A lot of people were hoping to see some out and out gameplay for Red Dead Redemption 2, but Rockstar Games instead focused the minute long trailer on the game’s under-the-hood capabilities and the tech powering the game.

The early goings of the trailer focuses on the RAGE’s ability to render some impressive draw distances, giving us a look into some deep plains stretching as far off into the horizon as the eye can see. You can check out the trailer below.

The cinematography in those first few seconds are all wide angle shots, giving viewers the most bang for their visual buck. And speaking of bucks… we see some elks grazing the hillsides below a mountain’s incline as the late morning sun casts shadows across the valley.

The trailer also gives us a glimpse at how the game handles different times of day, teasing global illumination that casts light and shadows over the world based on directional light sourcing. We get a full glimpse of this in action with the early morning shot showing fog rolling over the valley while the color of the sun’s hue bounces off the left-hand section of the forest.

Star-speckled skies illuminate the dark forests, while physically-based rendering helps give individual light sources their own identity.

We see that killing animals is still possible, but now you can haul the carcass back to town across the horse or mule. Speaking of carcass… birds will chew away at rotting bodies on the ground, and some animals will roam, run or hunt in herds.

Sadly, the smoke is still using alphas instead of volumetric particles, but could we really expect volumetric particles from the Xbox One and PS4? Maybe if the game was on PC… sure.

Speaking of particles… we get to see how dirt, debris and other small objects kick up when being rode, ran or driven over. Things like dust effects are also attached to the game’s wind physics, moving and dispersing based on the direction that it’s blowing.

The lighting and general color tone also seems to be going for a “realism achieved” look, something that Rockstar seems to be getting better at with each new game.

The trailer isn’t actioned packed, nor is it story-driven. However, Red Dead Redemption 2 at least promises to house a lot of the immersive gameplay elements that made previous Rockstar titles standout head and shoulders above the competition.