Josh Coulter 
Rockstar announced a few days ago that they would be releasing a whole host of pre-order bonuses for the long awaited Red Dead Redemption 2. The game will be released in standard, special and ultimate editions.
The special and ultimate editions will both feature two exclusive missions – Bank Robbery Mission and Gang Hideout. Of course, outrage poured in and maybe not unjustly. It’s fair to say that Rockstar have shown a certain greed with GTA V online, but add that to the fact that ‘pay to play’ games are on the rise and people were understandably concerned that they would have to pay a minimum of £74.99/$79.99 to get the full story experience.
However, Rockstar have responded to the backlash pretty quickly. They confirmed on twitter that both exclusive missions will be entirely separate from the main story.
The Bank Robbery and Gang Hideout included in the RDR2 Special Edition are side activities created specifically for that edition and are not part of the main story.
— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) June 4, 2018
Whilst this is good news for people who didn’t want to miss out on main story content, others may still be wondering why they should miss out on two side missions just because they want the standard copy.
Regardless, Red Dead Redemption 2 will undoubtedly be one of the biggest games of the year. It’s been highly anticipated since the first game in 2010, and if there’s a company that knows how to handle controversy and criticism, it’s Rockstar. After some of the bad press that has been levelled at GTA since its release, they are probably quite content to deal with something like pre-order criticisms. Though, when Red Dead Redemption 2 actually comes out, no doubt we’ll come face to face with some fresh controversy.
Pre-orders for Red Dead Redemption 2 are available now. If you don’t fancy all the additional content, then you can purchase a copy of the standard edition for £54.99/$59.99. If you’re still tempted by the in-game content available with the special and ultimate editions then you can pick them up for £74.99/$79.99 and £89.99/$99.99 respectively.
Whichever edition you decide to go for, it’s fairly likely that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a worthy game.
Red Dead Redemption 2 releases October 26th 2018 for Xbox One and PS4.
