The Most Bizarre Ways To Die In Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a technical masterpiece that allows players to engage in a number of outlaw activities such as robberies, shootouts, and hunting as they explore a massive open world. The Western action-adventure game was developed and published by Rockstar Games, a studio notorious for enabling players to do just about anything in their previous Grand Theft Auto titles.
While Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to offer players the freedom to spend their virtual lives as they choose, the game also includes a multitude of different ways for players to meet their demise. Some of the most bizarre deaths come from the most unexpected sources, including special NPCs, animals, and the physics engine itself. From getting torn to pieces by a vicious lion to being struck by lightning, there truly are a million ways to die in the West.
Caution: Men at Work
Although Red Dead Redemption 2 boasts realistic physics thanks to Euphoria, Rockstar's constantly improving game animation engine, sometimes they can get a little too real. One particular death can occur when players interact with certain non-player characters, who will go about their business and continue working as the player walks by. While having these NPCs in the background adds to the immersion of the game, specific workers can accidentally kill players if they venture too close.
A perfect example of this is miners, who can be found throughout the map chipping away at the ground or wall of a mine with a pickaxe. These miners will never intentionally attack a player, but if Arthur happens to walk underneath them while crouching, he can actually be killed if a pickaxe connects with his head.
Swallowed by a geyser
The developers at Rockstar did a fantastic job of setting the scene with Red Dead Redemption 2, with flora and fauna that changes with the landscape as the player traverses it. One of these scenery details is a series of geysers and hot springs that can be found southwest of the Wapiti Indian Reservation in Grizzlies East.
Although some of the thermal pools in these locations are safe to swim in and actually quite inviting with their picturesque blue water and surrounding rings with hues of orange, yellow and green, other springs can slowly damage players and eventually kill them if they remain in the water too long. The smoldering geysers nearby are even more deadly than the hot springs, and can instantly kill any players who are curious or foolish enough to fall in them.
Struck by lightning
Another technical feat that Red Dead Redemption boasts is an impressive dynamic weather system. The climate around the player can change at random intervals, going from dark clouds and pouring rain one day to blinding sunshine the next. Although alternating weather is nothing new in open-world games, the weather effects look amazing in Rockstar's upgraded RAGE engine, and can even affect gameplay. The rain will transform dirt around the player into mud, and temperature can actually impact a player's health if they aren't wearing suitable clothing. Players might find themselves at a disadvantage if a blizzard breaks out and they are not prepared with a warm enough outfit.
Although most of these weather conditions will simply cause your cores to deplete more rapidly, there is one weather effect that can instantly kill Arthur. If players happen to be out in the open during a thunderstorm, they run the risk of being struck by lightning. These storms can be avoided by watching out for the flashing in distant cloud banks and for roaring thunder, and if players take shelter, they will be protected as they listen to the rain pattering on roofs.
Vampire attack
Rockstar is infamous for slipping Easter eggs into their games, and Red Dead Redemption 2 was no exception. From gigantic snakes to flying saucers, these unexpected features can range from weird to truly bizarre. Some of these strange encounters can actually kill unwitting players, like one of the deadliest creatures in all of Red Dead Redemption 2: a vampire that stalks the streets of Saints Denis.
In order to find the bloodsucker, players must inspect the streets of Saints Denis and discover different morbid messages scattered throughout the city. Once all five clues have been found, players will receive a mark in their journal revealing the location of the vampire, who can only be encountered between midnight and 1 a.m. in-game. When the player first stumbles upon the creature he is in the middle of drinking the blood of another victim and threatens to drain the player's blood if he does not leave. If the player either antagonizes the creature or waits too long to respond, the vampire will attack. The vampire is one of the few hostile NPCs that can instantly kill players and wields an ornate dagger that can only be obtained by surviving the fight.
If a tree falls in a forest...
Another reminder of how dangerously realistic the physics of Red Dead Redemption 2 are is the fact that a tree can actually fall and crush a player unlucky enough to be standing underneath it at the time. Northeast of the town Strawberry, there is a logging camp owned by the Appleseed Timber Company that players can stumble upon. Scattered across the camp are a number of lumberjacks constantly chopping away. Trees can not only instantly kill players, but their horses as well.
Lumberjacks will attempt to warn players who stray too close while they are working about the imminent danger. Also, just before a tree begins to buckle and fall, lumberjacks will yell out, "Timber!", as a last effort to alert any players who still haven't gotten the message. If you get crushed after that, it's really just your own fault.
Zombie outbreak
In either the Bluewater Marsh area in Lagras or Bayou Nwa, players can stumble upon another deadly supernatural encounter if they are traveling around nighttime. They will hear crying and see a flickering light coming from the woods. Upon further investigation, players will discover a woman sobbing beside a small fire. Get close enough to try and help her, and the woman will abruptly stab Arthur with a concealed knife and sprint away. Without warning, a group of nightmarish assailants known as Night Folk will then terrorize the outlaw.
Perhaps a nod to Undead Nightmare, the standalone zombie-themed expansion pack for the first Red Dead Redemption, this Night Folk faction strongly resembles a horde of zombies. The Night Folk move quickly using melee weapons and occasionally bows, never speak but make guttural noises, wear tattered clothing, and can sometimes be encountered carrying pieces of their last victim's corpse.
Hoof to the head
Yet another example of the killer physics in Red Dead Redemption 2 is how dangerous a nervous horse can be when approached from behind. If horses are startled, then there is a good chance they will be hostile to anyone who approaches them too quickly. As it turns out, a well-aimed hoof to the head can be lethal.
This goes for any kind of horse, whether it is a wild mare, a stallion that an NPC tied up outside a bar, or the player's very own mount. In order to pacify a distressed horse, players must slowly and carefully approach the horse while pressing the corresponding button when the "calm" prompt pops up. Some horses can be more vulnerable than others to being startled, depending on their breed and how much players have bonded with them, but at the end of the day every mount can potentially kill players who are not careful.
Unsafe working conditions
In the Heartlands region of New Hanover, there is a location called Castor's Ridge where a farmhouse is slowly being constructed. When a player discovers this location, an encounter with the family building the house leads to a small side mission. The family consists of two boys and their father, who is attempting to teach his boys some carpentry skills.
The dad will initiate a dialogue with Morgan when he approaches, explaining the situation as the boys put a frame into place: his boys "couldn't hammer a nail to save their lives." The father turns out to be right, as moments later one of the sons shouts "Look out!" as the frame comes toppling down. The boys manage to scramble away, but if Arthur is unfortunate enough to be standing there, he will be instantly killed as it falls down.
Mauled by a lion
Across the map, there are a number of different terrifying apex predators, such as bears and gators, that can tear Arthur apart with ease. Although the legendary versions of these beasts grow to an alarming size, there is only one animal in Red Dead Redemption 2 that feels so out of place in the Western genre that its appearance can only be classified as bizarre. That beast is the lion, which can only be encountered once at Emerald Ranch during the Strangers side mission "He's British, Of Course."
This side mission begins when players encounter a circus animal wrestler named Margaret sulking around a crashed caravan. Margaret explains to Arthur that all of his animals escaped after the crash, and tasks Arthur with the responsibility of tracking and returning as many of these exotic animals as he can. The lion is the last of these creatures Margaret sends Arthur after.
Once players reach the location Margaret provided, they will come across several farmers frantically trying to barricade a barn door with their bodies. After Arthur convince the NPCs to let him inside to take a look, players find an empty barn and hear noises on the roof. Upon returning outside, players discover the bloody corpses of a farmer and a horse and track the lion to some stables nearby. The lion is one of the only enemies that is able to instantly kill the player, which it does by slicing open Arthur's throat with a claw to the neck.
Rammed
Although not all of the animals in Red Dead Redemption 2 are quite as bizarre and out of place as a lion, several of them can still kill the player in a very unexpected way. Some of the least threatening animals, such as deer, rams, and goats, can actually kill players if they are not paying attention to their surroundings.
Although most experienced players will disregard these seemingly docile animals after hunting down more dangerous animals such as legendary gators and bears, they can get defensive if they feel cornered. Deer and rams can barrel into Arthur, knocking him over and sending him tumbling backward. If Arthur happens to be standing near a ledge when he's hit, that will be the end of the once-mighty gunslinger.
Catapulted
One of the most absurd ways that players can die in Red Dead Redemption 2 is yet again tied in with the physics engine. However, this particular death can only occur while horseback riding over specific terrain. Although definitely a glitch, this bug results in players and their horses sometimes being thrown high and far across the map.
This physics flaw is fickle and difficult to reproduce, but mostly seems to occur when players are galloping at a high enough speed over certain uneven surfaces and ledges. Although it does look pretty hilarious watching Arthur hurtle through the sky like he was just shot from a cannon, most players who experience this glitch stop laughing after they land. Which is to say, they die upon crashing back down to earth. That's just what happens when a cowboy flies to close to the sun.
Rock surfing
The physics of Red Dead Redemption 2 can provide players with endless hours of fun, but also quite a few heartbreaking moments when they seem to take on a mind of their own. The falling mechanics can be frustrating as players watch Arthur roll down ledges, taking damage with each tumble. Typically, the sliding mechanics do not kill players, as Arthur has to free fall from a significant height in order to take any substantial damage. However, there are some areas of the map that seem to defy the laws of gravity and can turn the sliding mechanics into a death sentence.
This death befalls players who step on rocky surfaces, especially those that are formed in a V-shape. When players slip down one end of the V, they can sometimes find themselves sliding right past the bottom of the structure and tumbling upwards the other side. Once players reach the top, they are promptly sent falling back to the bottom of the V where they die on impact.