Forget about any of those E3 2018 games, and all that talk of Fallout 76 and Rage 2. Red Dead Redemption 2 is still the biggest title of the year, and any new sliver of information is enough to break the internet with a hearty "Yee-haw!".
The pre-order details for Rockstar's upcoming open world western have gone live, revealing exactly what you'll get if you purchase the sequel in advance of its October 26 release date.
Follow that link to see what's included for yourself, or you can just check out the screenshot below and discover what awaits those who pre-order the standard edition of the game.
There's so much to consider here. Firstly, what the heck is a war horse? The description suggests its a rideable steed with greater stamina than your average pony, but does this confirm Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature purchasable mounts that can be collected and traded, akin to Grand Theft Auto Online's vehicle market? Given that Take-Two has repeatedly expressed its love for micro-transactions, that would be a safe bet.
Then there's the Outlaw Survival Kit. This is a collection of "supplies" that players can use to help them survive the Western outback, but you can see it being similar to the sort of DLC packages that pre-order bonuses tend to offer in a multitude of other games (for a more recent example, see the Doomsday Prepper Pack in Far Cry 5).
The information also mentions two cash bonuses; one for Red Dead Redemption 2's story mode, and the other being $500,000 for GTA Online, which players will be able to spend immediately after pre-ordering the former. That'll give Rockstar fans the opportunity to have one last, lavish hurrah in GTA 5 before moving on to sandier shores, though $500,000 really isn't as much as it sounds like in Los Santos' severely inflated economy.
Finally, if you pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 by July 31 next month, you'll also receive an in-game treasure map for the campaign, which presumably tells you where all the booty is in a certain area of the game's massive open world.
There's also a bunch of exclusive, additional content for those who pre-order either the Special Edition (£74.99/$79.99) or Ultimate Edition (£89.99/$99.99) of Red Dead Redemption 2, including an exclusive story mission, a thoroughbred racehorse, even more GTA Online money, and a bunch of gameplay bonuses and boosts both for the singleplayer and online portions of the game.
This isn't even to mention the physical Collector's Edition (£89.99/$99.99), which is basically a giant "Metal Tithing Box" complete with (among other things) playing cards, bandana, and an actual puzzle. You can pre-purchase this from GameStop in the US or GAME if you're in the UK, but note that it doesn't actually include a copy of the game itself (boo!).
It's not like we needed any more reason to pre-order Red Dead Redemption 2 anyway, but the curtain raise has only added fuel to the hype fire for Rockstar's first new game in almost five years. Oh, and you can pre-download the game onto your console as of today. Because doing so over four months in advance isn't crazy, right?
While we wait for Red Dead Redemption 2 to finally hit its launch date, check out these best open world games to play in the meantime.
