Red Dead Redemption is finally launching on PC, and many players are preparing themselves to relive this unique adventure or experience it for the first time. With discovering the secrets included!
Like its sequel, Red Dead Redemption boasts a selection of secrets and Easter Eggs that many gamers have yet to see.
Some refer to the second installment, while others make no sense, but discovering each is fun. Let’s explore the best RDR1 secrets this phenomenal game has to offer!
1. Shawshank Reference
If you’ve seen The Shawshank Redemption, this secret may become one of your favorites.
Remember the last scene in the movie? Travel to Beecher’s Hope and the surrounding areas may reward you with an unusual sight – a lone tree next to a broken brick wall in the middle of peaceful grassland.
It’s a prize spot that looks exactly like the one in the movie, where Red (Morgan Freeman) finds a treasure.
2. Achievement Names
Have you ever seen the specific achievement names in RDR1 gameplay?
If not, you might be surprised by these particular pop culture references, including Austin Overpowered (Austin Powers reference), Dodge This (Matrix reference), One Die to Rule Them All (The Lord of the Rings reference) or Over 9001 (Dragon Ball Z reference).
Just pay them closer attention and try to figure them all out yourself!
3. Red Dead Revolver
Few know this, but in 2004, Rockstar Games released Red Dead Revolver – an action video game about a man named Red.
Surprisingly, the RDR1 story is brimming with references to this title. Joining a campfire, players can hear the story of a dueling contest involving a certain Red Harlow.
The Reeeeal Good achievement is a direct reference to Pig Josh’s character, who used to say: “You’re gonna blow up reeeeeeeeeeal good, cowboy!”. Several locations look like the 2004 game – a must-see for anyone who played this golden classic.
4. Mystery Site
Although it’s absent in Red Dead Redemption 2, the Mystery Site still stirs up a lot of excitement among fans of the series.
It’s an unmarked location next to Repentance Rock, where you can find a deer pelt surrounded by three rune stones.
Runes are everywhere, but what interests players the most is a plate in the south with carvings depicting a sun, a massive man, a devil-like figure, a buffalo, and a tree. What do they mean? Maybe you will be the one to answer that question!
5. The Beatles Reference
If you head to the cemetery next to Blackwater Chapel, you will find Harrison Cherry’s grave.
That may be a direct reference to George Harrison from The Beatles, who used to play a cherry guitar. Also, on a different gravestone in Old Fellow’s Rest, you can find the “He’ll never dance with another” inscription – a pretty obvious reference to The Beatles’ “I Saw Her Standing There” song.
6. Zombie Horror Producers
Focusing on the zombie plague, the Undead Nightmare DLC explores fun secrets, like celebrating several influential figures in the horror genre as zombie NPC characters.
While exploring this expansion, you may come across Viper Craven (a possible reference to horror director Wes Craven), Paco Romero (a George Romero reference), Poe Boll (an Edgar Allan Poe/Uwe Boll reference), or Sarah Reese (a possible reference to Sarah Reese Brennan or Sarah Connor and Kyle Reese from Terminator).
7. Six Years in the Making
It’s a secret achievement in the Undead Nightmare DLC, requiring you to find and kill a Sasquatch.
The title refers to Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, where many players searched for Bigfoot in Whetstone County. Furthermore, the French version of the game offered a quest named “Plus la peine de chercher, CJ” which translates to “No need to seek it anymore, CJ”.
CJ refers to Carl Johnson, the protagonist of GTA: San Andreas. And why exactly is the quest called Six Years in the Making? It turns out that Red Dead Redemption launched six years after the release of San Andreas – a fun little nod to all players devoted to finding Bigfoot!
8. Rio Bravo Reference
If you’ve played multiplayer, you’ve probably noticed the odd player titles – Dude and Pilgrim.
It’s the reference to the legendary Rio Bravo movie starring the phenomenal John Wayne and Dean Martin.
9. Flat Iron Lake
It’s a truly secret location, as only those willing to travel to the very edges of the map know about it. Flat Iron Lake is a massive body of water on the eastern border of the Great Plains in the West Elizabeth territory.
Although the lake is almost in the center of the Red Dead Redemption 2 map, John Marston can admire only its section in the first installation. If you get there, you can see the land on the other side of the lake – it’s Lemoyne, available to players in RDR2.
10. The Strange Man
The Strange Man is the biggest mystery of the Red Dead Redemption series, especially since he appears in both parts. In RDR1, players can meet him as part of the side mission, I Know You.
John meets this NPC in three locations while completing the task, and the last time, he sees the man looking at Beecher’s Hope. Even when the protagonist tries to shoot him, the Strange Man seems unfazed and resumes his stroll. What is so strange about him? The man knows surprisingly many facts about our character’s past, including those John Marston himself doesn’t remember.
Things get even stranger when players encounter him in Red Dead Redemption 2, but we won’t spoil this pleasure!
Conclusion
Like the Grand Theft Auto series, Red Dead Redemption is packed with mysteries, secret locations, and references. The first part is especially worth playing, as many events represent a prelude to their development in the second installation.
All these developer’s tricks indicate that from the very beginning, the stories of John Marston and Arthur Morgan were supposed to evolve into one perfectly coherent universe.