Red Dead Redemption 2 is one hell of a realistic game. So realistic, in fact, that players will know more about the real world thanks to virtual animals and their behavioural patterns
Whoever has played GTA 5 or Red Dead Redemption 2 knows how much attention to detail Rockstar puts into its games. The fact that this demand for a high degree of realism also brings positive effects for the player is now shown by the study of a biology teacher from Great Britain.
According to the study, players of Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online benefit from immersing themselves in the immersive animal world of the title. The aim of the study was to find out how educationally valuable comparable high-budget games can be when education is not the main focus.
Learning about real animals from virtual ones
Gamer vs. non-gamer: Reddit user SaiRookwood is responsible for the study, which was supported by the University of Exeter and Truro College. 586 participants from 55 countries were involved in total, of which 444 had played Red Dead Redemption 2 or the naturalist role from Red Dead Online. A majority of the participants were between 18 and 34 years old.
Participants in the study were asked to identify 15 different animals, all of which appear in Red Dead Redemption 2, and name them in the course of a multiple choice task. Easy-to-see or generally known animals such as bears or wolves were left out, by the way, and instead the focus was on rainbow trout, egrets and the like.
The result: the participants who had previously played Red Dead Redemption 2 were able to correctly name an average of ten out of 15 animals. This put them at least three hits ahead of the participants who had no experience with the Rockstar game.
The study ultimately concluded that players benefit more from immersion in an immersive world than from stubborn memorisation, or when teaching material is to be obviously and not very subtly drilled into the player. You can access the teacher’s document here, by the way.
What readers should note: Of course, the study is not an unqualified confirmation that games always bring an educational added value. In the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, there is also the restriction that the title is not suitable for players under 18: After all, it is a Wild West game about outlaws and their bloody fight against law enforcement officers, which is primarily aimed at an adult audience.
Furthermore, participants themselves noted that the animals in Red Dead Redemption 2 or Red Dead Online behave much more aggressively and thus partly less naturally than their real-life counterparts. Because despite its realistic claim, Red Dead Redemption 2 is still an action title that is primarily designed to entertain its consumer.
What do you think of the result of the study and the thought process behind it? Are you a fan of realistic video games or would you rather be entertained without much pretension to it? Let us know in the comments.
