Red Dead Redemption 2 Review: A Fine Horse in New Country

Gametime

Red Dead Redemption 2 Review: A Fine Horse in New Country

The wild and untamed lands of the Old West stretch as far as the eye can see, but aren’t without some issues.

It isn’t surprising that, from the get-go, Red Dead Redemption 2 oozes with signs of an ambitious undertaking. Beginning with a snowy prologue that introduces you to the characters and story, the howling blizzards that trap Arthur Morgan and his gang eventually melt away to reveal a dense world that’s ripe for the taking.

Whether it’s hunting deer or getting acquainted with your friends at camp, there’s a lot to do in the game. Though you play as a rogue who is out to fatten his pockets through crime, how you spend your time in this world doesn’t necessarily have to involve robbing and shooting. Activites that loose the law on you such as bank robberies can be offset by decent activities such games of poker and dominoes, or even a stage show for you to sit back and enjoy.

With Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar tackles a historical period that’s just at the cusp of dramatic change. At the turn of the century in 1899, civilisation and industry dig their way through the American heartlands. In this time period, cowboys such as Arthur Morgan and the Dutch Van der Linde gang find themselves increasingly without a place to belong. The game demonstrates this in a slow crawl through its story. Even as the ways of old come with immediate money and rewards, they only ever seem to bring about harrowing repercussions as the gang is chased from one region to another. The noose that tightens around the gang is subtle, and only shows its hand much later as you progress through the massive story campaign.

In terms of visuals, there is no doubt that Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the, if not the, best-looking games of this generation. The vast open world stretches out with life – animals and humans alike – melding together various kinds of environments. From dry deserts to lush forests to industrial cities, all it takes is a long ride to see the world seamlessly transform from one biome to the next. There’s also a certain dynamism to how the game presents its visuals. Day turns to night, weather changes, and in turn, the crowds in cities and towns respond to these shifts. Explore town in the morning and you’ll find people tending to their farms and shops. Come at night, and you’ll instead find a good lot drowning themselves in drink at the local saloon.

The polish extends even further than that. Out on your travels you’ll run into your fair share of odd encounters. You’ll engage with stranded folk, bandits – even predators – and how you deal with them is entirely up to you. By focusing on NPCs with the left trigger button, you’ll usually have a choice between greeting, antagonising, or drawing your weapon, though this will change depending on context. Your choices often tie back to an Honor system, which acts as a morality gauge of how the world views you. It is a little simplistic in its implementation, however, requiring that you go out of your way to continuously kill people and loot their corpses to truly put you in bad standing.

Though the love that Rockstar has sprinkled across Red Dead Redemption 2’s world is unmistakable, the game runs into glaring problems that hurt an otherwise brilliant craft. Traversal, for one, is a tedious slog that the developer only manages to slightly alleviate with on-the-road dialogue. Not too many people would consider a drive to work a riveting time, but that hasn’t stopped Rockstar from making a conscious decision of limiting your fast travel options for the sake of realism. You are required to approach stage coaches or trains in order to get to your destination with ease, not dissimilar from finding public transport in real life. Either that, or travel by horseback for several long minutes.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is also rife with crafting and upgrade options which require that you scour the world for certain materials. This initially sounds like a great idea, but eventually turns into a sour endeavour. Never mind the fact that finding the right deer hide or herb is as bland as can be, these upgrades aren’t even that crucial for you to complete the game’s missions, which seems like a big conflict in design and simply not worth the time spent.

Controls are overwhelmingly complex compared to your typical game, and tutorials that pop up often go hand-in-hand with tense situations, which isn’t that great for lesser-skilled players. For gaming veterans, the input latency (or camera acceleration, rather) and inconsistent frame rate could certainly hamper many of the game’s action sequences.

As a whole, Red Dead Redemption 2 makes a resounding attempt to elevate video games to an art form comparable to the biggest films and books on the market. The prudence that Rockstar has put into recreating an ancient America that no person alive has even lived through is admirable. Still, the slow pacing, as well as time and effort required to complete this game is an undertaking in of itself, which is well worth considering before trying it out.