It’s practically a gaming law that the larger a game world, the buggier it gets, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is a very large game. Like its predecessor, the game is notorious for its numerous bugs. The trend continues with a hilarious Red Dead Redemption 2 glitch that lets Arthur Morgan introduce the speedboat to the wild west.
Reddit user Whippas captured this rare Red Dead Redemption 2 bug on video. The short clip shows Morgan sitting motionless as his wooden rowboat propels itself through the water by unknown means. The bow even lifts out of the water like a real-life motorboat moving at high speeds.
Motorboats were just starting to become a thing at the end of the 19th century. That definitely makes Morgan an early adopter. But as funny as the bug is, it also showcases the immense amount of work that Rockstar put into Red Dead Redemption 2. As Reddit user diatomicsoda points out, the water behaves precisely as one would expect when a boat travels across it at high speed. The water pushes against the curved bow of Morgan’s boat, lifting it skyward. This means that Rockstar went out of its way to accurately model how water interacts with a fast-moving boat.
That would hardly be the first time the studio went above and beyond in terms of attention to detail while making Read Dead Redemption 2. This included everything from horses pooping to grisly combat wounds. However, eagle-eyed players can spot most of those during regular gameplay. Meanwhile, RDR2’s boats aren’t normally fast enough for the water physics to behave as shown in the clip. It’s not clear what caused Whippas to encounter this particularly amusing glitch.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is no stranger to bizarre bugs. One patch from last year unleashed a whole slew of physics glitches that were at times both hilarious and frustrating. Some were surprising but harmless, like a horse-drawn carriage doing doughnuts in the middle of town. Others glitches were much less fun, like when an online player’s horse got stuck on the terrain in the middle of a firefight.
Another longstanding Red Dead Redemption 2 bug involves Morgan’s companions berating his clothing choices. The NPCs will harass the player about putting on warmer clothes, regardless of the actual temperature or what Morgan’s already wearing. It’s a matter of perspective whether that glitch is funny or infuriating. Fortunately, the recently discovered speed boat glitch seems to fall firmly in the former category.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.