To say Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition was a disaster would be an understatement. The collection of three Grand Theft Auto games - Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City, and San Andreas - was supposed to be the quintessential way for players to experience Rockstar Games' first forays into the open-world genre. Developer Grove Street Games' promise of visual and gameplay enhancements proved too little to combat the number of bugs, technical problems, and half-hearted art direction.
There are reports that due to the negative feedback for Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy - The Definitive Edition and the growing demand for Grand Theft Auto 6, planned remasters of Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto 4 have been scrapped. While there is no hard evidence that these remasters were in development, it is a shame that fans won't see them anytime soon. While remastering Grand Theft Auto 4 requires developers to bring Liberty City's assets to modern hardware, a remaster of Red Dead Redemption might not be as difficult to create.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Has Half of Red Dead Redemption's Map
The southmost portion of Red Dead Redemption 2's map is home to two sections of the first Red Dead Redemption. New Austin consists of a vast desert area to the west that slowly transforms into a prairie and a wetland as players move eastward. This area serves as the first explorable territory in Red Dead Redemption, and the final territory players can unlock in Red Dead Redemption 2.
West Elizabeth, on the other hand, is made up of a densely forested, mountainous area to the west and a large empty prairie to the east. This is the final area players can explore in the first game, and one of the last few places that is introduced in Red Dead Redemption 2. Though Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn't use the setting of New Austin as frequently as West Elizabeth, both areas are fully rendered. It would be a shame to not use these spaces to their full potential in a Red Dead Redemption remaster, as the backdrops are already in place. All Rockstar has to do is fill them with activities and content that are appropriate for Red Dead Redemption's story and time. Add in Nuevo Paraiso - Red Dead Redemption's southern Mexican territory - and the map is complete.
Red Dead Redemption 2's Assets Are Still Solid
Though it has been four years since Red Dead Redemption 2 released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, its graphics, animations, and assets are still years ahead of what can be found in many modern games. For example, the horse physics that were hyped up by Rockstar Games so many years ago (that includes the individual muscle movements, realistic behavior, and shrinking testicles) are still a sight to behold.
Instead of starting from scratch, fans of Red Dead Redemption likely wouldn't mind a remaster that uses the same assets found in Red Dead Redemption 2. Developers would need to modify some of these assets to suit the 1911 setting, but having base objects to work with makes their lives much easier. It also wouldn't hurt to improve some of Red Dead Redemption 2's assets using modern techniques that were introduced after the game released.
Voice Actors Could Reprise Their Roles
Thanks to the success of Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games and the people who worked on the project have enjoyed a good amount of publicity; especially the voice actors who portray its main cast. Benjamin Byron Davis delivers Dutch's lines with such power and conviction that it is difficult to see his transformation from stalwart leader to half-crazed lunatic. Likewise, Roger Clark's portrayal of Arthur Morgan made his character integral to the series.
Seeing as most of the actors in Red Dead Redemption reprise their roles in the sequel, it wouldn't be crazy to see them agree to a remaster. Rob Wiethoff, who plays John Marston, reprised his role in Red Dead Redemption 2 - a job no one thought he would undertake considering he left the film industry soon after the first game. Getting Wiethoff back into the saddle for a remaster of Red Dead Redemption might be a matter of striking while the iron is hot. Since Red Dead Redemption 2's cast knows how good the franchise can be, getting them all back into the studio sooner rather than later would make sense.
This isn't to say that remastering Red Dead Redemption is an easy task. Far from it; the amount of work needed to bring an open world of Red Dead Redemption's scale into the 2020s is staggeringly high, and forcing it to happen is only going to rush the finished product. Rockstar Studios may have been right to cancel a remaster of Red Dead Redemption, but if it ever goes back to the idea, it should consider using Red Dead Redemption 2 as a framework.
Red Dead Redemption is available now for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.