A few hours ago, we all lost our collective minds as the first footage of Red Dead Redemption 2 hit the internet like a well-flung horseshoe. The carefully laid out hype took full advantage of the 5 long years we’ve all been waiting to see another instalment in the series, and, at least for my part, the trailer did not disappoint.

Rockstar have a habit of making their early trailers rather cryptic, the first GTA V teaser gave away almost nothing except the setting, so what can we glean from this one? Well, let’s break it down and find out.

John? Is that you?

Our first sight is of a lone rider with a stunning sunrise at his back. Now, when the GTA V teaser came out, they cannily referenced previous leading characters, only to later reveal that none of them played any kind of role in the game (unless you count Johnny Klebitz being beating to death by Trevor). This probably isn’t John Marston, or his son, so really the only thing that this eye-catching opener shows is that you’ll be riding a horse. We kind of already figured that much out.

Nature’s call

One of the things Red Dead is best remembered for is immersing players in a vibrant, functional ecosystem. From the herbivores to the carnivores to the wilting trees, everything was accounted for, and a lot of the excitement for the sequel has been centred around the fact that it will be doing the same thing with far greater processing power. This stretch of woodland is our first taste of that.

Holy fuck…

And there’s the second. This is what current generation draw distance looks like when you use it right. It’s pointless wondering whether or not this is in-engine, because this trailer is effectively a tech demo. By the looks of the landscape, the new game might be more closely tied to some of the more Northerly regions of the United States, which only featured in a fraction of the first game.

Marston’s Marshmallows

Well, doesn’t this look pleasant/terrifying/incredible. Putting aside the staggeringly rendered starscape for a moment, this could be a hint as to a part of the first game which will be expanded upon in the second. Camping was a progress saving mechanic in Red Read, and once you’d done it you just moved on. This looks like it could be a more long-term residence, so it could be that you might find yourself building campsites to use over a few days if you’re out in the wilderness for a while.

Prairie doggin’

Again, no word here on whether this is a character or just some guy. My money’s on some guy. Hunting was a big part of the first game, but once you shot something you just skinned it there and then. Having to bring carcasses back with you after a kill could be a new mechanic tied to a more realistic, intrinsic element of gameplay.

Goddamn, you play a mean banjo…

This is new. As many a frustrated gamer will recall, John Marston could not swim, making water a lethal hazard. While this footage doesn’t prove that the same won’t be the case again, it shows another non-equestrian mode of transport which may be available, and further suggests that the wilderness might be so vast that huge chunks of the game are spent simply traversing it. I’m all for that.

Ted Turner would approve

Bison were present in the first game, and a rather upsetting achievement tasked you with wiping out the entire local population. Seems like there might be more of them this time around. As for the train, the robbery mission was one of the most memorable, so having them play a more significant role this time around would certainly be no bad thing.

What are ya buyin’?

One of the things GTA V improved upon massively was just how alive and vibrant the city felt, and it’s exciting to see that the same rule will likely apply to the more populous areas in Red Dead 2. AI has come along way since the first game, and it’ll be interesting to see how the characters interact and react.

Rancho Relaxo

Red Dead was a slow game to get going. After getting shot, you spend most of the earlier part of the game herding cattle and taking a drink every time John Marston says ‘Ms McFarlane’. It was an interesting, if sedate way to introduce us to the mechanics of the game. It could well be that farming takes place in the new one too, but I doubt it’ll be quite so prominent.

Uncultured vultures

The Old West was a grim, depressing place and Red Dead made no secret of that. The same seems to be the case here as well, and economic turmoil could well be a key theme in this game as it was in the last. Also, it could just be me, but that guy on the wagon bears a more than passing resemblence to Seth Briars, a central love-to-hate character in the first game, albeit with a great big bushy beard.

Milkshake, anyone?

Red Dead was set in 1911, the Texas oil boom had already happened and the industry was steadily expanding. It could be that this game is set right in the middle of the rush, some 15 or 20 years previous, and that the industry plays a key role in the game’s narrative. Red Dead was really about the lingering death of the Old West, so this could be exploring some of the big industry movements that set that decay in motion. Also, some of the oil is on fire, that isn’t supposed to happen.

Our leading man

Well, who do we have here? Some dude, looking rather ominous. The repeater rifle in his hand is pretty telling, since lever-action repeaters didn’t become freely available until the mid-19th century. As for who this is, or why he’s so ok with the huge fire in front of him, it’s hard to say, but this could be an early peek at our protagonist. More intriguing still is the voiceover: “Listen to me, when the time comes, you gotta run and don’t look back. This is over.” What’s over? Who’s talking? WHAT YEAR IS THIS!?

Crew dem!

Sorry, did I say protagonist? We might be looking at another multiple character scenario. In either case, you can guarantee that multiplayer is going to be a huge factor in this new game, and gang-oriented activity like raids, robberies and other such capers will likely factor in.

That’s all, folks!

And that’s all we have to go on so far. The main thing at the moment is to appreciate just how stunning these early builds look. However the game is structured, you can bet that exploring the vast landscape is going to be the main draw, and Rockstar are clearly well aware of that. If it looks this good now, and we’ve still got a year before it drops, imagine how it’s going to look then. Stop drooling on the keyboard.