An outlaw on a pocket-sized horse is making waves on the internet as aRed Dead Redemption 2video shows John Marston in a new light. With his six-shooters, bandolier, and Stetson hat, somehow, the legendary cowboy from Rockstar’sRed Dead Redemption 2isn’t as imposing as he used to be.
Red Dead Redemption 2,released in October 2018, was a genre-defining action-adventure game that ranks in certain circles as one of the greatest of all time. With a 97 on Metacritic and multiple game of the year awards on its mantle, Rockstar’s gorgeously-realized frontier set during the end of the old west is unparalleled in its breadth of detail and fidelity. Following the life and times of Dutch Van Der Linde’s rough-and-tumble gang of outlaws,the story ofRed Dead Redemption 2is ultimately a somber one, filled with high-stakes conflicts, heart-rending tragedies, and complex introspective moral lessons on themes such as greed, family, and friendship. As is par for the course with Rockstar titles,Red Dead Redemption 2also has its fair share of levity, with moments ranging from humorous to downright goofy during the course of the game.
RELATED:Red Dead Redemption 2 Achieves its Highest Concurrent Player Count on PC
TikTok user toxicthe._.simp released a video of a commenter’s challenge to try and make the smallest horse that John Marston can still ride. Whether through mods or console commands, a horse scale slider is shown as it is adjusted downward. After a little trial-and-error, the result of the challenge is a hilariously awkward .14-scale horse trotting throughthe town of Blackwaterwith a full-sized rider dragging their feet through the dirt. To an Eric Breton ragtime piano tune, the absurd scene is a delightful 15-second homage toRed Dead Redemption 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2utilizes Rockstar’s proprietary in-house RAGE engine: an immensely powerful game engine that supports pre-calculated global illumination, industry-leading enhanced physics, animations, and AI, as well as physically based rendering and volumetric fog. It is a technical marvel but far from flawless. Rockstar games have a long history of immersion-breaking bugs and quirks of physics and AI, often to amusing results. There are scores ofvideos ofRed Dead Redemption 2and its RAGE engine behaving erratically.
In agame world that can be as dour asRed Dead Redemption 2,sometimes it is nice just to be able to get a laugh in. Videos like toxicthe._.simp’s remind us that, more than anything else, video games are meant to be enjoyed. For as much value as there is in complex drama, it can be a lot of fun to take that dramatic element and dress it down to something silly.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available to play on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
