Red Dead Redemption — Two Games

Red Dead Redemption

In 1911, former outlaw John Marston (Rob Wiethoff) is forced by Bureau of Investigation agents Edgar Ross (Jim Bentley) and Archer Fordham (David Wilson Barnes) to hunt down his former gang members in exchange for his family's return. John first pursues former ally Bill Williamson (Steve J. Palmer), who now leads his own gang that terrorizes New Austin. He arrives at Williamson's stronghold at Fort Mercer, but ends up getting shot and left for dead after unsuccessfully persuading him to surrender. Rescued and nursed back to health by local rancher Bonnie MacFarlane (Kimberly Irion), he helps her with several jobs around her farm in return, while formulating a plan to attack Williamson's gang. John makes many allies to help him carry out the attack, including U.S. Marshal Leigh Johnson (Anthony De Longis), con artist Nigel West Dickens (Don Creech), grave robber and treasure hunter Seth Briars (Kevin Glikmann), and an alcoholic arms smuggler known as "Irish" (K. Harrison Sweeney). Ultimately, John and his allies storm Fort Mercer and kill all of Williamson's men but learn that Williamson himself has fled to Mexico to seek help from another former gang member, Javier Escuella (Antonio Jaramillo). John parts ways with his allies and travels to Mexico with Irish's help.
Upon his arrival in Nuevo Paraíso, John meets legendary gunslinger Landon Ricketts (Ross Hagen), who helps him improve his shooting skills. He becomes involved in a local civil war between Colonel Agustín Allende (Gary Carlos Cervantes), the state's tyrannical governor, and Abraham Reyes (Josh Segarra), the leader of a rebellion against Allende's government. John works with both sides in exchange for help in tracking down his targets. When Allende turns on him, John is rescued by Reyes and vows to aid the rebels in exchange for Reyes's help in finding Williamson and Escuella. During a raid on a Mexican Army fortress, the rebels help him find the latter, who reveals that Williamson is under Allende's protection. John can then choose to either turn Escuella over to Ross and Fordham or kill him and give them his body. Reyes eventually leads an assault on Allende's palace, and John helps him chase and execute Allende and Williamson when they attempt to flee. Leaving Reyes to rule Nuevo Paraíso and lead his revolution to Mexico's capital, John returns to the United States.
In Blackwater, Ross and Fordham coerce John into helping them track down Dutch van der Linde (Benjamin Byron Davis), a charismatic anarchist and John's former gang's leader and mentor. Dutch has recently formed a gang with disaffected Native Americans, with whom he shares a hatred for the government and modernization. Aided by Ross's associates, John finds Dutch's stronghold in the mountains. After helping Ross and Fordham thwart Dutch's robbery of the Blackwater Bank, John partakes in the U.S. Army's assault on the stronghold. Chased to a cliff, Dutch concedes defeat, warns John that the government will not give him peace, and dies by suicide. Afterward, Ross honors their agreement and releases John’s family.
Returning to his ranch, John reunites with his wife Abigail (Sophia Marzocchi), son Jack (Josh Blaylock), and former gang member and close friend Uncle (Spider Madison) to attempt an honest life again. However, this peace is short-lived as Ross betrays John and leads a U.S. Army unit in an attack on his ranch. John tries to fend them off, but the attacking force is too large, and Uncle is killed. John helps his family escape and stays to face the attackers, who kill him and leave. Upon hearing the gunshots, Abigail and Jack return to the ranch, mourn John, and bury him. In 1914, Jack buries Abigail next to John after she dies, before tracking down a now-retired Ross to confront him about John's death. Jack kills Ross in a duel and walks away.

Red Dead Redemption 2

=== Setting and characters ===

The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 spans five fictitious U.S. states: New Hanover, Ambarino, and Lemoyne are located to the immediate north and east of New Austin and West Elizabeth, which return from Red Dead Redemption. Ambarino is a sparsely populated mountain wilderness, with the only settlement being the Wapiti Indian Reservation; New Hanover encompasses a sweeping valley, woody foothills, and plains, while featuring the livestock town of Valentine, the riverside Van Horn Trading Post, and the coal town of Annesburg; Lemoyne is composed of bayous and plantations resembling the Deep South, and is home to the Southern town of Rhodes, the Creole village of Lagras, and the former French colony of Saint Denis, analogous to New Orleans. West Elizabeth consists of wide plains, dense forests, and the prosperous port town of Blackwater; the region is expanded from the original game with a northern portion containing the mountain resort town of Strawberry. New Austin is an arid desert region on the border with Mexico and centered on the frontier towns of Armadillo and Tumbleweed, featured in the original game. Parts of New Austin and West Elizabeth were redesigned to reflect the earlier time: Blackwater is under development, Armadillo is a ghost town as a result of a cholera outbreak, and Tumbleweed is on the decline.
The player controls Arthur Morgan (Roger Clark), an enforcer and veteran member of the Van der Linde gang, led by Dutch van der Linde (Benjamin Byron Davis), a charismatic anarchist who extols personal freedom and decries the encroaching march of modern civilization. The gang includes Dutch's best friend and co-leader Hosea Matthews (Curzon Dobell), John Marston (Rob Wiethoff) and his partner Abigail Roberts (Cali Elizabeth Moore) and son Jack Marston (Marissa Buccianti and Ted Sutherland), the lazy Uncle (John O'Creagh and James McBride), gunslingers Bill Williamson (Steve J. Palmer), Sean MacGuire (Michael Mellamphy), Javier Escuella (Gabriel Sloyer), and Micah Bell (Peter Blomquist), Black Indian hunter Charles Smith (Noshir Dalal), and housewife-turned-gunslinger Sadie Adler (Alex McKenna). The gang's criminal acts bring them into conflict with wealthy oil magnate Leviticus Cornwall (John Rue), who recruits the Pinkerton Detective Agency, led by Andrew Milton (John Hickok) and his subordinate Edgar Ross (Jim Bentley), to hunt them down. The gang also encounters Dutch's nemesis Colm O'Driscoll (Andrew Berg) and his gang, the warring Southern Gray and Braithwaite families, Italian Mafia boss Angelo Bronte (Jim Pirri), and controversial Cuban governor Colonel Alberto Fussar (Alfredo Narciso). Later in the story, Arthur helps the Native American leader Rains Fall (Graham Greene) and his son Eagle Flies (Jeremiah Bitsui), both members of the Wapiti Indian tribe, whose land is targeted by the U.S. Army, led by Colonel Henry Favours (Malachy Cleary).

Plot

After a botched ferry heist in 1899, the Van der Linde gang are forced to leave their substantial money stash and flee Blackwater. Realizing the progress of civilization is ending the time of outlaws, they decide to gain enough money to escape the law and retire. They rob a train owned by Cornwall, who hires Pinkertons to apprehend them. The gang perform jobs to earn money, as Dutch continually promises the next heist will be their last. Following a shootout with Cornwall's men in Valentine, the gang relocate to Lemoyne, where they work simultaneously for the Grays and Braithwaites in an attempt to turn them against each other. However, the families double-cross them: the Grays kill Sean during an ambush in Rhodes, while the Braithwaites kidnap and sell Jack to Bronte. The gang retaliate and destroy both families before retrieving Jack from Bronte, who offers them leads on work but eventually double-crosses them as well. Dutch kidnaps and feeds him to an alligator as revenge, disturbing Arthur and John.
The gang rob a bank in Saint Denis, planning to escape to Tahiti, but the Pinkertons intervene, killing Hosea and arresting John. Dutch, Arthur, Bill, Javier, and Micah flee on a ship bound for Cuba. A storm sinks the ship, and the men wash ashore on the island of Guarma, where they become embroiled in a war between tyrannical sugar plantation owner Fussar and the enslaved locals. After helping the revolutionaries kill Fussar, the group secure transport back to the United States and reunite with the rest of the gang, though they are soon assaulted by Pinkertons whom they repel.
Dutch, paranoid that a Pinkerton informant is within the gang, obsesses over one last heist. He doubts Arthur's loyalty after he disobeys him by liberating John earlier than planned, naming Micah his top lieutenant in Arthur's place. Arthur becomes concerned about Dutch, as he becomes insular, abandons their ideals, and murders Cornwall. Faced with his mortality after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, Arthur reflects on his actions and how to protect the gang, urging John to flee with Abigail and Jack and defying Dutch by aiding the local Wapiti Indians. Several gang members become disenchanted and leave, while Dutch and Micah arrange one final heist of an Army payroll train.
Arthur's faith in Dutch is shattered when he abandons Arthur to the Army, leaves John for dead, and refuses to rescue a kidnapped Abigail. Arthur and Sadie rescue Abigail from Milton, who names Micah as the Pinkertons' informant before Abigail kills him. Arthur returns to camp and openly accuses Micah of betrayal. Dutch, Bill, Javier, and Micah turn against Arthur and a newly returned John, but the standoff is broken when Pinkertons attack. The player can choose to have Arthur aid John's escape by delaying the Pinkertons or return to the camp to recover the gang's money. Micah ambushes Arthur, and Dutch intervenes in their fight. Arthur convinces Dutch to abandon Micah and leave. If the player has high honor, Arthur succumbs to his injuries and disease while watching the sunrise; if the player has low honor, Micah executes him.
Eight years later, in 1907, John and his family are trying to lead honest lives. They find work at a ranch where John reveals his combat experience against bandits threatening the ranch. Believing John is unwilling to give up his old ways, Abigail leaves with Jack. John takes a loan from the bank to purchase a ranch. He works with Uncle, Sadie, and Charles to build a new home, and proposes to Abigail on her return. Learning Micah is alive and formed his own gang, John, Sadie, and Charles assault his camp. They find Dutch, who shoots Micah after a tense standoff and leaves in silence, allowing John to kill Micah and claim the gang's Blackwater stash to pay his debt. John marries Abigail and they start a new life on their ranch alongside Jack and Uncle, as Sadie and Charles leave for other pursuits.
Mid-credits scenes show the fates of other surviving gang members. Edgar Ross tracks down Micah's killer, which leads him to John's ranch, foreshadowing the events of Red Dead Redemption.