“These parts sure are purdy. Shame about the zombies.”

Rockstar Games has announced a veritable stampede of downloadable content for its wildly popular cowboy romp Red Dead Redemption. Four substantial expansions are in the works, with the first three aimed squarely at the multiplayer aspect of the game.

The first, due in early august, will be known as the Legends and Killer Pack. It introduces new characters, environments and weapons. The Liars and Cheats Pack will offer a range of new adversarial modes, including horse racing and poker. The third expansion, to be known as the Free Roam Pack, is designed to enhance and expand the online sandbox while discouraging griefing.

The Undead Nightmare Pack will likely prove the most divisive of the offerings. As the title suggests, pop culture’s most ubiquitous adversary, the humble zombie, is on its way to the dusty plains of Red Dead Redemption. We already knew that it was no longer possible to make a WWII game without zombies. It now appears that we can add westerns to the list. High Moon Studios’ long forgotten Darkwatch was clearly ahead of its time.

All four expansions are coming to both the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 editions of the game, with the first due in early August.