Should you kill or spare O’Driscoll?

Red Dead Redemption 2: Should you kill or spare O’Driscoll in Chapter 1

With the wait finally over, it’s time to don a big iron and raise the curtain on Rockstar’s latest wild west adventure: Red Dead Redemption 2. The story begins in the middle of a blizzard, with our new protagonist Arthur Morgan and gang leader Dutch searching a homestead for supplies. When Morgan’s jumped by one of the O’Driscoll boys in the barn, you’re presented with the first big choice in the game – whether to kill or spare O’Driscoll in chapter 1.

Red Dead Redemption 2: Should you kill or spare the O’Driscoll

The first main choice in a game is always met with the most trepidation since you’re never quite sure of the moral rules of the world you’re stepping into. Luckily though, you’re not punished too harshly for your choices in RDR2, especially this first one.

For our review we played the whole of Red Dead Redemption 2, and there don’t seem to be any repercussions either way for sparing or killing O’Driscoll in chapter 1. This means you’re free to make the choice that you think fits most closely with Arthur Morgan’s character – whether that’s choking the man out in cold blood or letting him freeze in the hinterland.

Over the rest of Red Dead Redemption 2 however, your actions – big and small – will carry more weight. This is because of the returning Honor System in RDR2, which gives you certain bonuses based on how people perceive you in the world.

Many story missions affect your Honor Rank, giving you the chance to do the right thing and help people for a boost, or give them the boot if you’re feeling surly. Honorable Arthurs get things like discounts from shopkeepers, while dishonourable rogues tend to find more booze and cigs.

To sum up though; don’t worry too much about whether to kill or spare O’Driscoll in the barn in chapter 1, but pay mind to the choices you make in the game in future.