[230919]Red Dead Redemption 2's Frozen Neanderthal Mystery Explained

https://gamerant.com/red-dead-redemption-2-frozen-neanderthal-mystery-easter-egg-npc-explained/
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game filled with many mysteries, and the tale of the frozen Neanderthal is one of the most confounding.


Red Dead Redemption 2 has a reputation as one of the most detailed and multilayered video games of its time, but there's one mystery that has left even the game's most dedicated sleuths scratching their heads. The mystery could just be one of Red Dead Redemption 2's many Easter eggs, or it could be something else entirely, as its true nature remains unanswered.

Rockstar seems to have an affinity for hiding strange and off-kilter content in its games. The Grand Theft Auto franchise famously features a number of references to aliens and abductions, and the first Red Dead Redemption game included an obscure side quest featuring Bigfoot. Since both these franchises are rather grounded and realistic in their premises, these absurd moments stand out and are generally appreciated as unique rewards for digging deep into the game. However, some of these Easter eggs and odd details are harder to parse than others, and the appearance of a Neanderthal-like NPC in Red Dead Redemption 2 falls into this camp.

Dataminers and Hackers Found Red Dead Redemption 2's Neanderthal


Fans who enjoy learning about the secrets of Red Dead Redemption 2 may have heard online chatter about the discovery of what appears to be a Neanderthal in the game. Given the idiosyncrasies of Rockstar's games, the concept isn't too far-fetched, but concrete information about this NPC can be hard to find. As is often the case with video game secrets, misinformation runs rampant. However, there are a few confirmed details regarding the Neanderthal that are worth considering.

The most important thing to understand about the mysterious RDR2 Neanderthal is that it has never been organically encountered in the game. All recorded encounters with the NPC come from hackers and modders digging into the game's files, or by players going out of the bounds of the game's map. Employing these methods has revealed quite an unusual NPC, even when compared to RDR2's other strange characters. The NPC sports a Neanderthal-like appearance, with a facial structure that is atypical in modern humans. The NPC's outfit also suggests this prehistoric origin.

It's only natural for players to question where this NPC came from, and why it was included in the game. A common theory is that the NPC is part of cut content; Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive game, and there was plenty left on the cutting room floor. Couple that with the fact that no player has evidence of encountering the NPC as part of a quest or fully produced Easter egg, and this theory seems plausible. After all, modders have already uncovered hundreds of lines of cut RDR2 dialog, so it's not too much of a stretch to assume that this character model is just a leftover from a scrapped bit of content.

However, there is reason to speculate that there is more behind the Neanderthal. For one thing, the character model is fully rendered, with a unique "frozen_caveman" animation being discovered by hackers; with so much apparent effort going into creating this NPC, it seems strange that the developers would just throw it away. Also, some Easter eggs in previous Rockstar games have taken several years to discover, so just because no player has come across the "official" implementation of this character model, that doesn't mean that no player ever will. The discovery of the NPC by hackers could itself be one of RDR2's secrets, as it may have just been a joke left behind by the developers, with the intention of it only ever being uncovered in this roundabout way. Time will tell if there is more to be learned about the enigmatic caveman.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently available on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

机翻：
《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》是一款充满许多谜团的游戏，而冰冻的尼安德特人的故事是其中最令人困惑的一个。


《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》被誉为当时细节最丰富、层次最丰富的视频游戏之一，但有一个谜团甚至让这款游戏最热衷的侦探也摸不着头脑。 这个谜团可能只是《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》的众多复活节彩蛋之一，也可能完全是其他东西，因为它的真正本质仍未得到解答。

Rockstar 似乎很喜欢在其游戏中隐藏奇怪和不正常的内容。 《侠盗猎车手》系列以大量涉及外星人和绑架的内容而闻名，而第一款《荒野大镖客：救赎》游戏中也包含了一个以大脚怪为主角的晦涩支线任务。 由于这两个系列的前提都相当扎实和现实，因此这些荒谬的时刻脱颖而出，并且通常被视为深入游戏的独特奖励。 然而，其中一些复活节彩蛋和奇怪的细节比其他的更难解析，《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》中类似尼安德特人的 NPC 的出现就属于这一阵营。

数据挖掘者和黑客发现了《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》中的尼安德特人


喜欢了解 Red Dead Redemption 2 秘密的粉丝可能听过网上关于在游戏中发现了尼安德特人的讨论。 考虑到 Rockstar 游戏的特质，这个概念并不是太牵强，但有关该 NPC 的具体信息可能很难找到。 正如电子游戏秘密的常见情况一样，错误信息猖獗。 然而，有一些关于尼安德特人的已确认细节值得考虑。

关于神秘的 RDR2 尼安德特人，最需要了解的是，它从未在游戏中有机地遇到过。 所有与 NPC 的遭遇记录都来自黑客和模组制作者挖掘游戏文件，或者玩家超出游戏地图范围。 即使与 RDR2 的其他奇怪角色相比，使用这些方法也能揭示出一个相当不寻常的 NPC。 该 NPC 具有类似尼安德特人的外表，其面部结构在现代人类中并不典型。 NPC 的服装也表明了这一史前起源。

玩家很自然地会质疑这个 NPC 是从哪里来的，为什么会出现在游戏中。 一个常见的理论是 NPC 是剪辑内容的一部分； 《荒野大镖客：救赎 2》是一款规模宏大的游戏，还有很多作品正在剪辑室中。 再加上没有玩家有证据表明在任务中遇到 NPC 或完全制作了复活节彩蛋，这一理论似乎是合理的。 毕竟，改装者已经发现了数百行 RDR2 对话的剪辑，因此可以毫不夸张地说，这个角色模型只是一些废弃内容的剩余部分。

然而，有理由推测尼安德特人背后还有更多的东西。 一方面，角色模型已完全渲染，独特的“frozen_caveman”动画被黑客发现； 显然，为了创建这个 NPC，开发者付出了如此多的努力，但开发者却将其丢弃，这似乎很奇怪。 此外，之前的 Rockstar 游戏中的一些复活节彩蛋需要数年时间才能发现，因此仅仅因为没有玩家遇到过此角色模型的“官方”实现，并不意味着没有玩家会遇到。 黑客发现 NPC 本身可能就是 RDR2 的秘密之一，因为这可能只是开发者留下的一个玩笑，其目的只是以这种迂回的方式被发现。 时间会告诉我们关于这位神秘的穴居人是否还有更多值得了解的地方。

Red Dead Redemption 2 目前可在 PC、PS4 和 Xbox One 上玩。