Modder Brings Shadow of War's Nemesis System to Red Dead Redemption 2 Using AI

A modder has harnessed AI to integrate Middle-earth: Shadow of War's Nemesis System into Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption 2. The mod, called enRage and created by nicklovin99, monitors how each enemy feels about you, much like Shadow of War's beloved Nemesis System. It dynamically creates rivalries and throws rival gangs into disarray. Just like the Nemesis System, enRage gives every single NPC in the game a name. Some will like you, some will fear you, and some will want you dead.

The mod categorizes people by gangs, groups, and affiliations, including the O'Driscoll Boys, Lemoyne Raiders, the U.S. Army, The Klan, the Wapiti people, the Bronte Family, the Murfee Brood, the Skinner Brothers, Van der Linde, and unaffiliated randoms. All of these are tracked in a new menu.

When you kill an affiliated NPC, their status within the gang is passed on to a new member of the organization. The Hierarchy menu page tracks every NPC in the game and tells you how they feel about you.

There's also an X-ray page that lets you see NPC skeletons and the injuries they carry, with limping and paralysis appearing as possible health conditions in the mod trailer. You can injure an enemy and hold them at gunpoint to use a new interaction menu, forcing them to reveal information about another member of their gang.

Like RimWorld, the mod also tracks interactions NPCs have with each other on a separate World page. It creates the illusion of a world that moves on without you, with people adopting stray dogs, recovering from alcoholism, and starting new feuds with each other.

Each NPC also has traits such as calm, sharp, introverted, and, of course, drunk. It also tracks their faith—or lack thereof, don't tell Dutch—and their profession. These clashing ideologies cause gang wars that wage with or without your involvement, and you can step in to help either side or take care of two in one. Annoy a gang enough and they'll send hunting parties after Arthur, making every trip across the open world perilous—it's fertile ground for systemic stories.

Early Access for the enRage mod is available now on Nexus Mods. nicklovin99 added a disclaimer to the mod's description, saying: "AI Transparency - Claude Code assisted in the creation of scripts and systems."

The last few weeks have seen an explosion in AI-generated video game modding, with some using the technology to port games to a browser, mash two existing games together, or even make new games using existing, popular IP. Video game companies have reacted by issuing DMCA takedowns, but some have also issued statements somewhat in support of what's happening.

And some even want a piece of the action. For example, last week, Xbox boss Asha Sharma announced Xbox Labs, a new initiative aimed at getting games on web browsers. It was seen as a reaction to the growing community of games getting improved versions ported into web browsers (like the 94fps browser version of Halo: Combat Evolved).

"In recent weeks, we've seen games rapidly decompiled and rebuilt to run on hardware they were never originally designed to support. Windows PC builds have been translated to run on Apple Silicon or ported to run inside a browser through WebAssembly and WebGPU, the latter now approaching 90% global browser support. Perhaps more surprisingly, we've seen many of the biggest games in the world have been remixed into the source code of another," Sharma said.

"These experiments challenge long-held assumptions about our industry: the tether between software and hardware, the boundary between creation and play, and how people discover and experience games. While it is hard to predict the future of gaming, it is easy to see the possibilities in making great games easier to access, giving old games new life and allowing more players to become creators and co-creators. These are unmistakably good outcomes for players, even when (and sometimes because) they challenge our existing business models."