Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is the only major single-player expansion pack for the hit 2010 Old West shooter, and yet it more than satisfied fans of the title. Plunging the state of New Austin and Northern Mexico into a devastating zombie apocalypse, players loved the gruesome and genuinely creepy aesthetic that the expansion brought to the game world.
It can be said that Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is one of the most well-received Rockstar expansions of all time, with the realm of zombies working extremely well within the classic Rockstar third-person shooter formula. With this in mind, Rockstar has undeniable proof that if it were to carry this same zombie formula to a standalone title, it is highly likely that the game would be successful and received fantastically by fans.
The Legacy of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
Undead Nightmare released only a few months after the original launch of Red Dead Redemption in May 2010, coming out a time in which players were beginning to exhaust the content of the base game's story but were still yearning for more. From its very nature as a zombie title, Undead Nightmare is a fantastically ambitious expansion to introduce to Red Dead Redemption, given how it is such a far cry away from the standard gameplay and tone of the full title.
With players maintaining control of protagonist John Marston in a non-canon timeline in which zombies dominate the frontier, Undead Nightmare provided a unique and captivating blending of two beloved genres and settings, with the genuinely unsettling and tense gameplay only further increasing such positive reception from the game's fan base. The legacy of Undead Nightmare is more than present even today, as fans have long been calling for an Undead Nightmare 2 to release for Red Dead Redemption 2.
What a Standalone Zombie Rockstar Title Could Look Like
Given the longevity of success that the Undead Nightmare expansion has had on the gaming community, with some considering it to be one of the best expansions in gaming history, it is clear that a zombie game led by Rockstar would be a great formula for a successful standalone title. While many have given up on the concept of an Undead Nightmare 2, an unrelated Rockstar title with zombies as a core focus would be sure to scratch that longstanding itch for many fans.
While it is becoming a rarity for Rockstar to release standalone unique titles that may be of a smaller scale than GTA or Red Dead Redemption entries, a return to this kind of turnover would be a welcome one for many fans of the massive studio. When looking back at standalone titles like Bully and L.A Noire that redefined genre and setting expectations, there is a rich and successful history of Rockstar deviating from its flagship franchises that could very well be replicated by a potential zombie game.
Being of a smaller scale but maintaining the classic third-person shooter formula of other Rockstar titles, this potential zombie game could also be set in an urban setting and have an open-world with quest-givers as a core gameplay framework. Bringing Rockstar's already established zombie settings into the modern day, there would also be untold avenues for that trademark observational humor of Rockstar games, with the apocalyptic zombie setting only furthering the potential for dark comedy that is so ever-present in other Rockstar projects like Grand Theft Auto. Given the successful foundations that have been laid by Undead Nightmare, a Rockstar-led zombie game in the present day would surely be a fascinating project that fans would be more than open to experiencing.
Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare is available now for PS3 and Xbox 360.