‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Looks Like My Next Staycation

Yesterday I admitted to spending $150 pre-ordering a game based entirely on a reveal trailer.

I'm ready to do that again right now.

First teased by Rockstar over the weekend, the first trailer of Red Dead Redemption 2, the company's open world western game that should feel familiar to anyone who's played a recent Grand Theft Auto, was just published, and while we haven't learned a whole lot about the game I'm already completely blown away. Fall 2017 is much too far away; I need this in my life, like, right now.

And what did we learn? The game appears to take place in the American West, with plenty of big open spaces extending into the horizon to make this native New Yorker incredibly jealous. (What is that? Oh, grass! How novel.) Bison freely roam the plains. You can see the Milky Way sitting next to a campfire.

Oh, and and there's a dog, all filled with mud, barking at vultures picking away at a carcass!

The only narration we hear is: "Listen to me. When the time comes, you got to run and don't look back. This is over."

As someone who has never lived more than an hour outside of New York City, all of this is very appealing to me. It's as if Rockstar said, "Look, we know you're stuck in that concrete cesspool, but at least now you can find some joy."

This is why I've never been a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto series. I don't need to escape to an urban hellscape. I'm practically living in it. But the idea of pulling up some virtual boots and exploring the American wilderness as it existed 100 years ago? That to me looks like an extraordinary staycation.