PC Gamer - UK (2022-04)

assume you have to finish the entire
shift) and, well, some punches are
thrown. I’ll be honest, I started the
fight. The boss, however, finishes it,
punching me to death on the very
boardwalk I’d just partially cleaned.

MINE, NOT YOURS
After recovering, I head back to
Annesburg to try my hand at another
job: miner. There’s nothing more
glamorous than hitting a wall with a
pickaxe until a piece of it comes off,
and that’s just what I do. For a while.
This time it isn’t boredom or
restlessness that causes my shift to
end early, it’s all the boxes of
explosives the miners have left
scattered around. Considering I’d
been playing RDR2 for an hour at this
point and hadn’t so much as drawn
my six-shooter, those explosive crates
grew more and more tempting. After
mining my third node, I couldn’t
resist. I figure I’ll quickly blow up a
box and then finish my shift.
It doesn’t quite work out that way.
The box blows up beautifully, but the
explosion kills a couple miners and
all the miners it didn’t kill start
running around, ready to snitch. I
don’t get it, frankly. The fewer miners
there are, the more mining there is
for the rest of us, right? Well, the
mining company, and in fact the
entire town doesn’t see it that way.
My wages, if I ever get to collect any,
are going to be spent on my bounty,
which reaches into the hundreds of
dollars after the ensuing gunfight.
Annesburg wasn’t the place for
me. I take a stagecoach to the muddy
town of Valentine, where nothing bad
has ever happened to me. There I
visit the bar and ask for a job. While
I’d hoped to be mixing cocktails and
thoughtfully wiping glasses while
drunk cowboys told me their stories,
instead I’m dispatched to clean some
tables. And I actually enjoy that! If
there’s a customer sitting at a table
they say a little something while I
scrub, and nothing explodes for my
entire shift. A job well done, and the
bartender actually pays me.
I spend my wages on a hotel
room, and in the morning I take a
delivery job, which instructs me to
take a crook from the Valentine
sheriff’s office to the lawmen in
Rhodes. The bounty is already tied
up, so I throw him on the back of my
horse and set off, ignoring the
minimap which is giving my
directions back to Annesburg because
there are still boardwalks to scrub

and coal to mine. The ride,

surprisingly, is uneventful, except for

the very end. I accidentally knock a

Rhodes resident over with my horse,

he drags me into the mud, and we

scuffle. I kill him with a head butt.

But then I deliver the bounty and get

paid. Only a single death! I think I’m

getting the hang of this job thing.

OPEN ROAD

There’s no more jobs in Rhodes, so I

head to the big city, St Denis. There’s

a shepherding job available, though

I’m a little dismayed to see it wants

me to drive a herd of sheep over to

Valentine, which I just left. Still, work

is work. I hop on my horse and the

sheep follow me out of town, except

for the one I accidentally trample to

death. I’m a little nervous leading

sheep through the bayou, which if

memory serves is absolutely filled

with alligators. But the threat instead

comes from a fellow traveller, who

rides his wagon right over one of my

sheep. That’s two down. But the real

issue is that the rest of the sheep,

having seen their brethren crushed to

death, stop following. I shout, I fire in

the air, but nothing can bring them

back in line. They spread out into

their new habitat. They are now

swamp sheep. I wish them godspeed

and hope the gators accept them.

I return to St Denis, this time into

a much classier bar than the one in

Valentine, though the table scrubbing

is just as enjoyable, and the clientele

is much fancier. In the midst of

cleaning tables, however, a fight

breaks out. Part of my bartending

duties include breaking up brawls, so

I wade in and start swinging. Issue is,

part of the police’s duties are also to

break up fights, and at some point my

wild fists connect with a cop’s face. I

surrender and spend the night in jail.

I think only two people died, so that’s

not a completely unsuccessful shift.

In the morning I’m released and

take another delivery job, this one

going from St Denis to Valentine.

This time I’m not carrying a bounty

on my horse but driving a wagon.

Sounds great to me! Then I see the

wagon, which is actually a massive

metal tank owned by the Cornwall

Kerosene and Gas Company.

Ah, yes. Who better to deliver a

giant explosive tank of combustible

liquid than a guy whose CV includes

deliberately blowing up a box of

explosives at his last job? Knowing

it’s probably not going to end well, I

hop in to the wagon. My minimap is

filled with so many lines telling me I

still need to return to Annesburg to

complete mining or scrubbing, but at

least the pips showing all the sheep I

abandoned in the bayou have finally

vanished. I flick the reins and smash

directly into the small wagon parked

right in front of me. Nothing

explodes, and the wagon driver yells

rather than trying to drag me to the

ground and beat me to death.

I head out more cautiously. The

streets are filled with pedestrians and

cops. I accidentally ride down the

streetcar tracks for a bit, but no train

comes. I slowly, but surely, make my

way out of St Denis. So far, this is

going better than any job I’ve had

since I scrubbed those tables.

It doesn’t last. As I’m winding my

way across the map, I take the wagon

across a covered bridge. As I near the

end, two men jump out, pointing

their guns at me. I can’t stop in time.

They shoot, killing one of the horses,

effectively causing this job to fail like

most of the rest. I return fire. The

wagon explodes. Six people die,

including me. I guess I’m just not cut

out for honest work.

MOD SQUAD

Other great singleplayer RDR2 mods

CREATE YOUR OWN GANG

Screw Dutch. Run your own gang

and do your own heists. Just like

a real boss.

MODEL SWAP

Why play as a boring old human

when you can be a bird, or wolf, or

any other creature in the game?

HOT AIR BALLOON

Arthur Morgan doesn’t spend

enough time airborne. This mod

lets you summon a balloon.

PIG RIDER

Horses are nice, but riding a pig

through the Wild West? It’s just a

little bit better.

I HOP ON MY

HORSE AND THE

SHEEP FOLLOW ME

OUT OF TOWN

MAJOR MODS, ANALYSED

MOD SPOTLIGHT