Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily one of the most well-respected and well-known games of all time. While players love the modern gameplay, stellar graphics, and detailed story of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang, many of these players might have missed out on the original game, Red Dead Redemption.

how all van der linde members joined the gang
Red Dead Redemption 2: How Every Character Joined the Van der Linde Gang

Every character in the van der Linde gang has a story about how they joined up with Dutch before the events of Red Dead Redemption 2.

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Since there’s an 8-year gap between the release of both games, players who are more familiar with Red Dead Redemption 2 might want to see where John Marston’s story takes him, but without the graphics and gameplay of RDR2, it might be a little hard to get the ball rolling. Luckily, a talented community of modders has enhanced the original Red Dead Redemption experience by providing mods that will make RDR feel like RDR2.

7 Reality Redemption - Overhaul Project

Improves Immersion with Updated Visuals, Weather Cycles, and More

Reality Redemption is an overhaul project from BadassBaboon that has attempted to turn Red Dead Redemption into a more fluid and realistic experience without taking away the core DNA from the original release. With Reality Redemption, players can expect modern advancements with updated textures and models, as well as quality of life improvements with errors and weather cycles.

There are still ambitious updates in the works for Reality Redemption, such as improved sound, updated dialogue, draw distances, and more, but the work that’s already complete on Reality Redemption will help to overhaul the original game to bring it to the standards that most modern players are used to with AI behavior, physics, random events, and the likes.

6 RDR Reimagined

Beautiful Revamp of All Visuals

  • Mod Link
  • Mod Creator: Frames Of Screen

RDR Reimagined is perfectly titled, as this mod from Frames Of Screen provides players with a true remastered experience with revamped lightning, color grading, post processing, and more. RDR Reimagined is a reshade project that injects new life into the game with pure visuals that will make the game look like Red Dead Redemption 2 more than ever before.

Red Dead Redemption John Marston
Red Dead Redemption: 8 Things To Do In Your First Few Hours

Starting a new playthrough of Red Dead Redemption can be a little bit overwhelming, so here's what to get up to in the first few hours.

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RDR Reimagined gives such a vibrant and cinematic look to the original Red Dead Redemption, but players will need the ReShade Installer, and they will need a PC that can handle the intense demand of the new lighting and graphics of this beautiful mod.

5 Hand-Drawn Radar and Icons

An Immersive HUD for a Familiar Feel

While the Hand-Drawn Radar and Icons mod from PlumpZombie isn’t going to revamp the entire game, it is going to add a fresh feel that makes players feel like they’ve continued on from Red Dead Redemption 2. The immersion in the sequel to Red Dead Redemption is elite, especially with the care and craft that goes into the in-game icons on the map, radar, and HUD.

With this mod, players have access to 40+ revamped icons that are inspired by Red Dead Redemption 2’s design, completely and talented hand-drawn to ensure that there’s a symbol for everything, and that will really help players who are fresh from Red Dead Redemption 2 so that they can see familiar icons like mission markers and locations.

4 FREE CAMERA RDR

A Free Roam Camera for Photo Mode

A fan-favorite mechanic in Red Dead Redemption 2 is the use of a Photo Mode, something that most open-world games should adopt because it allows further creativity in the game’s design and an opportunity for players to showcase the beauty of the game and their creativity. Sadly, Red Dead Redemption lacks that modern feature, even in the remaster.

Red Dead Redemption Best Early Weapons Lasso Pistol Repeater
Red Dead Redemption: 8 Weapons You Should Get As Soon As Possible

Get these best early Red Dead Redemption weapons to overpower your early game enemies as fast as possible.

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Thankfully, MrSuS60 has created the Free Camera RDR mod, which provides players with the ability to use an advanced free camera with F3 so that they can freeze/unfreeze the world state, so that they can capture some engaging shots in this beautiful tamed West.

3 RDR2 Camera Style

Allows for a Better Field of View

The camera for Red Dead Redemption might be seen as a little janky and dated, with slower movements and a more centred control that has John Marston placed directly in the way. For most players, this gameplay design might not be an issue, but there’s a notable improvement in the camera work of the sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2.

With k1nt4ro’s mod, RDR2 Camera Style, players are getting precisely what it says on the tin. This mod will change the camera type to behave a lot more like the one featured in Arthur Morgan’s journey, placing the camera a little to the side and allowing for a wider field of view.

2 RealImpact Authentic Ragdoll Physics

Better Physics on Enemy Ragdoll

john marston ragdoll

The ragdoll physics of Red Dead Redemption are extremely charming and add to the Spaghetti Western feel of the entire game. The way enemies will often stumble and fall over after getting shot, and even how John Marston hits the griddy before falling down, makes things very fun indeed, but Ibr974 provides players with an authentic update.

With this mod, players have enhancements to the ragdoll physics that provide realistic reactions. NPCs will now collapse after headshots, and there is more dramatic movement from the NPCs depending on where on the body they have been shot, along with weight distribution to help with momentum.

1 Horse Speed Overhaul

Faster Horses for a Superior Ride

horse speed overhaul

While not as much of a necessity as other mods to overhaul Red Dead Redemption into its sequel, Horse Speed Overhaul from aabate1203 can be rather useful, as this mod will increase the speed of every horse but keep things balanced so that the different coat of each horse still matters. This can be useful in an old game like Red Dead Redemption, as the horse speed is attuned in a way that won’t crash PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware by allowing them to go too fast in areas unrendered, but PCs that can handle the remaster won’t have that issue.

In using Horse Speed Overhaul, players will have a faster horse on their hands that they can use to get to where they need to go without it taking too long, and without players feeling inclined to travel fast. While this mod doesn’t add further horse variety with stats seen in Red Dead Redemption 2, it still helps to keep things faster and more engaging.

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Red Dead Redemption Tag Page Cover Art
Red Dead Redemption
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8 /10
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Released
May 18, 2010
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WHERE TO PLAY

DIGITAL
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ESRB
M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs
Developer(s)
Rockstar San Diego
Genre(s)
Open-World, Adventure
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