Fans of the original Red Dead Redemption loved its single-player DLC expansion, Undead Nightmare. However, Rockstar Games has yet to follow up Undead Nightmare in Red Dead Redemption 2. This is a shame, because not making an Undead Nightmare 2 would be a missed opportunity.
The original Red Dead Redemption's Undead Nightmare DLC proved to be a smashing success with players. With an alternate world map filled with new weapons, mounts, enemies, and stories, Undead Nightmare was everything a gamer could ask for in a horror-themed DLC expansion. It even had a fully fledged story about John Marston searching for a cure to the zombie outbreak after his family is infected. It wasn't quite as good as the base game itself, but as a love-letter to the weird west genre it does a fantastic job of mixing zombies and outlaws in an enjoyable way.
The only thing Undead Nightmare really lacked in comparison to the base Red Dead Redemption game was a story bearing real emotional weight. This is understandable. After all, it's a silly "what if" scenario made just for the fun of it, so Rockstar wasn't likely worried about inserting as much of their biting social commentary as they would for a serious entry. It was also much shorter than Red Dead Redemption's base story, and was paced somewhat faster in order to include characters from all sections of the original game's plot. As a result, Undead Nightmare comes off as intentionally lighthearted and hokey, something which a Red Dead Redemption 2 sequel could change.
How RDR2's Undead Nightmare Could Be Even Better
The main advantage that Red Dead Redemption 2's setting has over the original in this situation is that it has a consistent and contained cast of characters for the majority of its runtime. The Van Der Linde gang's interpersonal struggles are already a major source of drama and suspense in Red Dead Redemption 2's base story. This could equally be the case in an Undead Nightmare scenario, where tension and conflict in the group would stem from the outside pressures of a mysterious zombie outbreak. In the end, Red Dead Redemption 2 boasts more narrative potential than its predecessor, as a serious story starring a strong ensemble cast (similar to modern zombie stories like The Walking Dead).
The community-oriented focus of Red Dead Redemption 2's setting would also lead to innovations in this theoretical Undead Nightmare 2's gameplay. Aside from some light crafting elements, the original Undead Nightmare mainly focused many of the same activities as the base game. Hunting, side-questing, and exploring are still the pillars of its core gameplay loop; they just have a supernatural edge to them. Undead Nightmare 2 could expand on these activities by giving them a tangible effect on the gang's current condition (something which even the base game fails to achieve). If Arthur goes hunting, loots an infested town for supplies, or discovers how to craft zombie bait (as John did in the first one), then the player should see NPCs benefit from those discoveries.
Unfortunately, Rockstar hasn't shown any inclination towards making an Undead Nightmare sequel for Red Dead Redemption 2. For the most part, the company is continuing to focus on supporting the online modes for both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V, with no single-player DLC for either game coming in the foreseeable future. The only real silver lining is that fans can always go back and appreciate the original Undead Nightmare for what it was.