This Red Dead Redemption 2 bird simulator is the zen you need in your life

The most beautifully serene way to witness the lush expanses of Red Dead Redemption 2 just surfaced in the form of a super cool bird simulator mod. In this extraordinarily zen 24-minute video, we see the perspective of different high-flying birds as they soar above rivers, trees, and mountains, and rise high above some of the senseless violence taking place on the ground below.

YouTuber jedijosh920 is responsible for the incredibly crafty bird simulator mod for Red Dead Redemption 2. The demonstration is both a testament to the breadth of detail engineered into Red Dead Redemption 2's wonderous world, and to the ingenuity of the game's prolific modding community. The mod lets you switch between the variety of birds you might not have otherwise ever paid attention to, and it's worth watching the whole video to fully appreciate the spectacle.

It's easy to feel invincible from a vantage point hundreds of feet above ground, but the birds in the simulator mod are just as vulnerable to stray bullets and fall damage as Arthur himself - at one point in the video, an unsuspecting vulture flies too close to a shootout and loses his poor little feathered life for it.

Jedijosh even gives an exclusive look at a restricted area of the map, Nuevo Paraiso. Sure, the area can be accessed through a glitch, but not quite like this. Hopefully we'll explore the area ourselves in a future update, or better yet, Rockstar takes some inspiration from Jedijosh and introduces a bird mode.

While you can't officially be a bird yet, there's still a whole lot to do in Red Dead Redemption 2. Check out our list of the 7 best Stranger missions. 

Jordan Gerblick

After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer, I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.