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I have to confess
that I’m a bit
of a super-fan
of Rockstar’s
games. That the
company’s games
play fantastically
well, have brilliant themes and are
presented so stylishly, is obvious. But
my favourite moments in any Rockstar
game are all to do with the dialogue.
Rockstar is always so very strong on
characterisation that, even going back
to beginning of GTA, its games always
contain delicious scripting. There is
so much quotable scripted dialogue in
Red Dead Redemption II that we could
fill this entire issue of OXM just with
those gems. However, it’s the more
incidental moments of chatter that
really impress. With a massive voice
cast and 12,000 lines of dialogue
seemingly for every named character,
everyone’s got something unique and
funny to say. The game is packed with
chatty non-named NPCs too, from
farm-hands having their own hilarious
conversations to the bloke looking for
his mate, Gavin. I absolutely have to
go and check out a flashing ‘Stranger’
blip, just to witness a little bonus
nugget of NPC dialogue, even if it has
nothing to do with Arthur.
The most ingenious touch, though,
is RDRII’s system of social interaction
- probably the most finely-tuned
piece of world-building ever put into
a game. Arthur can interact with his
fellow gang members in ways that
feel convincing and often give deeper
insights into that character. You can
also interact positively or negatively
with any NPC anywhere, and
the results can be anywhere
between matter-of-factly
civil to wonderfully rude,
but it always feels
natural, no matter how
far you take it. A simple
walk around Saint Denis
can show Rockstar’s
wizardry at work. Stopping
at a bench where a man and
a woman are sat, minding their
own business, I decide Arthur should
antagonise them. “Look at you fools!”
sneers Arthur. They shuffle in their
seats uncomfortably. I defuse the
situation by saying, “I’m only joking
with you!” The French-accented
ABOVE The
interactions you
can have with
your Van Der
Linde gang-mates
at camp make
them feel more
rounded as
characters.“Running around the
Bullworth Academy, you
can greet or antagonise
random kids”
woman replies with, “You have a
cruel sense of humour, monsieur.” I
continue to taunt by saying, “At least
you’ve got each other.” The woman
rises to leave, mightily offended.
‘Antagonise’ is pressed again, and
Arthur says, “I’m sorry, I don’t know
why I find this so amusing.” No, he
really doesn’t - but childishly, I do.
A man rides past on his horse, and I
‘call out’. He reins his horse to a stop.
I ‘dismiss’ him with, “Ah, I can’t be
bothered,” He replies by saying, “Well
okay then,” and trots on a couple of
feet. I ‘greet’ him again, he stops, and
gets hit by a tram. Arthur, you’re
such a jerk.Bully for you
It all helps the world
feel like it’s actually
populated, although
this is not the first time
Rockstar has used this
idea. The brilliant Bully:
Scholarship Edition uses a
similar system for social interaction
that makes Jimmy Hopkins’ school
come to life with self-obsessed
preppy kids, greasers, nerds and
jocks. Running around the Bullworth
Academy, you can greet or antagonise
kids. Insult them and they’ll respondWHAT IS IT?
Rockstar’s NPC
responses depending on
your choice to greet or
antagonise, resulting in
exchanged pleasantries
or you dead in the mud.with anything from, “You’re not going
to hurt me are you?” to the spunkier,
“I can see why people say you’re a
true diplomat!” Push them further,
they might say, “You’re scaring me!”
Smaller kids will say things like, “No
no, please, no wedgies!” Push a
bigger kid, even a nerd, and he’ll say
something like, “You sir, are cruising
for a bruising!” and it might end up in a
bundle, as he attacks you screaming,
“That’s a level five attack!” Conversely,
strike up a ‘greet’ conversation and it
might go from a cordial, “What’s up?”
to the kid complimenting your clothes.
The funniest one I’ve heard was when
Jimmy tried to greet a preppy kid, who
responded with, “Those are the worst
trousers I’ve ever seen!” At this point,
off-screen, another kid yelled out,
“Funny pants!” It’s oddly authentic –
every school has a Nelson from The
Simpsons, primed and ready to join in
the ‘ha ha’s, right?
The real genius of the system is
how simple it appears – responses
are reasonably generic, but sound
so natural. It creates at least the
illusion of a world that is alive and
full of characters with whom you can
interact, and you feel that have a
choice in how you interact with them,
providing an incredibly rich backdrop
to the sandbox gameplay.
With Red Dead Redemption II,
this has been refined to such an
extent that you can have kind-of
conversations with random NPCs,
which never fail to amuse me. Then
again, maybe that Saint Denis NPC was
right when he told me, “Your sense of
humour is an acquired taste!” QMore Xbox news at gamesradar.com/oxm THE OFFICIAL XBOX MAGAZINE 105