The Haunting Beauty Of Red Dead Redemption 2's Grizzlies
Ride to the far northern reaches of Red Dead Redemption 2's overwhelmingly huge map and you'll find yourself lost in a freezing expanse of jagged rocks, glacial waterfalls, deep snowdrifts, and iced-over lakes. This is the Grizzlies, an inhospitable chain of mountains seemingly locked in an eternal winter. Rockstar's melancholy slice of the American West is one of the most convincingly natural game worlds ever created, encompassing a variety of landscapes, from lush farmland to dry, scrubby deserts. But there's something about the cold, isolated Grizzlies that has always captured my imagination.
Outside of the bustling Saint Denis, RDR2's world is sparsely populated compared to most open world games. But wherever you go, whether it's the plains of the Heartlands or the swamps of Lemoyne, there are traces of people. As you trot around the wilderness on your horse you'll run into bootleggers, fishermen, hunters, wandering merchants, drifters, escaped prisoners, and other oddballs. The roads are mostly quiet, but the odd stagecoach or posse of riders will occasionally rumble past and whip up a cloud of dust. But when you're up there in the Grizzlies, it's like being on another planet.
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As you move northwards, you'll see plumes of breath start to escape from Arthur's mouth. Snow will appear in patches, then eventually blanket the ground. The feeling of transitioning from the relatively temperate climes of New Hanover to the frigid Grizzlies is palpable, and happens so gradually that you barely notice it happening. One minute you're surrounded by forests and winding rivers, the next glaciers and snow-whipped mountain peaks. It's a big map, but these subtle climate transitions
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