Plenty of games offer molotov cocktails as a quick and easy method of setting fires and fighting enemies. While most might not notice anything about the bottles after they've set the fire, one Red Dead Redemption 2 player taking a closer look noticed how much intricate detail went into the game's fire bottle animation.
Red Dead Redemption 2 has consistently impressed players with its attention to detail since its release. New discoveries are still being made in the game, showing how much effort went into creating the title, even if players didn't notice the smaller details for years.
One such discovery was shared by Veporyzer on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit. After throwing a fire bottle - aka a molotov cocktail - the player quickly switched to Red Dead Redemption's photo mode, allowing them to essentially freeze time. From here, one can see them move the camera around, revealing tiny shards of glass from the shattered bottle hanging in the air.
This detail is amazing... it’s a split second explosion, yet the shards from the Molotov cocktail are still rendered in amazing detail. No wonder my Xbox one lagged so much when I got close. from reddeadredemption
Impressively, the individual shards actually refract light realistically, allowing the player to peer through them at the explosion. The light warps the way one might expect if they stared at something through a piece of glass in the real world. This level of detail on a solid object in the game would be impressive enough, but to find it in a shot like this that's only on-screen for a split second is tremendous.
It would have been easy enough for Rockstar Games to cut corners on something like this, and no one would have thought less of the game for it. While recent technological improvements and advancements in realism like Valve's liquid shader for Half-Life Alyx have impressed many gamers, it's staggering to discover this level of detail in an animation that's only visible for a moment.
Tiny Red Dead Redemption 2 details continue to impress even those players who have spent hundreds of hours in the title. From minute detail in Arthur Morgan's eyes to noticing that Micah treats his horse poorly, the game has continued to gain recognition for how much effort went into it.
Fans of Rockstar Games titles openly voiced hopes in the comments that the next game it produces will get this level of detail. While the recently released GTA Remastered Trilogy was received with harsh criticism for its many faults, there's still high hopes in the community that Grand Theft Auto 6 will have as much effort as Red Dead Redemption 2 put into it, and possibly push it even further with the power of next-gen gaming systems.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.