I want to believe that we all have video games that we elevate above all sense and reason, that we qualify as perfect despite the fact that we know that there is nothing that doesn’t have its little things. In my case, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of those games that is perennially on the altar of perfection. And I’m sure it is in many of yours.
The developers at Rockstar Games did not sell their souls to the devil to make this work of art, but they certainly did give much more than what a person with a minimum of morals would consider acceptable. And although it pisses me off that this abusive practice soiled Red Dead Redemption 2I only have good words for the product that came to my PS4.
I know that the Red Dead Redemption sequel (prequel in terms of story) has flaws, but they are so minor compared to its virtues that they simply become a mere annoyance. What really gets on my nerves is that Rockstar Games has not taken the time to update the console versions to the current generation of what I can safely classify as the game of the last decade.
Braithwaite Mansion Raid: The Crown Jewel of Red Dead Redemption 2
The Braithwaite Mansion Heist mission is one of the most epic moments in Red Dead Redemption 2 alongside the Saint Denis Bank Heist, the Cavalry Charge in Cornwall Kerosene & Tar, and American Venom. These are some of the moments I’ve collected in the 2023 five-year video game special.
I could talk for hours about any of them, especially about Assault on Braithwaite Manor and American Venom. This time I want to focus on the first one and maybe later I’ll dedicate another post to the second one. The idea is simple: tell you why I think it’s one of the best missions in the history of video games.
I don’t want to give away any spoilers beyond the mission itself, so the only context I can give you is th at Jack, son of John and Abigail Marston, has been kidnapped. Dutch van der Linde’s gang doesn’t think twice about raiding the Braithwaite family mansion (a real place, by the way) and a real massacre occurs there.
The premise alone seems compelling to me. Any group of good guys would have thought of a smart, non-violent way to get the boy back, perhaps by negotiating, but we’re dealing with a gang of outlaws. None of them are strangers to murder, and in fact they’ve taken lives for much less. Red Dead Redemption 2 It satisfies that violent impulse that we have all repressed at some point because we live in a society based on laws and rules of coexistence.
So you find yourself riding along as Arthur Morgan with the rest of the group, with a war-drum soundtrack playing in the background. You know Dutch has no intention of negotiating, and neither does any player with a modicum of affection for the characters.
There is an epic and beautiful scene when the group enters the main street of the mansion. They leave their horses at the entrance and walk the last few meters in a line. “I’m going to leave those bastards like a sieve,” says John Marton. “John, I need you to calm down,” says Dutch.
The drums on the soundtrack stop and give way to a woman’s voice, drowned out by Dutch’s screams: “Get out of here right now!” she says, pointing her gun at the sky. It’s pitch black and only the lights of the house and the shadows of the attackers can be seen. The last reasonable words heard are: “If you’re not going to behave like civilized people…”
A brutal shootout begins. The line of outlaws fires at the first Braithwaite men, who have no chance to defend themselves against the firing formation. Not everyone notices it amidst all the shooting, but the soundtrack begins to build up tension and take on an ascending tone, as if it knew in advance the carnage that was about to take place inside the mansion.
Dutch kicks open the front door and enters with Arthur Morgan, Hosea Matthews and John Marston. Doors slam and gunshots ring out as we do the same. We kick open the doors to find the Braithwaite men holed up behind tables. The slow motion adds brutal drama to a brutal situation. The damage is much greater if you use a shotgun, I can tell from experience. There is no quarter for the defenders.
The ecstasy of the mission comes when Dutch and Hosea call Arthur and John for help on the second floor. The defenders have barricaded themselves in a room and we have to go around to outflank them, but more Braithwaite men arrive along the main path.
The music starts to rise as enemies arrive and the guitar, which sounds like the most western thing you’ve ever heard, plays louder and louder so as not to be drowned out by the gunfire. The mission reaches the height of its perfection at this point. If you like westerns as much as I do, then you know that there’s nothing more authentic than two groups of bandits shooting each other in a remote location. And the kill cams only help to enhance the scene.
The last men fall and the worst possible situation occurs: Jack is missing and Catherine Braithwaite is not giving any details about the boy. She does not stop challenging Dutch, so he stars in a cruel scene that six years later still makes my hair stand on end: he grabs Catherine by the dress and drags her down the stairs to the door while the rest set fire to the mansion.
The final scene is absolutely heartbreaking and a brutal end to the mission: the mansion burning and Catherine running towards the flames to save some possible family member… although I already told you that for my part, not a single one was left alive. The soundtrack fades out again and a woman sings. Her voice almost manages to drown out Catherine’s cries of pure desperation and helplessness. The band moves away from the mansion.
It’s been six years since I first played this mission, and I promise I still get a chill every time I replay it or rewatch it on YouTube. It’s not complicated, and it doesn’t have a deep moral. It’s not heroic, either. And while there are no saints in the Braithwaite family, the real demons that night are us. For me, it’s an unbeatable experience that only gets better with age.
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