Red Dead Redemption 2's Bloody New Animal-Skinning Animation Is Truly A Sight To Behold

Like 2010's Red Dead Redemption, October's Red Dead Redemption 2 will let you skin animals and sell their meat for profit (assuming it doesn't go bad first). But the skinning animation in the sequel is extremely different from what you might remember--and it's a lot more intense.

During my time with the game, tracked and killed a deer in Red Dead Redemption 2's open world. I walked up to it and pressed the button to enter the skinning animation. I was not prepared for what happened next. In one seamless animation, Arthur Morgan plunges his knife into the animal, sending its guts spilling onto the ground. He then removes the fur, and you see the fur peel back over the animal's body. It was shocking.

By contrast, in the 2010 game, the camera cut away from the animal as John Marston plunged his knife into it to remove the meat. Blood splashed on the screen, and Marston sometimes makes remarks about the animal smelling bad. But in the sequel, the animal-skinning experience gets elevated to a new, more visceral level with Arthur Morgan in the driver's seat.

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We only saw the skinning animation for the medium-sized deer, and we can only imagine what it will look like for bigger animals like bears, as well as alligators and more.

We also learned a little more about hunting. Once you kill an animal and skin it, you can place it on the back of your horse to bring to a town to sell. The meat and the pelt are separate objects in the game, sitting on your steed independently.

Once you reach a town, you can sell the meat and the pelt like you could in Red Dead Redemption 1. But one of the twists for the sequel is that you must sell the meat in a timely fashion to get the best price. Wait too long and merchants will pay less for your time-spoiled meat.

Also new for the sequel is hunting-related advancements to Dead Eye. You will eventually earn upgrades for Dead Eye that let you target specific animal organs when you shoot. This is important because getting clean kills through the heart will keep the meat in its best condition. Fail to drop an animal cleanly, and you might see it squirming on the ground in pain. If this happens, you might want to put the animal out of its misery.

For even more on Red Dead Redemption 2, check out our hands-on preview that looks at two stories missions and some open-world exploration. We've got even more coverage through the links below.

Red Dead Redemption 2 News And Details

• Red Dead Redemption 2: We Played It On PS4, Here's Everything We Saw
• Watch: We Played Red Dead Redemption 2
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• Red Dead Redemption 2's Most Surprising Features And Details
• Red Dead Redemption 2: Everything We Just Learned
• Like GTA 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Playable In First-Person
• Here Are Red Dead Redemption 2's HUD Options
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• Here's 27 New Red Dead Redemption 2 Screens
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Will Feature Woody Jackson's Music Again
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Has A Selfie Camera
• Red Dead Redemption 2 Lets You Drift On A Horse
• Red Dead Redemption 2's New Animal-Skinning Animation Is Truly A Sight To Behold
• Red Dead Redemption 2's Online Mode Gets A Beta A Month After Release Day
• Why Red Dead Redemption 2's Online Mode Is Launching After The Main Game
• Rockstar Will Stagger GTA 5 Online And Red Dead Online Update Releases
• Red Dead Online Learns Its Lessons From GTA Online