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For the subset of PC gamers who have never strayed from the light of their LED keyboards, October 30, 2024, is a date that will go down in history. After 14 years, Red Dead Redemption is finally available to play on Steam – words that I'd almost given up on being able to say. In that lengthy gap between release and port we've gone from the PS3 and Xbox 360 to their modern-day counterparts, seen three sitting US presidents in the White House, and – perhaps most bizarrely – enjoyed half a decade of Red Dead Redemption's sequel already being on PC.
For many, that last one will sting a little. There's a lot that Red Dead Redemption 2 does better than its predecessor besides looking prettier: Arthur's journey through the American West is richer for its livelier open world, which to this day is the only game I'll nip in just to wander around for awhile – no quest-chasing, no collectible hunts, just clip-clopping around big hills and thinking This Is Good. Don't get me wrong, Red Dead Redemption is worth playing for John's story alone and it's still a phenomenal game, but its open world isn't quite as magical as it was in 2010.
Luckily, 2010's New Austin still has something that's never been matched: Undead Nightmare. A post-apocalyptic Western is a winning formula as is, but this off-kilter expansion took everything that made John's first outing so fun and cut the brakes – and if you can blast through a dozen brain-munching cowpokes without feeling like this port was worth the wait, I'll eat my trail-worn hat.
Zombies vs. cowboys
Enter: John Marston, stormy night. Undead Nightmare begins as cliche as they come, which is a very good thing. While the base game is serious cowboy business first and Rockstar's silly satire second, Undead Nightmare reverses those priorities. From the Vincent Price-style narration to the screeching strings that sound like they're being played over razors, this is a deeply unserious apocalypse. John's family – his sole driving force in the regular story – is zombified within the first five minutes, and by the time you reach the town of Blackwater, its surviving residents are already squabbling their way into this brave new world.
As for John, he's determined to cure his family by finding the cause of this undead uprising. Is it a virus? Cursed treasure? A biblical end of days? Just as Red Dead Redemption satirizes the "taming" of the American frontier, Undead Nightmare pokes fun at the pulpy Romero-driven zombie mythos of the 1960s. Seeing how familiar faces react to the end of the world is equally delightful. Obviously treasure-hunting weirdo Seth would party it up with the newly-raised, and of course definitely-not-conman Nigel West Dickens has snake oil – er, a "cure" – for anyone willing to part with those green paper bills we used to call dollars.
But finding these characters is a feat in itself, given the West has gone to hell. The towns and smaller settlements of Red Dead Redemption are perpetually besieged, and keeping them functional requires turning up to purge zombies every so often. You're supplied with ammo in return, while saving areas for the first time unlocks new weapons and gear for John. The zombies themselves are old-school – fire and destroying the brain are the only ways to feasibly kill these shamblers, as you'll run out of ammo before clearing a horde with body-shots. I'll always take slow and stiff zombies over sprinters: there's a horrible tension to feeling like you're slowly being overwhelmed, which makes pausing to line up necessary headshots even more stressful.
If you can blast through a dozen brain-munching cowpokes without feeling like this port was worth the wait, I'll eat my trail-worn hat.
Undead Nightmare gets this, although there are a few special enemies to keep you on your toes – like the Bolters who dash around on all fours, while Bruisers are nightmarishly tough to kill. It's worth the challenge though, because (to nobody's surprise) blasting ghouls with old Western six-shooters and rifles is supremely fun. That goes double when you throw Dead Eye into the mix, which lets you decimate hordes in slick slow-mo.
It's for this reason that as much as I love Undead Nightmare's whodiddit story, I've spent far too long wandering its wilder West just existing, playing John as a grizzled survivor roaming between towns. It's the same sort of flow state I fall into while camping by rolling rivers and lush forests as Arthur Morgan, albeit as John I'm usually hunting one of the four horses of the apocalypse or slaying zombies like a gore-soaked Clint Eastwood.
If you're a PC player who's on the fence about getting Red Dead Redemption (I will say that its $50 price tag is a travesty) or diving in solely for John's traditional story, I'm begging you to find time for Undead Nightmare. While, Red Dead Redemption 2 has the glitz and glamor of a modern game, and its older sibling has a heartbreaking tale of cyclical violence, this expansion celebrates Rockstar at its weirdest and most wonderful. Plus, of course, zombies – and what doesn't a zombie apocalypse improve?
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