- For an overview of the Multiplayer gamemode in the Red Dead series, see Multiplayer.
This article was a featured article for the site in April 2010. |
Multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption consists of multiple game modes, and allows players to play co-operatively (with the Outlaws to the End DLC) or competitively through an online connection.
Red Dead Redemption multiplayer does not have a traditional "game lobby"; instead, it starts out in Free Roam mode, with the entire map open for exploration, along with Hunting areas (with the Legends and Killers DLC) and gang hideouts, of which players can take advantage. From there, players can establish player parties with other players (called posses), or choose to participate in various game modes, via the in-game menu (opened with the select or back button) or various entry points around the game world. There are various Multiplayer Glitches that affect gameplay.
Game Modes
There are several game modes in Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer:
Free Roam
Free Roam is the entry point into multiplayer where you are free to go nearly anywhere in the world with up to 15 other players. This is also where you can pick your unique character, mount, and title in the Outfitter. Players are also able to band together and form posses of up to 8 players. In these posses, you can take on other posses and have a gang fight.
During Free Roam, you can take part in gang hideouts, one of the quickest ways of ranking up in online multiplayer of Red Dead Redemption. Along with gang hideouts, there are hunting grounds scattered throughout the world that you can gain experience points from, and complete various challenges. You can press the SELECT/BACK button to open a menu, where you can join posses, invite friends, or switch game-type. There are three modes of Free Roam: Normal, Hardcore, and Friendly. Players cannot kill other players in Friendly mode (other than with an ingenious way of stealing their mount on a cliff), but they can in Normal and Hardcore. In Hardcore mode, expert targeting is required.
Competitive Modes
In competitive game modes, the gameplay begins with either a Mexican standoff in Free For All, with all the players beginning in a circle, or a team face-off, with all players in their respective team's line facing the other team. There will be a short countdown, then a firefight will commence, in which all the players will all start shooting at once. Most players will die right off, allowing the remaining players to find a choice location (such as a sniping spot) to fend off their attackers. Once the standoff ends, and everyone from one team dies, the actual game you are playing (Gang Shootout, Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag, etc.) starts. There is also a variety of weapons to be found in chests around the map.
During "gang" matches, players will be assigned a player model, but during Free For All matches and in Free Roam, players will be allowed to use their chosen model. The player's selected mount is only usable in some game modes, and in team-based matches, all players will be assigned one type of horse to keep the game fair. Guns are also assigned to any game type, except Free Roam; in any competitive game mode, players are assigned a pre-determined set of guns for the round. To get an idea of what guns you will receive, look to the dummy in the pre-game lobby. If you unlock a gun by levelling up, it will be available to you in Free Roam.
The following competitive modes are as listed in their pages below with their own objectives and rules:
Cooperative Mode
Cooperative play was introduced with the Outlaws To The End DLC, and you must download it to be able to play this mode; however, the DLC is free.
In Cooperative mode, a group of up to four players will work as a team through one of the six missions available. If a player's health drops to the point of dying, they will begin bleeding out and be unable to shoot or move. They will have a certain amount of time, as represented above their heads, before they bleed out. During this time, a teammate must revive them or they will die. If a player dies, they will be out of the game and forced to spectate a teammate until the next checkpoint, which are usually frequent, is reached. If all players die, the mission restarts from the beginning, unless the players vote to start a different mission. Players choose a loadout in the pre-game lobby, by walking up to a gun set, represented by a dummy, and selecting the one they want as their weapon set; there are four loadouts available (Miner, Soldier, Marksman, Gunslinger) The weapons they choose will be with them throughout the mission, however they can pick up weapons from fallen enemies as well. Players retain their selected player model.
If the player beats all six missions, they will unlock Advanced Cooperative Mode. This mode is fixed to expert targeting, players take damage easier and bleed out faster. However, Advanced Cooperative Mode has the "No Holds Barred" loadout, which allows the player to use all the weapons they have unlocked by levelling up throughout multiplayer.
Multiplayer Maps
In Free Roam, you can move in the whole game world but in PvP (competitive mode), there's limited map areas where matches take place. The maps which come along with the game are:
- Armadillo (Shootouts, Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag, Gold Rush)
- Chuparosa (Shootouts, Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag, Gold Rush)
- Diez Coronas (Hold Your Own)
- Las Hermanas (Shootouts, Hold Your Own, Gold Rush)
- MacFarlane's Ranch (Shootouts, Gold Rush)
- Pacific Union Railroad Camp (Gold Rush)
- Tesoro Azul (Hold Your Own, Grab the Bag)
- Tumbleweed (Shootouts, Grab the Bag)
- Twin Rocks (Grab the Bag)
Legends and Killers maps:
- Blackwater
- Escalera
- Fort Mercer
- Hennigan's Stead
- Manzanita Post
- Punta Orgullo
- Rio Bravo
- Tall Trees
- Thieves' Landing
Gang Hideouts
- Main article: Gang Hideouts
Gang Hideouts are the fastest method of gaining experience while in Free Roam. The faster the player completes a hideout, the more XP is gained. Other factors also go into the player's XP gain. Gang hideouts can be completed alone or with a posse. The most common gang hideouts that are played in multiplayer are Solomon's Folly and Twin Rocks. These two are regarded as the fastest and easiest hideouts to complete, resulting in a fast XP gain. After the patch released on June 12th, however, XP awarded for gang hideouts has been decreased.
(There used to be a method to get the amount of XP you used to get before the patch. You would clear your Xbox 360's cache, which deletes all patches, and use system link to gang hideout farm. For PS3, you would just go into "Game Data Utility" delete the patch, start up the game, decline the update, and play multiplayer using LAN. However, this no longer works, as Rockstar made it so that if you delete the patch, it will automatically delete your multiplayer data as well, resulting in you returning to level 1.)
While the two above hideouts are reported as the fastest hideouts, it is more common for newer players to repeat runs of Tumbleweed. This is due to how close it is to the starting areas of Armadillo, MacFarlane's Ranch, or even Thieves' Landing. It is common for higher level players to do repeated runs of Tesoro Azul, due to the relatively low difficulty and being a moderately fast gang hideout.
Titles
- Main article: Titles
During the multiplayer game experience, whether in Free Roam or structured game modes, players will be able to earn titles corresponding to criteria met during play. This can be anything from a certain amount of experience accrued to completing certain actions a number of times or in a specific way. Titles, once selected, will appear above the player's name on their in-game icon until the player decides to change it, which they can do at anytime.
You keep all your titles when you pass into legend.
Mounts
In the multiplayer of Red Dead Redemption, the player can choose the mount that their character summons/rides in Free Roam and some competitive matches. The player changes their mount by visiting the Outfitter in the Multiplayer section of the pause menu. Different mounts become available only after achieving various online ranks. When the player ranks up and unlocks a new mount for use, their old mount is replaced by the new one even if the player hasn't visited the Outfitter yet. But in some rare occasions this doesn't happen.
In successive legend modes, mounts are generally unlocked earlier as there are more mounts to unlock.
Mounts that can be unlocked are:
- El Señor
- Lusitano Nag
- Turkmen
- Cleveland Bay
- Hungarian Half-Bred
- American Standardbred
- Bonzo
- Buffalo*
- Albino Buffalo*
- Super Bull*
- Zebra Donkey (Tijuana Zebra)*
*Legendary mount
Several non-unlockable horses, such as the Kentucky Saddler or the Infested Ardennais can be found in multiplayer, in the wild or ridden by other people. These horses can be mounted, but will not respond to a whistle.
This table shows the levels that you unlock each mount
- Copied from Prima's Official Guide.
Mount | Normal Unlock Rank | Legend 1 | Legend 2 | Legend 3 | Legend 4 |
El Señor | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lusitano Nag | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Turkmen | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
Cleveland Bay | 22 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 |
Hungarian Half-bred | 33 | 22 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
American Standard-bred | 40 | 33 | 22 | 22 | 22 |
Bonzo | 50 | 40 | 33 | 26 | 26 |
Buffalo | ---- | 50 | 40 | 33 | 33 |
Albino Buffalo | ---- | ---- | 50 | 40 | 37 |
Super Bull | ---- | ---- | ---- | 50 | 42 |
Zebra Donkey | ---- | ---- | ---- | ---- |
50 |
Dashes = cannot unlock this mount in this tier of legend.
Challenges
- Main Page: Multiplayer Challenges
In multiplayer, a large selection of challenges are available for players to complete. More challenges unlock as a player progresses through the ranking system. Completing a challenge earns the player experience. The status of each active challenge, found in the player's Journal, is indicated by a bar that progressively fills up as the challenge is accomplished. For example, if the challenge requires the player to shoot 5 rabbits for a Sharpshooter challenge, each rabbit shot adds to this indicator bar until all 5 have been shot.
When a player reaches Rank 50 and agrees to return to Rank 1 to gain Legend status, all challenges will be reset. Any unlocked Titles associated with challenges previously completed will remain.
Ranks
When playing multiplayer, a player can gain experience by killing other players, completing challenges, killing NPC's (citizens and police officers) and clearing hideouts. When the player gains enough experience to be promoted to the next rank, they can unlock new characters, weapons, mounts and titles.
A player can be promoted through fifty ranks. After each level up the player gets a new badge. When they reach Rank 50, they have the option to return to Rank 1 to gain Legend status, similar to the 'Prestige' mode in Call of Duty. Legend mode builds towards unlocking legendary characters and mounts. They can do this up to five times in addition to the original ranks, which means a player could progress through a total of 250 ranks to reach the highest level in multiplayer. Once entering legend the player will get a legend badge a new character and a new mount at level fifty.
Once at Rank 50, a player can choose to gain Legend status at any time afterwards. The following confirmation messages are displayed when gaining Legend status:
"PASS INTO LEGEND"
"Your rank will reset from 50 back to 1 in exchange for the benefits of becoming a Legend. All weapons and mounts you have unlocked through leveling up will be lost and all challenges are reset. Your access to playlists, titles, golden guns and characters will remain the same. Would you like to become a Legend?"
"There is no undoing this change once you commit to it. You will lose your weapons, mounts, and challenge progress, but in exchange will get access to special Legendary characters and the right to earn Legendary mounts. Passing into Legend only occurs in Free Roam. Are you really sure you want to do this?"
As of 12 June 2010, Gang Hideout XP has been severely decreased, up to 2/3 of what it once was. Owing to the vast amount of XP required to reach Legend 5, it is recommended to remain at Rank 50 once attained as becoming a Legend only gives the variety of different mounts/characters/titles/rank icon, with the Legendary mounts being poorer than the American Standardbred in terms of speed/agility. The one exception to this is the zebra donkey which is unlocked upon reaching the highest legendary rank.
Weapons (Multiplayer)
- Main article: Weapons
All weapons available in single player are available in multiplayer game sessions. While the hunting knife is available in multiplayer, other equipment, such as the lasso, bandolier, and binoculars are not.
When joining a session, players have a set of weapons determined by multiplayer rank and some ammunition for each gun in their possession. Additional weapons can be obtained by picking them up from dead players/NPCs and weapon crates (shown on the in-game minimap as a pistol icon). Increasing a player's rank will immediately place any weapons unlocked into the players possession.
When a player dies in a multiplayer game session, they respawn with all the weapons in their possession when they died. The amount of ammunition in each weapon set to a default amount, similar to if they had just joined the game.
Ammo crates are also scattered throughout the environment (they look like bullets on the mini-map).
All Unlocks
For a list of all the unlocks, see Rank Unlocks in Redemption Multiplayer.
Rank | Emblem | XP Required | Unlocks |
---|---|---|---|
1 |
0 |
Weapon: Cattleman Revolver, Knife Mount: El Señor Title: Greenhorn Challenges: Sharpshooter PvP Playlist: Free For All, Gang Matches (Legandary 1) Character: Kyle McGinty (Legendary 2) Character: Ezekiel Hogey (Legendary 3) Character: Mescalero Mike (Legendary 4) Character: Theo Crenshaw Characters(s): Earle Martin, Alfredo Castaneda, Al Wolfscreed, Pat O'Flanagan, John Kelby, Slick Nick Funtz, Jose Falotico, Seth LaValley, Madam Hernandez, all marshals. | |
2 |
150 |
Weapon: Repeater Carbine Title: Dude Character(s): Jarred Vaughan, Ramon Paradiso Challenges: Master Hunter I, Gang Shootout | |
3 |
510 |
Weapon: Throwing Knives Title: Pilgrim Challenges: Survivalist | |
4 |
1080 |
Mount: Lusitano Nag Title: Tenderfoot Character(s): Mala Yawetch, Benjamin Earl Challenges: Hold Your Own | |
5 |
1860 |
Weapon: Volcanic Pistol Title: Colt Challenges: Lawbringer | |
6 |
2850 |
Title: Mail-order Cowboy Character(s): Ian Connors, Tall Trees Ty | |
7 |
4050 |
Title: Pistol Character(s): Gustavo Andares, AJ Peart, Fernando Naranjo, Jesse Lange Challenges: Kill Streak I | |
8 |
5460 |
Weapon: Winchester Repeater Mount: Turkmen Title: Short horn | |
9 |
7080 |
Weapon: Schofield Revolver Title: Gringo | |
10 |
8910 |
Title: Journeyman Character(s); Guy Percival, Jaime Garcia, Nick Robbins Challenges: Grab the Bag | |
11 |
10950 |
Weapon: Pump Action Shotgun Title: Cowboy (Legendary 1-4) Mount: Cleveland Bay Challenges: Outlaw | |
12 |
13290 |
Title: Wrangler Character(s): Cristoban Borracha, Hank Shiyani, Mac Backman Challenges: Master Hunter II, Kill Streak II | |
13 |
15930 |
Weapon: Springfield Rifle Title: Burro Challenges: Sharpshooter II | |
14 |
18870 |
Title: Frontiersman Character(s): Tony Gallows, Wayne Daniels, Gaptooth McGee Challenges: Survivalist II | |
15 |
22110 |
Weapon: Dynamite Title: Gristle heel (Legendary 2-4) Mount: Hungarian Half-Bred PvP Playlist: Hardcore Gang Matches | |
16 |
25650 |
Title: Forty-niner Character(s): Fred Everts, Jesus Eccheveria, Cristo Francisco Challenges: Hold Your Own II | |
17 |
29490 |
Weapon: Double Action Revolver Title: Old timer | |
18 |
33630 |
Weapon: Sawed-off Shotgun Title: Long horn Challenges: Lawbringer II | |
19 |
38070 |
Title: Old hand Character(s): Quick Tom Candle, Kintan Tageyutsi, Sanisuni Wagi, Knobby Tom Alwin Challenges: Kill:Death Ratio | |
20 |
42810 |
Weapon: Rolling Block Rifle Title: Rustler PvP Playlist: Hardcore Free For All | |
21 |
47850 |
Title: Outlaw Character(s): Michael Reese, Big Bob Moorcock Challenges: Grab the Bag II | |
22 |
53190 |
Weapon: Fire Bottle Mount: Cleveland Bay Title: Gunslinger (Legendary 1) Mount: Hungarian Half-Bred (Legendary 2-4) Mount: American Standardbred | |
23 |
58830 |
Title: Shootist Character(s): Jeevan Guni, Ramon Zapata, Rowan Babcock, Carrie Boudicca | |
24 |
64770 |
Weapon: Semi-Automatic Pistol Title: Quick draw | |
25 |
71010 |
Title: Gun shark Character(s): Nicole Louise, Gerald Conway, Michael Sustantivo Challenges: Outlaw II | |
26 |
77550 |
Weapon: Semi-Auto Shotgun Title: Badman (Legendary 3 and 4) Mount: Bonzo (bull) | |
27 |
84390 |
Title: Long raider Character(s):Markus Barnes, Jay Sheeyah, Melissa Rose Challenges: Trickshot | |
28 |
91530 |
Weapon: Carcano Rifle Title: Cabron | |
29 |
98970 |
Title: Road agent Character(s): Bo Schram, Frederick Littlefield, Arlene Dunn Challenges: Trickshot II | |
30 |
106710 |
Title: Hold-up man | |
31 |
114810 |
Title: Bandito
Character(s): Mark Rafael, Heath Michaels, Allie Dickey Challenges: Unstoppable | |
32 |
123270 |
Weapon: Henry Repeater Title: Short-trigger man | |
33 |
132090 |
Mount: Hungarian Half-Bred Title: Hired killer (Legendary 1) Mount: American Standardbred (Legendary 2) Mount: Bonzo (bull) (Legendary 3-4) Mount: Buffalo Character(s): D R Gosset, Alice Thayer, Juan Sierra | |
34 |
141270 |
Title: Mercenary
Challenges: Revenge | |
35 |
150810 |
Weapon: High Power Pistol Title: Deputized | |
36 |
160710 |
Title: Ranger
Character(s): David Anthony, Shep Thomas, Stephen Paul | |
37 |
170970 |
Weapon: Double-Barrel Shotgun Title: Marshall (Legendary 4) Mount: Albino Buffalo | |
38 |
181590 |
Title: Judge & jury | |
39 |
192570 |
Title: El capitan
Character(s): Harvard Coskie, Juan Diaz, Robert Daniels | |
40 |
203910 |
Weapon: Bolt Action Rifle Mount: American Standardbred Title: Colonel (Legendary 1) Mount: Bonzo (bull) (Legendary 2) Mount: Buffalo (Legendary 3) Mount: Albino Buffalo | |
41 |
215610 |
Title: General
Challenges: Lawbringer III | |
42 |
227670 |
Title: El jefe (Legendary 4) Mount: Super Bull Character(s): Chief Mangan, Tricky Pat Dempson | |
43 |
240090 |
Weapon: Evans Repeater Title: Searcher | |
44 |
252870 |
Title: The Kid
Character(s): TJ Laubach | |
45 |
266010 |
Title: The Duke
Character(s): LS Roberts, Jan Booth | |
46 |
279510 |
Weapon: LeMat Revolver Title: The Ugly | |
47 |
293370 |
Title: The Bad | |
48 |
307590 |
Title: The Good
Character(s): Eric Morganson, Jefe Bautista, Conor Callahan | |
49 |
322170 |
Weapon: Mauser Pistol Title: The Unforgiven | |
50 |
337110 |
Weapon: Buffalo Rifle Mount: Bonzo (bull) Title: The Legend (Legendary 1) Mount: Buffalo (Legendary 2) Mount: Albino Buffalo (Legendary 3) Mount: Super Bull (Legendary 4) Mount: Zebra Donkey Character(s): The Tudisco Kid, Raudel Diaz, Sean Cobbler, Sarah Grace PvP Playlist: Veteran Free For All, Veteran Gang Matches (Legendary 4) Character: Christy Weller |
Characters
- Main article: Multiplayer Characters
In multiplayer you can choose your character model in the Outfitter. For now, there are 15 categories of characters, each based on characters taken from the single player game:
Note: There is an issue with the multiplayer characters "Jesse Lange" and "Jefe Rocha". Despite their different names and being put in different categories, they are the same character skin and speak spanish as well regardless of which list you choose the skin from. It is not known whether this is a glitch or if it is intentional.
Many of the characters are available from the start (Level 1) which gives the player a good amount of choice when choosing one to start off with. When starting a new multiplayer campaign the player will also be randomly assigned one of these characters. The characters that are available from level 1 are as follows:
- Earle Martin (Miner)
- Alfredo Castaneda (Rebeldes)
- Al Wolfscreed (Dutch's Gang)
- Pat O'Flanagan (Walton's Gang)
- John Kelby (Cattle Rustler)
- Slick Nick Funtz (American Army)
- Jose Falotico (Federales)
- Seth LaValley (Lawman)
- Madam Hernandez (Misc Woman)
- Most Misc Mexicans
- Most Misc Criminals
- All Marshals (as of October 1st 2010)
- All Red Dead Revolver characters (as part of the Legends and Killers pack)
- All Red Dead Redemption "Redemption and Damnation" characters (as part of the Liars and Cheats pack)
- Zombies (as part of the Undead Nightmare DLC pack)
- All Red Dead Redemption "Revolution" characters (as part of the Myths and Mavericks pack)
Updates
GameSpy Shutdown
With the closure of GameSpy's servers undergoing, Redemption's stats will no longer be saved onto Social Club. The in-game leaderboards will be removed for PlayStation 3 players only as of now.
Downloadable Content
Outlaws To The End
- Main article: Outlaws To The End
- A downloadable set of 6 co-op missions that was released in June 22, 2010, completely free of charge.
- Includes additional multiplayer challenges and Achievements/Trophies.
Legends and Killers
- Main article: Legends and Killers
- A paid DLC released August 10, 2010.
- Nine new map locations.
- Eight new multiplayer characters from Red Dead Revolver.
- Adds the Tomahawk as a weapon.
- New challenges and Achievements/Trophies.
Liars and Cheats
- Main article: Liars and Cheats
- A paid DLC released September 21, 2010.
- New game modes: Stronghold, Grand Prix, Liar's Dice, and Poker.
- New multiplayer characters from Red Dead Redemption.
- New Gang Hideouts.
- Adds the Explosive Rifle as a weapon
- New challenges and Achievements/Trophies
- Posse Scoring / Leaderboards
- New ‘anti-griefing’ measures in Free Roam
Undead Nightmare
- Main article: Undead Nightmare
- A paid DLC released October 26 2010.
- Eight New Multiplayer Undead characters
- New game modes: Undead Overrun, Land Grab
Glitches
- Main article: Glitches
Multiplayer Achievements
There are several achievements/trophies that can only be completed by participating in multiplayer game modes:
10
Bronze
Get from Blackwater to Escalera before sundown in a single public Free Roam session.
|
20
Silver
Reach the top rank for Multiplayer experience.
|
10
Bronze
Become a Public Enemy for 10 minutes and escape alive in a public Free Roam session.
|
10
Bronze
Create a posse and get the maximum amount of members.
|
10
Bronze
Kill a Rockstar or someone with this achievement in a public multiplayer match.
|
10
Bronze
Get 10 assist in a single hideout in Public Free Roam session.
|
20
Silver
Be the top scoring player in any three consecutive FFA games in public matches.
|
20
Silver
Be on the winning team for four consecutive victories in any team based game in Public Matches.
|
20
Silver
Complete all hideouts in single public Free Roam session.
|
Related Content
|
Red Dead Redemption Multiplayer | |
Game modes | Free Roam • Shootout • Gang Shootout • Grab the Bag • Hold Your Own • Gold Rush • Grand Prix • Stronghold • Land Grab • Undead Overrun • Co-op • Poker • Liar's Dice |
Unlockables | Characters • Weapons • Mounts • Titles |
Challenges | Free Roam • Weapon • PVP • Co-op • Gambling • Racing • Stronghold • Undead Overrun • Stat |
Concepts | Gang Hideouts • Golden Guns • Outfitter • Posse • XP |