Immersion Through Interactivity
The best open world games are typically beautiful, and they often keep us invested in interesting narratives. Red Dead Redemption 2 promises to do both of those things, but more importantly, it’s potentially offering a level of interactivity that might very well make it the most immersive open world environment of all time.
From what we’ve seen so far, it seems Rockstar is intent to re-calibrate our expectations for where and when these interactions take place. Even the most mundane of interactions are given new weight with a system that allows us to aggravate or talk down hostile NPCs, indicated by a HUD appearing in the bottom right of the screen. And this same HUD seems to pop up during cinematic engagements, too, giving us the option to deal with situations according to preference, presumably shaping the narrative in the process.
More than just the way we as players are able to interact with the environment, it’s the way that Red Dead Redemption 2 will feed information to players that might well prove revolutionary for open world design. It looks set to achieve this by updating players with information and new quests in an organic and streamlined way. I’ve already written about my hopes that the game changes open world design: the way players engage in quests, moving beyond the archaic practice of having to approach an NPC with a certain icon above their head to take quests. It’s something that has existed in open world design for far too long. It was first described by IGN following their own behind-closed-doors preview, but we’re certainly seeing that system in practice during the trailer. As Marston walks through camp, he’s approached by NPCs full of gossip, he overhears other conversations on the way past. Ultimately, whether you chose to engage or ignore these quests, tasks, clues, or whatever they might be, it looks to all be done according to whether you want to stick around and keep listening rather than activating an icon. That’s infinitely more compelling, and if it proves the case, the sort of inventive game design that will move the genre forward in a meaningful way.
