When Red Dead Online’s Outlaw Pass was initially announced, the community was left divided. It’s essentially a battle pass system, something made famous by Fortnite and copied by pretty much every other game out there. Some players were excited for the prospect of seasonal rewards as a way to keep them engaged but others were put off by the idea. No matter which side of the fence you may sit, the game is better for it. Though this Outlaw Pass system isn’t perfect.
What is the Outlaw Pass?
The Outlaw Pass is a rank-based levelling up system where each rank unlocks various rewards for players. Some of these rewards are cosmetic while others are just little packs like an ammo pack, provisions pack or a bag of herbs to help players get by on their journey in the frontier.
The Outlaw Pass also rewards currency, both standard and premium. There are 70 ranks to gain and each has nifty rewards to be earned by frontiersmen and women alike.
How Much Does It Cost?
Every player, regardless of their player rank, is enrolled as a member of the Outlaw Pass from the get-go. However, as with other battle passes from other games, there is a free version and a paid version that costs 35 gold bars. This is where it gets interesting though.
Players who have it for free can level up their Outlaw Pass all the way to rank 70 and when they finally decide to cough up that steep 35 gold bars payment, they will unlock everything that they’ve earned by levelling to rank 70.
In addition to that, they will make back their 35 gold bar investment right away. It’s a good system that doesn’t feel too grindy and is something that is earned passively while playing.
Players earn XP for everything they do. I shot a duck and ended up ranking my Outlaw Pass to rank two…just from shooting a duck. How’s that for a quacking good time?
It Ain’t Perfect Though
This is where others may disagree with me but the Outlaw Pass feels a little too short. Within one week I had hit rank 70 and I didn’t even buy the 35 gold bars until I hit rank 65.
Although that’s not entirely a bad thing, I so feel the Outlaw Pass could do with some more levels and different kinds of rewards. Maybe hunting and bounty wagon cosmetics? It’s really exciting to see that I’ve unlocked something from the passbut it only lasted a week and according to Rockstar’s Newswire, this season ends sometime in November.
Like I said, this system isn’t a bad thing, I just wish it had more to it. Maybe a hundred ranks instead of seventy? It just feels like the Outlaw Pass is here for a good time, and not a long time.
If this is the future of Red Dead Online then that, in my opinion, is a good thing. It’ll keep players engaged over time, and Rockstar could easily play into seasonal events with this system. Though with all the players crowding their servers they’ll need to work on stability issues because I’ve been looking at the “You have lost connection to Rockstar’s Services” screen more often than I’d like and I’m not the only one.
Red Dead Online’s Outlaw Pass is available now.
