Rockstar Games’s known for their impeccable attention to detail, high production value and immersive worlds. With Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar has made their most immersive game yet.
Set in 1899, you play as Arthur Morgan, an enforcer and right-hand man to Dutch van der Linde, as he battles personal demons while trying to help his gang escape from the clutches of oppressed civilization. Dutch, players might remember from the first Red Dead, is the leader of a gang fittingly titled ‘Dutch’s Gang’. Along with Arthur and Dutch are a few familiar faces from the first game such as protagonist John Marston, Abigail Roberts, Jack Marston, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuela and many new faces that we will get to in a moment.
After a robbery goes wrong in the town of Blackwater, the gang must flee towards the east to avoid the looming presence of Pinkerton Agents on their trail. What follows is a story that stands out as the best Rockstar has crafted. Given the storytelling found in its predecessor, I felt it might be tough to top that level of quality. However, RDR 2 surpasses it and then some.
Arthur Morgan’s story is incredibly compelling, so much that after the credits rolled he immediately became my favorite Rockstar protagonists, in fact, one of my favorite protagonists in general. It’s not just Arthur’s story either. Every member of Dutch’s gang is also compelling in their own way. Each member comes from a troubled past that gets told throughout the game’s dialogue in missions as well as interactions in the camp. Every member of the gang brings their own unique perspective elements to the game.
One character in particular that really stole the show for me is a recently widowed farm-wife rescued by Dutch’s gang named Sadie Adler. Mrs. Adler’s vulnerable, reclusive nature in the beginning blossoms into a fierce, battle-hardened cowgirl that doesn’t take crap from no one. Just like Sadie, there’s a broader emphasis on character development that stands immaculately on its own. It’s really quite telling when – as a player – you feel on-edge as you know the aftermath of Dutch’s Gang in short retelling’s by John in the predecessor.
It’s quite remarkable how RDR 2 is woven to fit into its predecessor. Considering RDR 2’s a prequel, there was barely enough story in the first game to build off of, even with the opening – that some may find slow – RDR 2 still comes across as a sweeping epic that engages the player along for the ride.
A vast world is presented in RDR 2, featuring breathtaking landscapes of different kinds. It could be argued that RDR 2’s world is Rockstars most fleshed-out world to date. It’s also the developer’s most immersive. Red Dead’s world features life-like animations and interactive environments to which feel lived-in. The open-world is one of sublime attention to detail featuring snowy mountains, lush pastures, and beautiful – yet dangerous woods. Galloping on your trusty steed is a remarkable experience while coupled with returning composer Woody Jackson’s score.
Though at times some of this beauty comes at a cost as there are certain drops in frame-rate when traversing the worlds many busy areas. I found this problem stems from a lot of things happening onscreen. The city of Saint Denis and the deep woods of the wilderness are the most notable places I found this to happen, although it’s not too significant to ruin the experience.
There’s also stunning attention to detail in even the most subtle and smallest of details. RPG mechanics have found their way into RDR 2 – I’ll discuss more of this later – taking points from games that have come before it, such as The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’s many explorable homes and item scrounging to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s temperature control. Temperature control is a neat addition as the higher in altitude you traverse up a mountain the lower the temperature will be displayed. While the more dry and humid the hotter.
Small details are also applied to many buildings and shops that Arthur can enter. General stores can provide many provisions to buy in a hand-drawn catalog displaying these items. There’s also the ability to go into first-person and manually grab many of the items that are on display in the store. It’s a neat touch that adds to the world. It’s also fascinating whenever shop NPC’s take notice of you when you come back, as they will say thing’s like, “Hey, you’re back again,” or “Haven’t seen you in a while.”
The same attention to detail is brought to animals. Animal animations look life-like from how they interact with the environment and with the player. Also, just wait until Arthur experiences a bear attack for the first time…it’s very evocative of The Revenant. There is a sense of beauty and wonder found in Red Dead Redemption 2 that – as corny and cliche as it may sound – made me emotional as a person who grew up watching 1950’s and 1960’s westerns.
There are many ways to immerse yourself as well. For those that want a real survivalists challenge, the minimap can be customized to be turned off, or made into a compass instead of the traditional map with its markers and waypoints. There are also many other post-game things to do after completion of the main story. Legendary animals can be hunted while various challenges test your cowboy – or girl – skills. There’s also a neat compendium that shows everything you have discovered throughout the world.
The biggest and most drastic change in RDR 2 comes from the RPG nature of the game’s mechanics. Rockstar has raised the bar in making the world more immersed by really having the player interact with the environment through various means. Players can interact with NPC’s in dialogue choices that have their own specific consequences depending on player choice. Choosing to greet an NPC in a positive manner will result in positive responses while hostile dialogue options can evoke NPC’s to challenge and/or retaliate. These dialogue options are wide and varied from NPC to NPC.
In RDR 2, your horse is your friend. Bonding with your trusty steed through riding, cleaning, and feeding build’s over time, increasing the horses’ stamina and health capacity similar to that of Arthur’s. Taking care of your horse is also important because if the horse dies, it dies. Unless you happen to have some horse reviver medicine to bring the steed back to life.
Horses also act as a means of carrying essentials found throughout the world. Animals that are either hunted or skinned can be placed on the back of the horse, while additional smaller game animals can be carried as well. There’s a limited variety to how many essentials your horse can carry. Weapons, for instance, can be pulled from your horse, since Rockstar is going for a more immersive feel.
Gone are the days of magic pockets. Weapons no longer just appear out of thin air. Instead, Arthur can carry two rifle-type weapons and two primary sidearms at most. Shooting feels more fluid than previous Rockstar titles – with the exception of Max Payne 3. There’s a sense of impact and response when it comes to lock-on aiming coupled with the dead-eye ability – which can be improved over time.
It may seem like a handicap, but the choice of choosing which weapons you want equipped adds more of a strategic feel to combat. Much like your horse, weapons need to be taken care of. Gun oil can be used to clean these weapons as repeated use can lead to deterioration, which can result in a decrease in weapon attributes.
Speaking of attributes, Arthur has a set number that the player must maintain. These attributes are called cores consisting of health, stamina, and dead-eye. Surrounding each core is an outer buffer that will deplete. Once it’s depleted the main core will go down. It’s important to make sure each core is full as depending on where it’s at affects the regeneration rate.
Cores can be leveled up by doing things in the world. Hunting will increase health while running will increase stamina, and shooting increases dead-eye. Taking tonics can replenish these cores. The same goes for food whether it’s fresh food or game that you cook at your camp.
Red Dead Online is a blend of both it’s predecessor’s online traits and GTA V’s online traits. Starting off, you can choose your own online character, applying different characteristics to further suit your ideal cowboy (or cowgirl) look. Choose between an assortment of choices like types of teeth, facial scars, body weight, age, etc.. After your character introduction – being a jailbreak from prison – you’re hired almost as a servant for a well-off woman who needs your help. She also provides the player with a personal camp equipped with the necessities to survive the wild and can be upgraded and moved across the map at certain locations.
Thus introducing Online’s story missions that can be completed with the help of fellow friends from your posse or random individuals. Almost everything you do is rewarding in some regard. Finishing multiplayer matches, missions, and challenges can reward cash, gold nuggets, and experience. This isn’t GTA: Online so don’t expect millions or even hundreds of dollars to be earned after completion of activities. Instead, Online does require some work in order to buy or obtain what you want.
Working in a sense like cash does, gold nuggets are acquired ranging in various gain such as 0.03, 0.33 etc.. Building up to equal one gold bar and continuing onwards much like cents and dollars. Gold nuggets are an interesting alternative as this separate form of currency can also be used to purchase certain items. For instance, say I want a new weapon, yet the weapon costs $500, Instead of paying the cash I could just use my accumulated gold bars given I have enough.
There are only a handful of story missions featured, the rest of Red Dead Online comes in the form of living your own cowboy/girl life. When not partaking in Online’s main story, players can find strangers marked on the map that provide additional missions. Stranger missions can come at a cost, however, as rival players can intervene during a mission to try and interfere with what’s transpiring. Stranger missions are one of the most frustrating things found within Red Dead: Online along with griefing (more about that later).
It’s not the missions perse as most of them are interesting – yet repetitive – it’s the player intervention found within the open-world that can really turn some players off. One of the smartest gameplay choices found in GTA: Online was the use of passive mode, allowing players to join an open-world lobby worry-free from the risk of griefing by other players. This choice, however, isn’t implemented in Red Dead: Online making griefing and player bullying as annoying as when GTA: Online launched.
Despite these complaints, there’s still fun to be had, especially with players. The competitive modes found within Red Dead: Online consist of standard team-based and free-for-all types. Team game types feature objectives such as getting the most points by the end of the match, controlling territory – much like Call of Duty’s Domination and using a variety of weapons that have point values in order to win.
Free-for-all modes are much like those that are team based. There are two game types that I thought stood out above the rest. The first is called Most Wanted. Most Wanted is a free-for-all mode in which players have a point value (bounty) on their head. The more players are killed the more the point value will go up on your head, meaning that you have to be aware of others while also not letting them get to you.
The other free-for-all type is a battle royale in a sense. Player’s are equipped with a bow and must hunt each other down, all while a circle gradually closes on them. It seems odd but I prefer this battle royale mode over most other types found in different games. This is largely due to the reliance of skill and resourcefulness, as there really isn’t anything to pick up or scavenge from meaning players are on equal footing in terms of equipment, but not skill.
Online’s RPG-style elements carry over from the main story. Stats can be improved by the same means found in the story, while hunting, fishing, and other activities can also be accomplished with friends. That’s where Red Dead: Online really shines, with a group of your closest friends.
I had most of my fun getting into hijinks with them as we traversed about the open-world. From selling hunted animals to a butcher to completing a gang hideout then closing the day with chasing, and stopping a rival posse’s commandeered train; the essence of being in a gang feels real when in a posse with friends. This experience is one that I would be glad to revisit again
It’s hard to imagine a sequel to one of the greatest games ever made is better than the previous. Yet, Red Dead Redemption 2 does exactly that, bringing forth a highly compelling story filled with compelling characters, an immersive world only Rockstar can deliver and a competent online mode that’s sure to improve with time.