Red Dead Redemption 3 is Crying Out For Thrilling OG Feature Return

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most popular games of all time, but there are certain features and ideas from the first game that didn’t make it into the sequel that we'd take back in a heartbeat for RDR3.

One of these features is duelling, for example, which was a sequence in Red Dead Redemption where you’d be able to challenge another character to a pistol duel out in the town streets.

When you duelled in Red Dead Redemption, Dead Eye slow motion would kick in and you’d have to land enough shots to defeat your opponent.

These encounters could be triggered in a variety of ways, such as getting caught cheating at Poker or by annoying random NPCs you find in the world.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Tones Down the Duels

However, Red Dead Redemption 2 features much less duelling, at least in the same sense. You can technically duel other NPCs by simply drawing your gun at them, but there isn’t an epic standoff or anything like that.

As posted on the Red Dead Redemption 2 Reddit page, one user took issue with the lack of duelling in the game.

“One thing I miss about RDR1 was the amount of duelling,” they wrote. “Some of the better guys did some sort of body contort on the draw to make you miss your shot.”

“I still have not played RDR1 yet, in RDR2 I never understood how duelling works,” wrote another user.

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Red Dead Redemption 2 Duels Have a Narrative Benefit

Another user explained how this was a drawback of Red Dead Redemption 2's outlaw narrative, suggesting that “it restricts certain mechanics of the game due to the premise of Arthur being an outlaw".

They continued: “That's especially where the Honor system differs from RDR1's Fame system, Arthur is merely building up an intrinsic system of honor for his own personal story, whereas John is building up an extrinsic system of Fame that influences how society views and treats him.

“Arthur can't be rewarded with fame for dueling with people, because Arthur has to stay under the radar and not draw attention to himself and his gang; so mechanics like dueling and even owning property were scaled back (or removed entirely) to accommodate the game's internal logic and narrative.”

It makes sense, really. John wasn’t attempting to stay under the radar in Red Dead Redemption (as evidenced by the fact he even took part in the Mexican Revolution of 1911, a real historical event).

So, that’s why he’s able to participate in more duels compared to Arthur, who spends the entirety of Red Dead Redemption 2 staying under the radar and avoiding the attention of the federal government.