Blimey! Red Dead Redemption 2's Secret Sauce Was More Sherlock Holmes Than Six-Shooter?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Dan Houser, co-creator of Red Dead Redemption 2, revealed that the game's acclaimed narrative was significantly inspired by Victorian novels like `Middlemarch` and `Sherlock Holmes`. This surprising influence allowed him to craft a "novelistic" story structure that perfectly complemented the open-world format, highlighting a deeply thoughtful approach to game design and hinting at his future innovative storytelling projects with Absurd Ventures.
Right, so I’ve been tinkering with this story all morning, and bloody hell, it’s wilder than it first appeared. You know that feeling when you dig into the lore of a game, expecting dragons and ancient prophecies, and instead you find… a well-thumbed copy of a 19th-century novel? Yeah, that’s pretty much what’s happening with Red Dead Redemption 2.
Fair warning: this news sounds a bit academic at first glance, but stick with me, mate, because it’s about to get properly interesting for anyone who’s ever wondered why RDR2 felt so damn *different*. We're talking about the deep cuts, the stuff beneath the surface that makes a game truly sing.
Apparently, Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser – the bloke who helped conjure up the likes of GTA and, naturally, RDR2 – has been doing the rounds lately, chatting about his new venture, Absurd Ventures. And in a recent chinwag with The Guardian (as originally reported by Eurogamer), he dropped a tidbit that blew my digital socks off. Turns out, our favourite sprawling Western epic, Red Dead Redemption 2, owes as much to dusty Victorian-era literature as it does to classic cowboy films.
"I binged on Victorian novels for that," Houser explained, even admitting to listening to George Eliot’s `Middlemarch` on audiobook while trekking to the office. `Middlemarch`, I tell you! Not exactly the kind of gritty Western pulp you’d expect to fuel Arthur Morgan’s tragic saga, is it? It’s like finding out your favourite FPS hero was actually inspired by a knitting pattern – utterly unexpected, and frankly, a bit brilliant.
Now, why, you might ask, would a man crafting one of the most visually stunning, narratively rich games of our generation dive headfirst into the intellectual depths of the Victorian age? Houser’s reasoning is where it gets really clever, like finding a hidden passageway in a seemingly solid wall. He wanted RDR2 to feel "slightly more novelistic" from a writing perspective. He reckoned it was a way of doing "something new on the story side," especially since the game was going to look "so pretty, the art was so strong." He felt the story needed to properly *set it up*.
And that, my friends, is the magic. It wasn’t just about making a pretty picture; it was about giving that picture a soul, a depth that resonated beyond the pixels. Think about it: how many games boast incredible graphics but leave you feeling a bit… empty? Houser wasn't content with just a gorgeous playground; he wanted a compelling narrative scaffold sturdy enough to hold all that visual majesty.
His search for this specific narrative *tone* didn’t just lead him to Eliot’s masterpiece, but also to other Victorian giants, including the legendary Sherlock Holmes. And honestly, when he pointed out that big 19th-century novels have more in common with open-world games than meets the eye, talking about a "sense of slightly spread out storytelling," a lightbulb exploded in my virtual brain.
It’s fair dinkum, isn't it? These massive novels, often with sprawling casts, intricate subplots, and multiple character arcs unfolding over hundreds of pages, mirror the very structure of a modern open-world game. You’re not just following one linear path; you’re exploring a world, dipping into side quests, getting to know a diverse cast of NPCs, and watching overarching narratives slowly unfurl. It’s a masterclass in weaving complexity, much like a grand Victorian novel. This isn't just surface-level inspiration; it's a fundamental understanding of how to craft a truly expansive, living story.
We talk a lot about "world-building" in gaming, often focusing on the geography or the lore. But Houser’s insight reminds us that true world-building extends to the *narrative architecture*. It's not just about creating a place, but creating a story that feels organic to that place, capable of spreading its roots wide and deep. No wonder RDR2 felt so incredibly immersive – it had the literary bones of a sprawling epic from the get-go.
It makes me wonder about other games that strive for narrative depth. Are they digging into unexpected sources too, or are they just recycling the same old tropes? Houser's approach is a testament to the power of diverse inspiration, a reminder that innovation doesn't always come from within the gaming bubble itself, but from looking far afield. This isn't some corporate PR spiel about "synergistic innovation"; it's a genuine creative process that delivered a truly impactful experience.
Speaking of Houser, he parted ways with Rockstar in 2020 (a move that probably sent shockwaves through the studio, like a particularly strong spell backfiring). Now, with Absurd Ventures, he’s charting new courses. They’re cooking up things like `A Better Paradise`, which sounds like a meta-narrative about a video game project gone horribly wrong – a novel, podcast, TV series, and even a game. And then there's `American Caper`, a new crime fiction universe, and `Absurdaverse`, a story-driven action-comedy adventure game.
It’s exciting to see a creative mind like Houser’s, who clearly values deep, novelistic storytelling, venturing out to explore new interactive mediums. It suggests a future where stories aren’t just told *in* games, but where the *nature* of storytelling itself is being pushed and prodded in intriguing directions. Could this blend of traditional narrative forms with interactive experiences be a precursor to something truly groundbreaking in how we consume stories, especially for those of us interested in new ways of engagement, perhaps even leveraging future technologies to make these narratives more expansive and player-driven? I reckon it's a possibility worth keeping an eye on.
So, next time you’re roaming the digital plains of Red Dead Redemption 2, tipping your hat to an NPC or tracking a particularly elusive bounty, spare a thought for Sherlock Holmes and the literary giants of the Victorian age. Because it turns out, the Wild West was perhaps a bit more genteel, and a whole lot more thoughtful, than we ever imagined. And that, mate, is what makes gaming such a bloody fascinating frontier.
Tags: RedDeadRedemption2, GameDesign, Narrative, DanHouser, LiteraryInspiration
Original article: Eurogamer