'Red Dead Redemption 2' Special Editions: Pre-order Bonuses Announced

Saddle up, hombre. The Red Dead Redemption 2 pre-order bonuses have been announced. They include special horses, outfits, exclusive missions, in-game resources, and even a printed treasure map for those of you who can’t resist the ecstasy of gold.

The announcement came a few days after the Microsoft Store leaked the digital pre-order bonuses for the game. One fan who was quick on the draw snapped a photo of the leak before it went down and posted it on ResetEra. (Yes, I will continue to use Wild West puns all throughout this article and there’s nothing you can do to stop me).

Red Dead Redemption 2 Pre-Order Tiers: The standard, the special, and the ultimate

As you might have guessed, the pre-order bonuses come in three tiers. All pre-orders will receive the Ardennes War Horse (braver and hardier than the average horse) and the Outlaw Survival Kit, which is a sort of care package with items to replenish your health and abilities. A digital pre-order lands you an in-game treasure map and cash bonus.

The special edition comes with exclusive single-player missions, a racing horse with customized saddle, unique gameplay items, a new bandito outfit, and early access to some beefy weapons. The ultimate edition adds yet another fancy horse with a saddle, a Survivor theme for your camp, rank bonuses in multiplayer, and some city-slicker clothes like the Blackrose Bounty Hunter outfit and the Copperhead Enforcer outfit.

But the grand motherlode is the collector’s box, featuring a whole mess of loot like playing cards, a loot box with key, a bandanna, a collectible challenge coin, and more. It’s priced at $100 dollars but it does not, however, include the actual game. That you’ll have to purchase separately.

What is Red Dead Redemption 2?

It’s the prequel to the widely loved 2010 classic Red Dead Redemption.

The first Red Dead Redemption followed John Marston, a retired outlaw who picks up his old pistols when the U.S. government kidnaps his family. Marston is forced to hunt down his former compadres, the Van der Linge gang, in order to get his family back. Set during 1911, one of the central themes of the game was how the era of the Wild West was coming to the end with the arrival of heavily developed cities and the gradual culling of frontier gangs.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is set in 1899 through the eyes of Arthur Morgan, another member of the Van der Linge gang. After a botched bank robbery sends the gang fleeing, Morgan grows disillusioned with his criminal life. Against the backdrop of a rapidly disappearing frontier, Morgan’s loyalty to the gang is tested against his evolving personality morality.

Rockstar Games is expected to release more details about Red Dead Redemption 2 at E3 2018