The Wild West is dying in Red Dead Redemption II’s ominous new trailer

Rockstar Games is a little less than six months away from finally releasing Red Dead Redemption II, the hugely anticipated follow-up to its era-defining Western drama. And with that day closing in (unless, of course, the game suffers yet another delay) Rockstar has offered up a new trailer giving us the most in-depth look yet at this latest open-world epic.

As was previously revealed, Redemption II is a prequel set just before the turn of the 20th century, about a decade before the original Redemption. It stars Arthur Morgan, a member of the infamous Van Der Linde Gang, which is seen in this latest trailer doing what it does best: robbing trains, banks, carriages, and everything else that can be robbed. But with its tense string-driven score and flashes of ominous text about the fading of the Wild West, the trailer suggests the game will depict the violent last gasps of this lawless frontier and a gang of outlaws struggling to survive as their way of life disappears. The original Redemption broached some similar territory, but it was set in 1911, even further into the government’s taming of the region.

And speaking of the first Redemption, there’s already some speculation that this latest trailer contains a familiar face—that of a young John Marston, seen in this clip sporting nasty gashes on his cheeks where his scars would later develop. It would make sense for Marston, the star of the previous game, to at least appear in Redemption II, since he was involved with the The Van Der Linde Gang before the feds strong-armed him into hunting down its members during the events of Red Dead Redemption. The man isn’t addressed by name, and we probably won’t find out if that actually is him until Red Dead Redemption II launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on October 26.