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There will be spoilers. You have been warned.
You saved the world. Thanks — you can go now.
Is it just me, or does that seem abrupt? I appreciate the effort developers put in, but too often their credits scroll by too early. Do you remember the last time a film or book ended with a boss fight?
Star Wars: A New Hope gave us our big explosion then ended satisfyingly with hugs and medals.
Harry Potter allowed us to tend to the wounded and survey the aftermath of the series' climactic battle, before showing us what the surviving characters did with their lives. I don't think J.K. Rowling handled the epilogue well, but when a good story ends I want to stay in that universe for a short while.
Games, though, usually end with a slain opponent or big explosion. Maybe there'll be a clumsy attempt at setting up a sequel. (I'm looking at you, Halo.)
Red Dead Redemption doesn't do this. It ends with your opponent's surrender — an anticlimax by the standards of faster, more action-obsessed games. Then you mount up and ride into the sunset, accompanied by a pensive acoustic ballad. After this, though, you get an epilogue.
The obvious ending would be for you to shoot Dutch as expected, board the train you rode in on, see your wife and child, roll credits. Instead, you get to do what Marston has been saying he will do for the entire game — tend his farm and see his family. I'm surprised Rockstar, of all people, shied away from letting John make love to his wife though.
I wish more games would do this — show me Earth being rebuilt after I've saved it from the Covenant, or let me come home to a parade in Call of Duty. Every game doesn't have to end happily, but more need to give us emotional satisfaction as well as gratification through action. I had fun herding cattle, breaking horses, and shooting crows before Marston's time in the West came to an end. I'll remember it better than any explosion or shootout.