Turns out Red Dead Redemption’s “Friendly Free Roam” isn’t so friendly anymore. Like the loose cannons of the old west, griefers have found ways to circumvent what is essentially a normal Free Roam with collateral damage removed. Today I found out that while thrown dynamite from another player will not kill your character...lit dynamite still in their hands will. And once they start running at you with a sparkling fuse, your only option is to run and hope that four seconds is enough time to get sufficiently far away.
The second way griefers are...well, griefing...is by shooting your horse out from under you. Now, in most cases these dumb bastards are too poor of a shot to kill your horse before you make it over the horizon, but it’s still annoying. And the only way to get them back is to shoot their horse - if they ever even call it - and invite the local marshals to start shooting at you.
So I decided to find a Gang Shootout, hoping to return with a tale worthy of the Battlefield Report. To say that the battle was epic would be an understatement - something of a common occurrence in Red Dead. Position across the road from five cattle rustlers were myself and five other marshals. The familiar mahogany voice of the narrator informed us that we were about to fight over a crate of gold, one bag at a time.
The camera favored the rustler just across from me, but I decided to let my guard down and focus on the man to his right. This would mean that I was shooting across to my weak side; not a smart move for me, but if my aim was true it would take them by surprise. Sure enough, the showdown commenced and the poor rustler in my sights didn’t even have a chance to fire. He dropped like a bag of potatoes. I immediately diverted my aim to the man directly across from me, but he sidestepped. My Schofield .45 thundered four times - only two shots landed. His arm was bloodied but the wounds were far from mortal, and with no shots leftI was open for the kill. He sent me to Kingdom come just before my accomplices finished him off. It was a brutal way to start what would be a fight long remembered.
As I respawned a green twinkle caught my attention: a Dead Eye refill box. I’d forgotten all about Dead Eye! Armed with a lever-action Winchester and the aforementioned Schofield, a burst of Dead Eye would pack the punch I needed while giving my decidedly slow weapons a jump in speed.
The Schofield - "just meat and potatoes."