BugcatcherTom here with another review, this one is a big one. Red Dead Redemption 2 is such a huge game that it’s hard to give a review looking at all the aspects of the game after just over a week since launch. Nevertheless I will do my best. Red Dead Redemption 2 Released on 26th October 2018. It is available on PS4 and Xbox One.
tl;dr – rating: 9/10
Positives:
+ A living, breathing environment rich in atmosphere
+ Thousands of customisable options (guns, clothes, gameplay options)
+ Engaging and lengthy story with colourful cast of characters
+ Hours of extra missions and collectables
Negatives:
– Sudden transitions between cinematic to gameplay
– No quick-loading
Firstly I want to say that even though it has the big “2” at the end, this game is actual a prequel to Red Dead Redemption 1 which launched back in May 2010.
So with that aside I want to start by saying I’ve not completed it. I’m nowhere near finishing the story, in fact I’m only a little way past chapter three but I think that in itself speaks volumes. The game is big. It’s no wonder that Rockstar spent so long making it and you can really tell. Each area you visit is part of a living, breathing world filled with wildlife to hunt. It even implements a weather system so that each area has a different feeling to it depending on when you visit it, an area can feel sinister during a night-time storm but pleasant and peaceful on a warm summer day. All of this gives Red Dead 2 a positive atmosphere and it’s further backed by an incredible soundtrack that gives even the quiet ambience a memorable and enjoyable experience, one that I’ve often just listened to whilst simply fishing from a stream.
Part of making this world more believable is the random encounters you’ll have with strangers in the wilds, these encounters not only help break up the monotony of riding around the map (which you’ll be mashing the button to keep up a steady pace) but also provide a sense of cause and effect for the game. The first is in your honour rating, this is affected by your actions in towns and missions but also by these little random encounters. I’ve found it’s mainly to do with innocence, if someone is innocent and you do something bad to them (Stealing, murdering, etc.) then your honour goes down which means you’ll become more notorious and people will be less likely to trust you. Do something good to them then, such as helping someone in need (even if it’s giving them a bottle of whisky before they bleed out) and your honour will go up and people will trust and like you more. You’ll even unlock things like outfits for having certain honour levels. The only flaw with this honour system I’ve found is that it’s very easy to accidentally cause negative honour. I’ve had people who I’ve just saved run fleeing for the hills after I’ve gotten into a shoot-out with a rival gang, amongst other things. Still it’s a nice feature that makes the game feel more real. One brilliant example was when I saved a man who had been bitten by a snake. I felt good and rode off leaving the saved man to count his blessings, the next time I rode into town however I encountered the man talking to his friend about how I had saved him. Upon greeting the man he asked me to go in to the local gun shop and buy anything I liked on his tab. Thanks! Don’t mind if I do!
Red Dead 2 has more than just a brilliant world to explore; it’s got a fantastic story set in it. You play as Arthur, an outlaw in a gang who are being hunted by federal agents during the coming of the modern age. Towns and the law are flourishing in this modernising world and you and your gang are feeling the brunt of it. After fleeing for your lives through a snowstorm you then have to try to regain your footing as the last of a dying breed. The characters, a handful of which like Uncle and Dutch van der Linde will be recognisable to Red Dead 1 players, are a fellowship of castoffs and criminals trying to survive in the harsh frontier world. As Arthur it’s your decision with how much you want to interact and build relationships with them. You can play games like Five Finger Fillet or Dominoes with gang members and you’ll even get a chance to do other activities such as hunting or fishing with them. A large part of the gang dynamic is the camp which starts out as a couple of tables and wagons, but which you can upgrade as you start adding a flow of money to the camp. This can be from anything such as selling items you’ve looted (or stolen, such as from breaking and entering jobs) to performing jobs such as train robberies with your fellow gang members, with these though you’ll only receive a cut of the money depending on how many people you have on the job.
What’s strange to me then in this amazing world with a gripping story and in-depth characters is that the system under which it all functions is consistently at odds with itself. This was most glaringly obvious during the first few missions I did. The game seems to have two sides to it, on one hand it wants to woo you with its cinematic cameras and amazingly detailed in-game cut scenes. Then on the other hand it wants you, as the player, to be in control of as many minute details as possible so you feel more immersed in the world and action, such as having to cock the hammer of a gun before firing it, or by pressing the gallop button when riding your horse in time to its hooves. The problem then is that it doesn’t do a good job of transitioning between the two of them, one moment you’re watching a cut scene of Arthur talking with a gang member whilst driving a wagon, learning the backstory and piecing things together, the next moment you’ve been given complete control of the wagon and you’ve crashed into a telegraph pole.
Normally I wouldn’t bring up something like this but it seems to be a consistent theme in a lot of the story missions I’ve done up to now. And it wouldn’t be so bad if the game had some sort of quick-loading mechanic. A few times I’ve wished that I could reload back to the start of a section after something’s gone accidentally wrong but what I’ve found is that unless Arthur dies or the mission fails, all that can be done is restarting the entire mission from the very beginning again. Take the first breaking and entering mission with Hosea. This mission, fairly early in the game, is to teach you the basics of breaking into someone’s house undetected and stealing their valuables. As Hosea goes to distract the occupants of the house it was my job as Arthur to sneak in the back undetected. As I got to the back door to enter the house I realised too late that I was running a little too fast towards the door and I burst into the house with a great clamour. Instantly there’s a shoot-out and then due to this mistake I got a lecture from Hosea about how nobody had to have died if I had done it right. With a game like Red Dead 2 that has all of its butterfly effects and differing mission paths I was surprised by the lack of some reload feature that didn’t involve starting everything from scratch.
Some of the mechanics and options are quite detailed though. For example I don’t really like the control scheme of having to press and hold buttons to interact with the world, but in the options there is a whole section dedicated to user preference. It seems to have everything from camera sensitivity, temperature, time and weight preferences (i.e. Celsius or Fahrenheit, 12 hour or 24, Pounds or Kilos) and most importantly for me: How long you have to hold the button for to be counted as a hold instead of a tap. The list is enormous though and I’m really impressed by the sheer amount of customisability of it all.
The map and waypoint system is still just as good as any Rockstar game; the map is extremely detailed and also marks down what animals are found where, any points of interest as well as legendary animals or fish that you have found the territory of. The waypoints still flawlessly guide you to wherever you set it and will even show dashes when off of main roads and paths. Another minor mechanic I love is the ability to have the game play in either 1st, close 3rd, or far 3rd person point of view. This means that no matter what style people are used to playing in they have the choice, I preferred the far 3rd person so that I could see the surrounding areas easily but I have to admit that the 1st person was brilliantly done, especially with the gun controls.
Speaking of guns, the customising options available at the gunsmith are seemingly endless. The entirety of the gun can be cosmetically overhauled with different metals, wood varnishes, engravings and leather coverings that mean each gun can end up having a huge amount of personality to it. I wish there was an option to name the guns but the upgrades and improvements are so many that it’s easily forgivable. It’s not just guns though, even knives can be customised and tweaked and with your horse holding all your weapons it’s pretty easy to amass quite the personalised arsenal.
The horses of Red Dead 2 have to be mentioned. Aside from the special/ultimate edition horse, none of the regular horses can be revived, once your horse dies that’s it. It’s gone. Which as I’ve found out whilst trying to do a sneaky off-road shortcut can come suddenly and devastatingly. It’s not just on a sentimental level, the longer you’re with a horse for the better it becomes, the stronger it is and the longer you can gallop it across the map for. Losing my first horse wasn’t just slightly sad from an emotional point; I was back to crawling across the map at a brisk trot since my horse was always tired.
One of the reasons this game is so huge is the amount of side missions and collectibles there are. I bought the player guide for the game just because I knew they would have an insane level of collectibles and it seems I was right. Stranger missions are normally what start all of these side quests and they are longer than normal missions that you complete slowly in stages. They vary drastically from collecting dinosaur bones, cigarette cards or even just hunting down some of the most renowned gunslingers for an interview. Each of them come with their own reward though and there’s something oddly satisfying about gazing upon your newly claimed Triceratops skull or a unique weapon that you otherwise wouldn’t have if you were just following the main story.
To summarise the whole of this game into one review, after only just over a week, seems too lengthy of a task and I’ve only scratched the surface of the thousands of things to do in the game. This game will be one that you can sink so many hours into and that’s probably why it’s taken so many hours to make. A definite must-play for anyone.
BcT Review Rating: 9/10
Reviewed on the Playstation 4
BugcatcherTom Reviews 