Red Dead Redemption 2 has a survival mode you can download and play free

If Rockstar Games were to give us even more Red Dead Redemption, we’d be all over it as we can never get enough of its Wild West shenanigans.

Sadly, other than some pretty mundane content updates for Red Dead Online, Rockstar Games doesn't seem keen on giving us any substantial Red Dead Redemption 2 content anytime soon, which is a shame. Thankfully, however, the talented modding community has us covered.

Check out the Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer below!

“Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are outlaws on the run. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive,” reads the synopsis from Rockstar Games.

There’s a keyword in the above synopsis and that word is “survive” which brings us to the topic of today’s discussion. The ‘Basic Needs Final Cut’ mod created by a team of indie developers is all about survival and best of all, it’s free to download via Nexusmods ready for you to play right now.

The final version of the ‘Basic Needs’ mod brings a true open-world survival element to Red Dead Redemption 2. The mod focuses on five new core mechanics; equipment weight, exhaustion, hunger, thirst and urination (yes, really)

For example, you must ensure that Arthur Morgan does not go hungry for too long and if he begins to starve, his hunger core will decrease and it even decreases faster during cold weather. What’s more, if you don't keep Arthur suitably fed, he might even be poisoned as a penalty which can result in a tragic death.

Arthur must also stay healthy by drinking fluids whether it's alcohol or water, the latter of which can be refilled at water sources found throughout the huge map of Red Dead Redemption 2. What’s more, the ‘Basic Needs’ mod also adds a subtle neat role-playing mechanic of being able to drink from the canteen while walking or riding a horse and you can wash from water sources.

Furthermore, Arthur must stay well-rested and get some much-needed sleep whenever he can, and if he doesn't, his stamina bar will pay the price. For those RPG fans who are not annoyed by weight detection mechanics, Arthur must ensure that he’s not carrying too many weapons, otherwise, his stamina bar will take a hit once more.

It does sound like a cool mod, especially if you’re a fan of open-world survival games. Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now on PC, PlayStation and Xbox.