Throughout this week Rockstar Games has been rolling out access to the Red Dead Online Beta. Since November 27th all owners of the Ultimate edition have been able to play, from November 28th players who played the base game on launch day can join in, on November 29th all players who played between October 26th – 29th also get access. Finally from November 30th everyone is welcome to take part.
You will be able to explore the Red Dead world on your own or with friends. Already you can form a posse, set up camps, complete co-op story missions and go head to head in the competitive modes. The game begins with you being released from prison. You then acquire a horse, search for treasure and meet some larger than life characters. This part sounds like a mini tutorial setting the scene for the rest of Red Dead Online.
The honour system persists through to Online and the world will react differently depending on your honour level at the time. Missions will also play out slightly differently depending on whether you’ve been naughty or nice.
There will also be a raft of competition and showdown game modes that currently includes:
Shootout & Team Shootout
Classic gunfight modes with unlimited lives. Compete to rack up the most kills before the timer runs out. Sudden death will trigger in the event of a tie: whoever gets the first kill wins.
Make it Count
A true test of resourcefulness in two game modes: use nothing but a bow and a handful of arrows or throwing knives to be the last one standing. With a gradually shrinking player area, there’s nowhere to run.
Most Wanted
A tactical race to the top. Every kill pushes you up the scoreboard, but watch out: the closer to the top you are, the more points everyone else gets for killing you.
Hostile Territory
Work in teams to control the land. Capture a territory to start racking up points: the team with most points wins – or you can win outright by capturing every territory.
Name your Weapon
Demonstrate your personal specialty in this free-for-all or team based match: the trickier the weapon you use to land the killing blow, the more points you get
Be warned that as this is a beta build there will be bugs and the possibility of character resets although Rockstar will be aiming to keep these to a minimum.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on Xbox One and PS4.
