea of a serial killer wandering the countryside of the Wild West seems like a work of fiction, but Lowrey is actually based off of real life serial killer Stephen Richards who targeted a spectrum of victims between 1876 and 1878, before being caught by police.
#3: Train Robbery
During the early events of the game, the players rob a train with epic cinematics and wild antics …and guns. Although this robbery was likely inspired by a range of cinematic heists, it takes its core features from a real life train robbery that happened the same year that the fictional robbery is set. The 1899 train robbery of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, the Wilcox train robbery. Although the way the player gets onto the train is highly fictional, using dynamite to blow open the door and receive the booty is not.
#2: Widespread Violence
It’s not often in a historical period that so many different philosophical, economical, and societal changes are all happening at the same time, but during the events of RDR2 and RDR1, the player sees widespread violence that is directly attributed to the changing tides of the time. Native Americans were still struggling against the US Government, minorities and women were fighting and pushing for equality, outlaws were going toe to toe with the law, and workers were taking a stand against unfair wages. Historically, this widespread clashing was noted to have caused friction and violence, and this is perfectly represented in the events of both Red Dead Redemption games.
#1: Tuberculosis
When Arthur was introduced in RDR2, players were able to safely draw one conclusion: This man is very important in the events of the prequel, yet he doesn’t exist in the game set after this one... Uh oh, he’s gonna die. We imagined that Arthur would die in a big shoot out, fighting Dutch or taking on the Pinkertons. In actual fact, Arthur (depending on your ending) was killed by Tuberculosis …or at least was weakened by tuberculosis to the point that he wasn’t able to fight anymore. Many players felt like this was an unfair end for Arthur, an ending that didn’t honor him as a character, but was it a historically accurate ending? You betcha. During the 1890’s, a time of widespread violence, limited medicinal science, and many forms of sickness, one cause of death claimed more lives than any other. And do you want to take a wild stab at what it was that killed the most people in the 1890’s? I’ll give you a hint, it rhymes with Tushmerculosis.
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