Combat

Combat and gunplay is a major part of the game. Gunfights in Red Dead Redemption are conducted using a third-person system. The player can take cover, target a specific person, blindfire, and free aim. Individual body parts can also be targeted, as to take targets down nonlethally. When the player shoots an enemy, the game engine uniquely creates the AI reactions and movements. John Marston has an arsenal of period-accurate weapons to choose from; that include revolvers, lever or bolt-action rifles, knives, sticks of dynamite, molotov cocktails or, as they are known in the game, "fire bottles", lassos, mounted gatling guns, shotguns, and cannons.[7]
A combat feature that Marston can utilize is the "Dead-Eye" targeting system. "Dead-Eye" is used in a bullet-time-like manner, allowing the player to slow down the world to place a precise shot or paint in multiple shots on the body parts of one or multiple enemies. When the targeting sequence ends, Marston will fire in extremely quick succession on targeted people.