Hardcore mode in Red Dead is fine difficulty wise for on foot combat, as long as you don't agitate an entire town and have cover in combat, you won't get your head blown off.
Horse combat is fucked and you need dead eye for the starting weapons. Enemies on horseback have 100% accuracy and can ride faster than any horse in the game, including the war horse you get for owning the GOTY edition. Without dead eye, you need to kill the horse enemies ride on, going for the enemy and missing means they ride up to you and you get murked instantly.
Dead eye items and health items are required on hardcore for horse combat.
As for Rockstar games and auto aim, playing with auto aim defeats the purpose of even playing the games they develop. GTA V is the worse controlling game they've made for shooting, and with how fast you die, it was definitely developed for auto aim above all else.
