Rockstar Games’Red Dead Redemption 2presents gamers with the definitive wild west experience in the medium. With a massive map to explore, a deep web of gameplay systems to navigate, and a sprawling campaign and online mode to match, the game leaves little to want for. While all ofRed Dead Redemption 2is a wannabe cowboy’s dream, no region encapsulates that more than New Austin. New Austin is the wild west as the collective imagination of American cinematic media has always depicted it: a sprawling lawless desert littered with outposts and towns. InRed Dead Redemption 2, no town captures this fantasy more than Armadillo.
By the time players make their way to Armadillo inRed Dead Redemption 2’sstory, the world of the game is all too familiar. While players of the originalRed Dead Redemptionwill fondly remember the small town, new players will be greeted with what they probably expected when they booted up the title: the archetypical old western town. It is all but deserted, save for the saloon, and it is very much in the middle of nowhere. Riding into Armadillo out of the barren desert is like riding into a Clint Eastwood movie, and that extends past the towns' appearance.
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Part of the reason Armadillo is so special inRed Dead Redemption 2is that it follows classic western genre tropes. When players arrive in Armadillo it is all but deserted. Scarlet fever is ravaging the town and much of it is deserted and lifeless, save for the saloon and a few stores. The Del Lobo gang occasionally rides through to cause chaos, but the sheriff has left town to avoid becoming ill. Armadillo is a rough and tumble depiction of the west. While much ofRed Dead Redemption 2’senvironmentsare prairies and bayous, Armadillo and its surrounding areas are the west as movies have depicted it for decades.
In Armadillo, because there is no sheriff, there are no bounties, making it truly lawless. While theRed Dead Redemption 2honor systemremains intact, players can make their own rules in Armadillo more than any other place in the game. This opens the door to the cowboy fantasy. Players could take advantage of the lawlessness to cause havoc and torment the town. It’s equally valid to combat the Del Lobo gang when they appear and act as the towns' protector. While Armadillo is in better shape inRDR Online, which is set before the outbreak, much of the fantasy crafted here remains.
The town of Armadillo is one of the peaks ofimmersion inRed Dead Redemption 2. While one of the coolest parts of the game is its diversity of locations and communities, depicting a more realistic west than that of you classic cowboy movie, Armadillo is special in the way that it embodies that fantasy. Armadillo presents a sandbox for cowboy role play that is unique inRed Dead Redemption 2and while the ability to get away with anything there might feel more basic than much of what exists in the rest of the game, the presentation of this fantasy only works to elevate the rest of the experience.
With all the meticulously crafted places anddetails inRed Dead Redemption 2, Armadillo manages to stand out as unique. Though it’s nearly empty, visiting Armadillo is as memorable as one’s first time in Saint-Denis, the game’s largest urban center. In spite of its size and relative insignificance, Armadillo represents a love letter to the western genre and its cinematic tradition that inspired much of the rest of the game. Instead of offering a nuanced depiction of the west, it thrives in depicting a simplistic and cinematic one. While all ofRed Dead Redemptionoffers the cowboy fantasy to players, Armadillo embodies it.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
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