Red Dead Redemption 2 PS4 and Xbox One: what to know about RDR2 on consoles

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now and, as expected, reviews have been overwhelmingly positive – with some calling it one of the best games of 2018.

The sequel to one of the Xbox 360 and PS3’s best games is gigantic, gun-toting open-world romp through the Wild West which pits you against rival gangs, authority figures and the elements of a brutal world.

Ready to saddle up and ride out on Rockstar’s latest western adventure? Here’s what you need to know before you hit the dusty trail.

[Update: Check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 guides to hunting, fishing and more.]

Cut to the chase

  • What is it? The sequel to the Wild West Rockstar hit, Red Dead Redemption
  • When can I play it? Out now
  • What can I play it on? PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (so far)
  • How much is it? Here are the best Red Dead Redemption 2 prices

Red Dead Redemption 2 reviews

We haven’t had enough time with Red Dead Redemption 2 to give it the comprehensive TechRadar review treatment, however we’ve rounded up the verdicts of those who have below: 

 GamesRadar+

David Meikelham – * * * * * –

Just how good is Red Dead Redemption 2? Over the past few years, I’d argue the only games that deserve to be considered at this same ultra elite level are GTA 5, Metal Gear Solid 5, and The Witcher 3. This is a stone cold 5/5 classic that combines brilliant writing – Rockstar’s Houser brothers deliver another affecting, scythe-sharp script – amazing tech, and one of the most boldly structured plots to ever grace a triple-A title. The story is so well told, you’ll emotionally invest more in a horse during one crucial scene than you did even for Kratos in this year’s stellar God of War revival. If you only buy one game this year, it absolutely has to be this wondrous Wild West quest. 

Kotaku

Kirk Hamilton – (No score, but incredibly positive review)

This game has heart; the kind of heart that is difficult to pin down but impossible to deny. It is a wonderful story about terrible people, and a vivacious, tremendously sad tribute to nature itself. There is so much beauty and joy in this expensive, exhausting thing. Somehow that makes it even more perfect – a breathtaking eulogy for a ruined world, created by, about, and for a society that ruined it.

The Guardian

Keza McDonald – * * * * *  –

There can be no doubt that this is a landmark game. It is a new high water-mark for lifelike video game worlds, certainly, but that world is also home to a narrative portrait of the wild west that is unexpectedly sombre and not afraid to take its time. With very few exceptions, the many stories that Rockstar’s writers have set out to tell about this group of outlaws land perfectly, the enjoyable twists and turns of individual missions and chapters feeding into an exciting, sophisticated and absorbing larger narrative – and the stories that you discover yourself within its world are no less compelling. 

IGN

Luke Reilly – 10/10 – 

Set in Rockstar’s most authentic and lived-in open world ever, there are so many things to do, so many people to meet, and so many places to explore it’s giddily overwhelming. Red Dead Redemption 2 isn’t just Rockstar’s greatest achievement to date; it’s a game so lacking in compromise it’s tough to know where best to start discussing it.

GameInformer

Matt Bertz – 10/10 –

Rockstar Games has outdone itself again with Red Dead Redemption II. The up-close portrayal of the outlaw Van der Linde gang’s unraveling is a compelling companion story that blends seamlessly with the original game, and depth and breadth of the open world is a technical triumph that every gamer should experience.

Eurogamer

Martin Robinson – Recommended

It’s been eight years since the last Red Dead Redemption, and five since the release of Grand Theft Auto 5 – time that you can see and feel in every delicately crafted inch of a game of this scope and scale, yet time in which we’ve been spoilt by the likes of The Witcher 3 and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Rockstar’s writers can’t quite match the humanity and purpose of the former, nor can its designers match the integrity of the latter.

It offers something else besides, though: a richness, detail and technical prowess that is breathtaking, and peerless. Is this Rockstar’s greatest game, a new masterpiece alongside the original? There are one too many caveats, and one too many flaws at its heart, to leave me totally convinced. Is this its richest, most beautiful open world? Of that there’s not a single doubt.

Gamespot

Kallie Plagge – 9 out 10 –

While Red Dead Redemption was mostly focused on John Marston’s story, Red Dead 2 is about the entire Van der Linde gang–as a community, as an idea, and as the death rattle of the Wild West. It is about Arthur, too, but as the lens through which you view the gang, his very personal, very messy story supports a larger tale. Some frustrating systems and a predictable mission structure end up serving that story well, though it does take patience to get through them and understand why. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it’s also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it’s a world that is hard to leave when it’s done.

Red Dead Redemption 2 release date

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. 

But what about a PC version? So far, there’s been no official word from Rockstar on a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC outing, with only the console versions so far announced.

However, we saw a similar story with the release of Grand Theft Auto V. A roaring success on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, it was several years before it made the jump to the PC, and eventually even crossed console generations with a remastered version of the game turning up on PS4 and Xbox One.

Could it be a similar story for Red Dead 2? It’s looking likely – the LinkedIn profile of a programmer with previous experience at RockStar shows that the employee has been working on the game from a PC standpoint, with the profile verified by several sources.

We’d say a PC version is incredibly likely at some point: indeed, a retail listing has leaked out early suggesting a 2019 PC launch is on the cards.

Red Dead Online release date

Rockstar has confirmed its plans to launch the Red Dead Online beta in November 2018 and will be free for anyone who purchased the game on Xbox One or PS4. According to Rockstar, Red Dead Online will be “an evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways.” However Rockstar warns there will “be some turbulence at launch”.  

Access to Red Dead Online is free but you’ll need a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live subscription to play it online, however. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 guides

Red Dead Redemption 2 features

It’s a’65-hour’ game with a 2,000-page script

In an interview with Vulture, Rockstar Games co-founder Dan Houser estimated that Red Dead Redemption 2 will take player 65 hours to finish. In addition, Houser revealed the title spans 2,000 pages of script, makes use of 300,000 animations and 500,000 lines of dialogue, and Rockstar employed 1,200 actors for motion-capture work – 700 of whom also recorded dialogue.

Interactions are deeper

You can now interact with citizens in a way you couldn’t before. From calling out to fellow riders to talking your way out of trouble with the sheriff, your actions have consequences. It’s up to you whether you choose to escalate or diffuse volatile situations, but negative actions could result in making enemies.

Camp life is important

Due to the Van Der Linde gang not being the friendliest neighbors, you’ll often be forced out of an area and have to set up camp somewhere new. Camp serves as your gang’s base, it’s where you eat, sleep, play games, and perform chores. You need to pull your weight, fetching food and supplies to keep morale high. You can also take part in activities for fellow gang members which improve your relationship with them.

Variety of terrain

With the open world deeper than ever before, there are plenty of different regions for you to explore including sprawling forests, scorching deserts, bustling cities, sheer mountains and mucky swamps. These areas are inhabited by appropriate wildlife, with alligators roaming the swamps and eagles circling mountain tops.

Weapons are more realistic and unique

Each weapon has a unique characteristic and is valuable in different situations. You can customize each weapon down to the material used to craft the weapon and what type of ammunition each gun holds. You also need to keep your weapons maintained, but if you use the same weapon long enough you’ll become more efficient and effective with it. 

Before heading into combat, you need to stock up on the right weapons – your mobile arsenal will be carried around by your horse but you can only hold so many weapons at one time. Choices include the Cattleman Revolver and Springfield Rifle, as well as the more potent Sawed-off Shotgun and Volcanic Pistol that you’ll need for close quarters combat. For hunting, you’ll want to use the Varmint Rifle to keep hides free from big bullet holes, and the Double-Action Revolver makes a good riding companion due to its quick firing speeds.

Speaking of quick firing speeds, Dead Eye mode is back and more brutal than ever.

Befriending your horse is beneficial

As you progress, your relationship with your valiant steed will blossom. The stronger the bond, the easier the horse is to control. There are also a wider variety of horses than before, with each horse having a specific purpose (such as racing).

There’s a new protagonist

John Marston is no more. Red Dead Redemption 2 brings players a brand new protagonist called Arthur Morgan and the game will follow this outlaw and the Van der Linde gang as they rob and fight their way across America. 

That doesn’t mean that John is entirely absent. From trailer number three we’ve learnt that John is in the game, although how major a player he’s going to be we’re yet to see.

Dutch is back

The main antagonist from Red Dead Redemption showed his face in this game’s second trailer which confirms he’ll be back. Whether or not he’ll be the same antagonistic force is unclear but we think it’s highly unlikely he’s going to be a force for good.

There’s mention of “the sons of Dutch” in the third trailer, and while this is more than likely a reference to the familial nature of the Van Der Linde gang, is there a possibility Arthur Morgan could be Dutch’s progeny? 

It has single player right now but multiplayer is on the way

As you’d expect of a Rockstar game, Red Dead Redemption 2’s vast open game world is the backdrop to a thrilling single-player campaign. 

Though the first game followed the story of one man, that’s not the the case with Red Dead Redemption 2. 

One similarity we do know Red Dead Redemption 2 will have to Grand Theft Auto 5 is its huge online multiplayer world. On the game’s website, Rockstar has stated that the world of the single player campaign will “also provide the foundation for a brand new online multiplayer experience.” 

Considering Grand Theft Auto 5’s online world is still growing and thriving 4 years after the game’s initial release this is an exciting prospect. We imagine the cooperative missions that involve heists, races, gangs and money making will transfer neatly over to the Wild West world of Red Dead Redemption 2. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 Online

The game’s online portion (called Red Dead Online) will, apparently, have three different modes: ‘Revive and Survive’ ‘Battle Royale’ and ‘Money Grab.’ Given the wild popularity of games such as PUBG and Fortnite, it doesn’t seem unlikely that Rockstar would be interested in turning its hand to this kind of gameplay and seizing on the popularity. 

‘Revive and Survive’ will set two teams against one another in an all out battle where teams will have to fight to stay alive, risking their own necks to revive team members and keep the game going. 

Finally, ‘Money Grab’ will be a heist-style mode where two teams will go head-to-head in order to collect money from a central location and return it safely to their hideout. 

The report also says that, like Grand Theft Auto’s online mode, Red Dead Redemption 2 will allow players to explore the game’s open world, with rewards for completing tasks, activities to take part in, and upgradeable tents instead of apartments. It even suggests that there’ll be a companion app launched with social features and a poker minigame (a great way for players to increase their in-game funds without having to sit down and play the game). 

A public beta for Red Dead Online will launch in November 2018 and will be free to anyone who owns a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One. Just be warned, however, Rockstar promises warns there will “be some turbulence at launch”. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 trailers

The first trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 which was released shortly after the game’s announcement. It doesn’t reveal much other than that we’re going to be returning to the Wild West. The game locations in the trailer are diverse and beautiful and it looks highly likely that the game will be open world. 

The game’s second trailer came on September 28, after Rockstar teased some new information would be coming in a tweet earlier that week. This time around we got to see a bit more about the game, including a glimpse of its new protagonist Arthur Morgan.

Watch the trailer for yourself below and take a gander at all the screenshots we’ve collected as well as see some of the new theories this trailer has dragged up:

The third trailer rode into town on May 2, all guns blazing. We thought we were ready for it thanks to a tip-off from Rockstar’s twitter feed, but it still hit us right in the feels. 

This trailer puts us right in the middle of the action and confirms (spoiler) that John Marston, the hero of Red Dead Redemption will feature in the game. There’s only a fleeting glimpse of him, the wounds that will become his distinctive scars still fresh on his face. 

We’ll stop now, you just check it out for yourself below:

Rockstar released the first gameplay trailer on August 9 (well, the first part), giving us a closer look at the highly-anticipated sequel in action. 

The trailer gives us a look at the new richly-detailed world which Arthur Morgan inhabits, complete with sprawling deserts, mucky swaps, winding mountain road, and bustling cities. We also get to see some of the wildlife which live in these areas, and that you will no doubt hunt down for a bit of money. 

As part of the notorious Van Der Linde gang, Arthur is an outlaw. The gang are constantly forced to leave areas, setting up a new camp somewhere. This camp is your base, it’s where gang members eat, sleep, play, games, and do chores. And you’ll have to pull your weight to keep morale high and your your comrades friendly.

It’s not just your camp mates  who are effected by your actions. All your interactions have consequences, allowing you to interact with citizens on a deeper level. But if your moral compass isn’t pointing straight, you could pick up some enemies along the way.

You can check out the gameplay trailer below:

Last but certainly not least, the second gameplay trailer dropped on October 1 2018, just a few weeks shy of the game’s release. In it, we got to see the expanded Dead Eye system that allows Arthur to not only slow down time to take out enemies but see vital weak spots or tag enemies for quick, rapid-fire executions.

In addition to gameplay details, we also got a chance to see some of the seamless transitions between cutscenes and gameplay with Arthur in combat one second before transitioning straight into a dialogue sequence. This cinematic storytelling approach was something Rockstar tackled in Grand Theft Auto V and has taken to a new level in its open-world Western. 

Finally the trailer shows us what we’ll be doing when we’re not robbing, shooting, hustling and bandit-ing and, from the looks of things there’ll be plenty to see and do when we’re not on a crime spree. Check it out for yourself below:

Rockstar released the official launch trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 18. Check it out below:

Characters

In September 2018, Rockstar revealed character cards which introduced us to a selection of gang members we will be encountering in Red Dead Redemption 2. While there were some familiar faces, such as Dutch Van Der Linde, there were also some brand new characters we haven’t met previously. 

We’ve rounded up the posse so you can take a look:

  • More excited about Rockstar’s other franchise? Here’s everything we know about GTA 6

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Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC: will we see a PC release?

Will we ever see Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC? Rockstar’s open-world Western game Red Dead Redemption 2 launched on console to huge acclaim last October, with Red Dead Online now in beta alongside the epic-sized single-player campaign. So far, however, the game is only available on Xbox One and PS4. 

While that’s not exactly a restrictive release, committed PC players have been left twiddling their thumbs in the vague hope of a Red Dead Redemption 2 PC port coming down the line. 

Players hungry for a high-spec or 4K experience can opt to play the game on the PS4 Pro or Xbox One X, but there’s nothing quite like a souped-up PC rig to bring out the finer details and see what Rockstar’s game engine can really do.

So if you don’t have a console from Sony or Microsoft, what are your prospects for getting Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC any time soon? We’ve run through all the latest rumors pointing to a PC release, and made our best guess as to when we’d expect it to land.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Will we see Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC?

Rumors kicked off in mid-October about a possible Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release, after the online retailer MediaMarkt listed a PC version of the game on its website, with a placeholder date of December 31, 2019. The listing has since been pulled, however.

Things heated up again after a LinkedIn profile for a Rockstar employee appeared to list credits as a programmer on the PC version of the game – though this, again, was amended after the media attention that attracted.

The firmest clues we have appeared when Rockstar released a mobile / tablet companion app alongside the new Red Dead game, mainly as a hub for viewing in-game stats, journal entries, and map locations (see image below).

Red Dead Redemption 2 companion app

Red Dead Redemption 2 companion app

Some savvy data-mining, though, contained references to PC-quality graphics settings – shadow quality, grass rendering, and the like – as well as lines explicitly naming PC, such as ‘PARAM_companionAutoConnectIpPC’ or ‘CommandIsPcVersion(void)’. You can see the full list on Rockstar Intel.

There’s also a reference to ‘Oculus’, which can only really refer to VR capability for the game. Given the option to play the entire game in an immersive first-person perspective, virtual reality would be a natural fit – and Red Dead 2 VR would be most at home on a dedicated Oculus or PC-bound headset.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2: ripe for VR?

Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC: release date

So when could we see Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC? At this point Rockstar is unlikely to make an announcement anytime soon, as the studio seems to be focusing on Red Dead Online.

While 2010’s Red Dead Redemption never came to PC, previous Rockstar games like GTA IV or GTA V both took around six months to make the jump to PC after their initial console launch. So that means we could be looking at an April/May 2019 launch date this time around.

Given the scale of the the open-world game, it’s not wholly surprising for a PC port to follow a few months after – it takes a lot of work to get the game running on different systems. But the longer PC gamers have to wait, the less likely they are to maintain their anticipation. 

(Image credits: Rockstar Games)

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Nvidia may be about to tease a next-gen graphics card

Nvidia has been rolling out graphics cards non-stop, with a six total Turing RTX and GTX models now, and the company may be about to tease next-generation GPU technology.

Nvidia will reportedly debut its 7nm Ampere GPU architecture during the keynote at its GPU Technology Conference on March 18, according to the latest report from TweakTown.

Before you get excited (or angry) about Team Green introducing even more gaming parts, the new GPU architecture will supposedly succeed Volta as Nvidia’s engine for high-performance computing, digital learning and artificial intelligence.

Following the launch of the Radeon VII, AMD’s first 7nm graphics card, earlier this February, now would be the perfect time for Nvidia to answer in kind with its own 7nm architecture. There have also been rumors that suggest Nvidia has tapped Samsung to create 7nm transistors using its extreme ultraviolet lithography process.

If Ampere is real and it truly features a 7nm architecture, it should inform the design and features of Nvidia’s next GeForce series. Tensor cores and GDDR6 memory that first appeared on Volta-based GPUs eventually trickled down to Turing, and we suspect that pattern will repeat itself.

However, while the timing would make sense, we remain skeptical about these rumors. For one thing, TweakTown’s sources have a hit rate hovering close to 25%. Just looking at Turing’s launch, the publication was incorrect about it being the 11-series, and posted multiple announcement dates that proved to be wrong; that said, the publication was one of the first to rightly call the Turing name.

We’ll soon know whether any of this is true, so stay tuned as we’ll be bringing you all the important news GTC 2019, as well as the Games Developer Conference happening all next week.

  • Here is our full review of Nvidia’s newest, cheapest graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1660

Via Wccftech

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How to find the right laptop for you

There are so many variations on the types of laptop these days, there really is something for everyone. So the first step is to determine what you really need. Is this a laptop for work, for gaming, for browsing, for kids, or for a little bit of everything?

The basic factors you need to take into account are storage, speed, portability and – of course – battery life. 

The first, storage, comes down to a difference between HDD (hard disk drive) and SSD (solid state drives). 

The former is the older style, which is slower and more power intensive. The latter is faster, smaller and more battery friendly. 

An SSD is what you’ll find on most modern laptops meaning you’ll see the speed and performance increase immediately when you upgrade from the older style.

Speed isn’t just affected by that drive though so you’ll need to take into account how much you want to spend on the processor and RAM, which both affect performance. 

If you’re upgrading, you’ll likely see an increase, even with a base level machine, but if you need more juice simply upgrade your power. The result should be faster load times and smoother use even when multitasking.

All this now comes in far slimmer and lighter form factors too. The more you spend the more portable the laptop will be, generally. Spend a little more for a premium metal and glass finish that’s reassuringly solid in the hand. 

If battery life is your main concern then you can focus on the most efficient processors, smaller screen and largest battery combination to get what you need.

So which is the best laptop for you? There are three categories that you should look into to find your future laptop. Lots of these are found on AO.com where all the above factors are super-charged, meaning you get the latest and greatest when you buy your new laptop.

Powerhouse laptops

Asus Zenbook S

(Image: © Asus)

If you need lots of raw power, for video editing, image manipulation, gaming or intense multi-tasking, then you’ll need a powerhouse. 

These generally come with the latest Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, the latter being the more powerful of the two. That means multi-threading of processes for the most power efficient as well as high-speed performance.

The Asus Zenbook S, for example, offers the latest quad-core 8th gen Intel Core i7 processor running up to 4.6 Ghz and backed by a whopping 8GB of RAM – plenty to handle most tasks you throw at it. 

Alternatively you can go for a more flexible machine, literally, with the Lenovo Yoga C930 which folds back on itself to act like a tablet. This still churns out the power with an Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB of RAM.

HP Envy 13

Image credit: HP

(Image: © HP)

This is where the portability combined with power is a nice balance which the HP Envy 13 manages, offering a lightweight build, Intel Core i5 processor and 16GB of RAM plus 512GB of storage.

Or go for the Acer Swift 5 for 8th gen Intel Core i5 performance backed with 8GB of RAM and an ultra-lightweight portable build – all without costing you too much.

Premium laptops

Microsoft Surface Go

Image credit: Microsoft

(Image: © Microsoft)

It’s now possible to get high-end specs and quality build but without blowing your budget entirely. Premium laptops like the Microsoft Surface Go with Platinum Keyboard offer a high-end experience without the top-end price. 

This tablet with keyboard gives you the best of the tablet experience with all the powerhouse features of a laptop, at a sub-£500 price. A Full HD display, 9-hour battery, Intel Pentium Gold processor and 4GB of RAM make this a perfect portable partner.

The HP Pavilion 15 is a classically designed laptop that crams in a 10-hour battery life, massive 1TB hard drive and AMD Ryzen 5 CPU with 8GB of RAM for a decent price. This proves you really don’t have to blow the budget to get enough power to do what you need. 

Other options include the Acer Swift 3 for 8th gen Intel Core i3 performance with 256GB of storage and portability on a budget, or the Lenovo 330s for 8GB of RAM with 16GB of Optane memory backed up an 8th Gen Intel Core i5.

Everyday laptops

Acer Aspire 3

Image credit: Acer

(Image: © Acer)

If you don’t want to spend too much, may not always need loads of power, but like to have enough to make sure you’re covered should that need arise, then an everyday laptop is your best bet. 

This will cover you for decent battery life and portability while keeping the price down yet still offering a processor and RAM combination to handle most tasks.

The Lenovo IdeaPad 330s is a good example of this combination of features as it offers a top-end 8th gen Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM plus 128GB storage and a wallet-friendly price. 

Or save more with the Acer Aspire 3 which still offers an AMD A6 with 4GB of RAM and 4GB of RAM plus a hefty 256GB of storage at nearly half the price.

Or find a sweet spot in the middle with the HP 14, which deals out a 7th gen Intel Core i3 but which is backed by a hefty 8GB of RAM and pushes the battery to an impressive 12 hour life – all without blowing your budget.

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Red Dead Online: beta, latest news and multiplayer features

Red Dead Online’s beta is well underway. But with such a massive open-world to explore in Red Dead Redemption 2‘s single-player story, why should you be excited about the game’s online mode?

Rockstar’s open-world Western game, a prequel to 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, was released to wide critical acclaim and is basically all anyone in our office – or yours, probably – has been talking about for weeks.

While you might have expected an online mode to be live from the game’s launch, it makes sense that Rockstar wants you to focus on the main story – and boy is there a lot of it – before waltzing into a less narrative-driven multiplayer experience in Red Dead Online.

Red Dead Online

Rockstar has proved itself at converting a massive single-player game into a lively online experience, as shown in the launch of GTA Online in 2013, which has become almost as massive a phenomenon as the mainline GTA V game it spun off from.

So what can you expect from Red Dead Online, and how can you access it?

[Update: Red Dead Online beta update rolls out Free Roam events.] 

Cut to the chase

  • What is Red Dead Online? The online component of Rockstar’s open-world Western
  • What can I play it on? PS4 or Xbox One
  • When can I play it? Beta is live – full release is expected some time in 2019

Red Dead Online beta access

Red Dead Online beta access

You can access the Red Dead Online beta by selecting the ‘Online’ option from the Red Dead Redemption 2 title menu (at the top-right hand side of the screen). 

Read Dead Online latest update

The next Red Dead Online Beta update will be implemented on March 11. Here’s what is coming: 

New Weapon: Evans Repeater

Can now be picked up directly from the Rawson, Wheeler & Co catalogue or at any gunsmith.

Fool’s Gold event

This new event sees you battling other players to wear the Golden Armor, taking down opponents while wearing it to earn points. You can also score points by taking out a rival player that’s wearing the Golden Armor, which then puts the armor up for grabs to whoever reaches it first.

Other Free Roam events

  • Cold Dead Hands: Fight for control over a target for the longest amount of time.
  • Competitive Challenges: Compete to get the highest score in a given, randomly-selected challenge within a set time limit (currently includes Bow, Headshot, Horseback, Longarm, and Sidearm Kill Challenges).
  • Dispatch Rider: Posses compete to be the first to deliver a horse to the assigned destination.
  • King of the Castle: Compete to gain and maintain control of the castle area by staying alive inside of it – whoever controls the active area for the highest percentage of the event time wins.
  • Master Archer: Compete to score the most points by hitting the most targets as accurately as you can within the time limit.

Care package

This week, all Red Dead Online Beta participants receive a special care package (redeemed either at your camp’s lockbox or at any post office across the five states). Here’s what is in the package: 60x High Velocity Pistol Ammo, 60x High Velocity Repeater Ammo, 2x Fire Bottles, 8x Fire Arrows, 2x Jolly Jack’s, 2x Potent Horse Medicine and 1x Lake Lure.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Online features

Player visibility

Reducing the visibility of blips over long distances – your map position won’t display to other players unless you are nearby (within 150 meters) and if you are slightly further away you will only appear when firing your weapon. 

Overly aggressive players will become more visible to other players with a progressively darkening dot that incrementally shifts from blue to dark red. Your visibility increases through bad deeds such as attacking and killing other players or their horses outside of a structured mode, free Roam mission, event or competition. The shorter the time between bad acts, the more your visibility increases – to warn others of your misdeeds. If you decide to be more wholesome, then your dot will gradually return to normal.

The introduction of posse-wide parleys and improving feuds will mean that you’ll be able to initiate parley that applies to your attacker’s entire posse after just a single kill. Alternatively, if you’d rather challenge your opponent, you can initiate a feud, posse Feud or leader feud after one kill, quickly turning a dispute into a timed mini-deathmatch for rival players to fight out amongst themselves in free roam, earning points for each kill on the opposing player.  

Bounty hunters and law balancing

If you rack up a high bounty then you will have a chance of being targetted by NPC bounty hunters who will attempt to kill you and collect their reward.

Criminal behavior will have bounty values and honor consequences that scale based on the severity of the crime. 

Daily challenges

Daily challenges will see you complete individual objectives that cover every aspect of life on the frontier to earn gold nuggets and XP. Challenges will range from foraging for herbs, selling items at a fence, hunting and skinning animals, clearing hideouts, winning feuds and more. 

First update

A week after the public beta went live, Rockstar released a statement on the game’s status, which stated the developer’s main focus right now is improving the in-game economy and bugs.

“Your feedback from these early days will be instrumental in helping formulate updates to every aspect of the experience,” the statement read. “Our current areas of focus include the in-game economy, which will require some additional balancing in order to ensure all activities are appropriately rewarding and fun, as well as some persistent bugs that are causing some players to be kicked from sessions. 

“The game has been developed so that we will be able to quickly make any adjustments like these, and we plan to get updates out as early as the end of this week with more updates to come next week. Feedback from the community has been invaluable, and we will continue to keep you regularly updated as things progress.”

Rockstar then rolled out its first set of “adjustments” to the Red Dead Online beta which aimed to a create a “more balanced, fun and rewarding overall experience, across all modes and missions”. This included increasing cash and gold payments, reducing prices of weapons and balancing the values of select pelts, skins and fish.

Gun Rush mode

Rockstar added a battle royale Gun Rush mode, which sees up to 32 players “scrambling to gather weapons and ammunition in a rapidly shrinking play area”.

Rockstar added a attle royale Gun Rush mode, which sees up to 32 players “scrambling to gather weapons and ammunition in a rapidly shrinking play area”.ke changes based on player feedback such as adding daily challenges, upgrading the law and bounty system, changing parley and decreasing proximity-based player blips.

In addition, Rockstar is “working on lots of new content” that is due for release this year. This includes all-new missions, dynamic events, more competitive modes, and new weapons and clothing.

Finally, Xbox One players can also now access the red chestnut Arabian horse, alligator skin ranch cutter saddle and the high roller double-action revolver.

Multiplayer modes

There were five competitive multiplayer modes at launch, however the beta currently doesn’t allow you to pick which mode to partake in. The five modes are as follows:

  • Shootout / Team Shoutout – Essentially classic Deathmatch, which sees you aiming to get the most kills either individually or as a team.
  • Most Wanted – Sees you battling against opponents to get the most kills and become the ‘Most Wanted’ person on the leaderboard.
  • Make It Count – Red Dead Redemption 2 Battle Royale mode.
  • Name Your Weapon – You are awarded more points for killing enemies with more difficult weapons (either played as a team or individual).
  • Hostile Territory – Capture the flag except you get points for capturing territories.

Character customization

Red Dead Online’s character customization is very detailed, with options to adjust everything from your age to your facial dimensions – allowing you to make your perfect cowboy or cowgirl.

A range of activities

Now that we’ve been able to take part in the beta, we know Red Dead Online allows you to take part in a variety of activities such as co-operative story missions, treasure maps, PvP, hunting, fishing and free-roam missions. 

Based on Red Dead Redemption 2 gameplay

An official announcement for the online service read: “Using the gameplay of the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 as a foundation, Red Dead Online will be ready to be explored alone or with friends, and will also feature constant updates and adjustments to grow and evolve this experience for all players.”

Red Dead Online: what we want to see

All the minigames

We definitely hope the minigames will be playable online with your friends – card games, knife games, drinking games, and all that other wholesome fun you cowboys get up to.

A slow, slow pace

One of the things we love about Read Dead Redemption 2 is the thoughtful pace – so we’re hoping the online mode doesn’t go too octane for the rustic cowboy setting. We want to take a slow trot to the saloon before beating our friends at poker, or lying in the undergrowth while we wait to rob an incoming train – not a 6v6 deathmatch on flaming ponies.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Maybe some zombies though

Okay, as much as we love the core Read Dead experience, the last game’s Undead Nightmare DLC was a fantastic adventure in its own right, raising the dead in what felt like a serious Western blended with a camp horror movie. It was too good an experiment not to resurrect this time around – we hope.

Cross-platform play

We haven’t seen cross-platform play for a Rockstar game before, though the CEO Strauss Zelnick has been open about his desire to overcome traditional console distinctions for online play. 

We’d love to see PS4 and Xbox One owners play together in Red Dead Online’s wild west, though Sony have also proven themselves a stickler on this point in the past – even if it eventually succumbed to pressure on Fortnite cross-platform play.

(Image credits: Rockstar Games)

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Add 6TB of storage to your PC or Mac with a crazy low price on this WD Elements external drive

we spotlight a lot of hard drive deals on PCWorld, but today’s is one of the best values we’ve ever seen. Newegg is selling the WD Elements 6TB USB 3.0 external drive for a crazy-low price of $100Remove non-product link today when using the code EMCTWUA65. That’s nearly 50 percent off the list price and matches the lowest we’ve ever seen.

This sleek hard drive brings a huge amount of storage to the game, with shock tolerance and a durable design helping protect your files against the rough-and-tumble of everyday life. The storage boost can help your computer load faster, along with keeping files like photos, videos, music and more safely stored. The drive is also compatible with both USB 3.0 and USB 2.0, so it’s be sure to work with whatever PC or Mac you have.

We haven’t tried this exact hard drive ourselves, but we’re fans of WD, with the My Passport drive topping the list of our favorite external backup drives. And six terabytes for $100 is a deal that’s hard to beat.

[Today’s deal: WD 6TB Elements external drive for $100 at NeweggRemove non-product link]

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The best Vodafone deals in March 2019

vodafone

Vodafone is one of the biggest networks in the world and by far one of the most powerful brands in the UK. Not surprising when they so frequently offer excellent tariffs on flagship handsets like the iPhone XR, Galaxy S9 and the market’s other favourite phones.

Vodafone seems to go through fits and spurts when it comes to how competitively it’s priced. It can go from the cheapest on the market, to pretty poor on our mobile phone deals comparison charts. Unfortunately, Vodafone seems to be going through one of its more expensive periods.

We’ve seen prices across devices rise on Vodafone lately, especially the bigger devices like the iPhone XR and Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus. However, there are still tonnes of great deals floating around, it just takes more searching and luckily we’ve done that part for you. 

If Vodafone appeals to you though – or if you want to bag a Red Entertainment package that gives you a year’s subscription to Spotify Premium, NOW TV Entertainment or the Sky Sports app – then that’s where this page comes in! We’ve rounded up all of the best Vodafone phone deals so that you don’t have to, just take a look at TechRadar’s bespoke comparison chart below.

Price comparison chart