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How

The West

Was Remixed:

By Dylan Schrader

The West

The West

Guns & Gunslingers

Guns are essential to the story and narrative to each entry in the Red Dead series, as each one is a Western game. Because these games are presented in a different medium than the Western films by which they are influenced, they must remix the elements of gunslinging to make them compelling in a more interactive medium. 

 

One iconic action that occurs in many Western films is the duel or quickdraw. Below there are two examples of quickdraws in Western films: 

 

 

 

Other than the main actor, each of these clips utilizes the deadly stakes of the situation to build dramatic tension. The Red Dead games do that as well, though the game mechanics of the "draw" have changed as gaming technology has advanced. Here is a clip of a draw from Red Dead Revolver: 

 

 

 

Notice how the music is used to build tension in each example. Also, Red Dead Revolver moves the game camera to give a close-up of each character involved in the duel's face before finally moving in for a close-up of the protagonist's gun. Red Dead Revolver clearly draws influence from the duel in The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly's use of camera angles, but there are elements that cannot be translated from one medium to another. Notice how in both The Outlaw Josey Wales and The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly, each character has an almost superhuman ability to aim and fire quickly and accurately. The normal function of the game mechanics in all Red Dead games do not allow that, because you are playing in real time. However, both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 allow the player to slow down time and select multiple shot locations, either in a duel or during gameplay, which mimics the expert (if not superhuman) marksman ability of gunslingers in Western films. See a clip of a draw from Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 below: 

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While Red Dead Redemption's duel feature definitely improves upon Red Dead Revolver's, it still feels like a separate fight mechanic in the game. Red Dead Redemption 2's, however, feels like it is an extension of your character's abilities, and further immerses the player in the world of the game. Notice that the music still swells to add dramatic tension, and the color of the screen still changes to a sepia tone, but the action and mechanics more closely resemble the other gunfighting mechanics in the game. This adds verisimilitude to the game and allows the player to feel as if she is participating in the narrative rather than just watching it unfold. The game feels more lifelike as the verisimilitude increases, and the superheroic feat of slowing down time to shoot better requires less suspension of disbelief than the previous two games, which allows players to become more immersed in the world and in the narrative of the story. 

 

 

 

 

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© 2019 by Dylan Schrader

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