The games from Rockstar Games are full of small details. What to note and discover has been revealed by a developer of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Which developer is it about? Ben Hinchliffe worked for a long time at Rockstar Games as a game designer. Specifically between 2009 and 2022. During that time, he contributed to major titles like GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2. He was also involved in the upcoming GTA 6 before leaving the company.
Recently, he revealed in an interview with the podcast GTAVIoclock, how detailed Red Dead Redemption 2 really is – and that there are contents that only a few players ever get to see.
Do you play strictly by the instructions?
What does Ben Hinchliffe say? Red Dead Redemption 2 is full of secrets that gradually come to light. Missions that can be approached in different ways. However, this is not always immediately apparent. The developer referred to a specific scene from the western epic that holds a secret ending.
The mission states to ambush a wagon belonging to the bootleggers. The game tells you that this should happen in a strategically good position, right in the middle of a bridge. Most players follow this instruction.
According to Hinchliffe, you can leave the revolver in the holster for a while and simply follow the wagon instead of robbing it right away. This way, you eventually move from the bridge to a bandit camp.
Here you encounter a whole group of hostile thugs. They all have their own routines and animations. Those who drove the wagon dismount and go into their tent.
Behind this initially insignificant scene lies a thought that is very important to Rockstar, which Hinchliffe summarizes as follows:
99% of people have never seen this because they ambushed the wagon on the bridge where they were told to. But it went again to the question: Where is it going, what is the story behind it, why is it going from here to there? So it was always this additional narrative that had to be integrated.
Ben Hinchliffe via GTAVIoclock
Rockstar could have simply developed the mission up to the point where players are supposed to strike on the bridge. But since unlikely decisions are always taken into account, they chose to incorporate this hidden ending.
Ben Hinchliffe believes that it is these details that make Rockstar’s games so good. They exist for people who “just want to play a little differently”. Do you belong to that group, or do you obediently follow the instructions? Hinchliffe also has an assessment regarding the development of GTA 6, the most eagerly awaited game at the moment: Former developer of GTA 6 explains what phase the game is currently in
