“Explore civilised criminality in Frontier America!” Yes, indeed! “Robberies, shakedowns, and more unlawful behaviour! “YES!” says Red Dead Online’s Blood Money!” It’s a dagnabbit.
OK, I’ll admit it, I’m being a little harsh. Blood Money is a rather significant (and free) update to Red Dead Online that has just gone live, and it adds a slew of new storey missions to the game’s multiplayer component. Players labour for the NPC Guido Martelli to accumulate Capitale through robberies, shakedowns, and more difficult criminal contracts that lead to ‘Opportunities,’ the expansion’s highlight events.
Blood Money will have three ‘Opportunities,’ but it will only have one at first. You’ll be “in pursuit of the Covington Emerald, an ill-gotten relic prized by black hats far and wide, being transported by rail on a strongly guarded train” in this.
The Quick Draw Club, a collection of passes to gain cosmetics with, is also included in the expansion, each of which costs 25 gold bars but will ultimately reward the same if finished.
The news release also contains a promotional picture of a horse that appears to be promoting eau de cologne ce events.
Finally, the update will enable Nvidia DLSS support for those who have the necessary graphics hardware. Here’s what our hardware guys think about it.
It’s a shame that Rockstar no longer ‘does’ singleplayer DLC. We’ve come a long way since the company published GTA3, Vice City, and San Andreas over the course of three years, and the crazy production standards that Rockstar’s games are now known for mean that the gaps between each of their releases are wider than ever. When it’s done singleplayer DLC before, it’s been fantastic. However, the online modes are now the long tails of these games and where the money goes, so instead of GTAV receiving something like The Ballad of Gay Tony, you get hundreds of cosmetics a week in update cycles that are difficult to care about.
Rockstar may be having doubts as well. It’s worth noting that the Cayo Perico addition for GTA Online was marketed as ‘nearly like singleplayer content, honest.’
I’d kill for anything like Red Dead Redemption’s Undead Nightmare DLC, which drastically changed the tone of the game and leaned into the ridiculous. But even something less ambitious might suffice as a cause to revisit Red Dead 2’s fantastic singleplayer experience. It’s a shame that, by the looks of things, the Capitale will always have the last say.
