Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)

Red Dead Redemption 2 - A Timeless Open-World Masterpiece

Developer: Rockstar Games

Release Date: October 26, 2018

Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S

Overview

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a breathtaking open-world action-adventure set in the dying days of the Old West. You play as Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang, navigating a world that’s full of opportunity and danger. Whether it's the majestic landscapes, deeply personal storylines, or varied gameplay mechanics, the game offers an experience like no other. Even years after its release, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands as one of the best games ever made, a perfect blend of narrative and gameplay that continues to captivate. Even when compared to modern open-world titles, its attention to realism and storytelling still places it among the industry’s finest.

What Makes It Great?

✅ Stunning World Design

The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is staggering in its detail. Every environment, from the snow-covered mountains to the dense forests and sun-scorched plains, feels like a place that could exist in the real world. The dynamic weather system, the day-night cycle, and the changing seasons all contribute to the world feeling alive. Whether you’re tracking animals through the wilderness or riding your horse through a rainstorm, everything feels meticulously crafted. Even in comparison to newer titles, its world remains one of the most immersive and detailed in gaming, rivaling the best in both scope and depth.

✅ Stunning Visuals and Graphics

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most visually impressive games of all time. The level of graphical fidelity is breathtaking, with photorealistic landscapes, incredibly detailed character models, and highly polished textures. From the sweeping vistas to the smallest environmental detail, the game is a feast for the eyes. Whether it's the shimmering water in a river, the golden glow of a sunset, or the snow-covered mountains, every scene feels like a painting come to life. Even today, its graphical achievements are still at the top of the industry, making it one of the most beautiful open-world games ever created.

✅ Incredible Attention to Detail

The level of detail in Red Dead Redemption 2 is beyond impressive. The game’s world is filled with small but significant details that add to its realism. From Arthur's changing facial expressions during intense moments to the realistic animation when interacting with your horse—everything is designed to enhance the immersion. The game even simulates things like keeping your weapons clean, maintaining your horse’s health, and how NPCs go about their routines. These details make the world feel tangible, as if it’s a place that exists independently of the player. Even by today’s standards, few games match this level of intricate realism.

✅ Deep and Emotional Storytelling

At its heart, the game tells a poignant story of loyalty, survival, and the end of an era. Arthur Morgan's journey is rich with personal growth and inner conflict. The characters around him are equally well-developed, with their own motivations and struggles. The dialogue, voice acting, and pacing all contribute to making the world feel deeply personal. Every interaction, no matter how small, adds weight to the story.

✅ Immersive Gameplay

From hunting wildlife to interacting with NPCs, the attention to detail in Red Dead Redemption 2 is staggering. Every action you take, whether it's feeding your horse, cleaning your weapons, or even brushing your character's coat, feels meaningful and adds depth to the experience. This level of immersion is unparalleled and helps you feel like you're truly living in the world of the game.

✅ Variety of Activities and Freedom

The sheer variety of things to do in the game is overwhelming. You can engage in story missions, participate in side activities like fishing, treasure hunting, and robbing trains, or simply explore the world at your own pace. The amount of content is staggering, and it's all tied together in a way that doesn’t feel like filler. The freedom to play how you want is one of the game's greatest strengths.

✅ Challenging and Satisfying Combat

The combat in Red Dead Redemption 2 is engaging, requiring both strategy and skill. Whether you're fighting with firearms, knives, or hand-to-hand, every encounter feels intense and rewarding. The gunplay is particularly satisfying, with a weighty and deliberate feel that makes every shot count. The challenge, while tough at times, makes victory all the sweeter.

✅ Outstanding Sound Design & Music

Red Dead Redemption 2’s sound design is phenomenal, from the subtle ambient noises of nature to the clanking of a revolver being reloaded. The dynamic soundtrack enhances emotional moments, whether during intense gunfights or peaceful rides through the countryside. Every sound feels authentic, further immersing you in the world.

✅ Lifelike NPC Interactions & AI

The NPCs feel alive, reacting to Arthur’s choices, remembering past encounters, and even commenting on his appearance. The AI’s dynamic behavior means encounters never play out the same way, adding a sense of realism and unpredictability. This level of interactivity sets the game apart from many other open-world titles, even in comparison to modern games.

✅ Red Dead Online

While primarily a single-player masterpiece, the game also features Red Dead Online, which offers multiplayer experiences, role-playing elements, and updates over time. Some players find it lacking compared to GTA Online, but it’s worth mentioning as part of the overall package.

What Could Be Better?

❌ Slow Pacing and Lengthy Story

While the slow pacing helps build immersion, it can be frustrating for players used to faster-paced games. Some parts of the story feel drawn out, especially during the middle chapters, where some missions feel like filler or don’t advance the plot quickly enough. It’s a game that requires patience, and not everyone will appreciate the deliberate pace.

❌ Repetitive Side Content

Despite the immense variety, some of the side activities can start to feel repetitive. Tasks like collecting herbs, hunting specific animals, or even following the same bounty missions can begin to feel like busy work after a while. Though these activities add to the game’s world-building, they don’t always offer the same level of excitement as the main story.

❌ Clunky Controls and Movement

The game’s controls, while designed for realism, can be frustrating at times. Arthur’s movements can feel slow, especially when interacting with objects or navigating tight spaces. The deliberate pacing in the character’s actions works to enhance the immersion, but it occasionally disrupts the flow of gameplay. While this is an issue that's noticeable but not game-breaking, it can affect the overall experience.

Final Verdict

⭐ 10/10 – A Flawless Open-World Experience ⭐

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece that redefines what it means to be an open-world game. Its world-building, storytelling, and immersive mechanics are second to none. The level of detail in every aspect of the game—whether it's the landscape, NPC interactions, or even the smallest object—is unmatched in the industry. Even when compared to modern open-world games, it holds up as one of the most detailed and immersive experiences.

While the slow pacing, occasional repetitiveness, and control issues can be drawbacks, they are minor compared to the sheer quality of the experience. The game remains a landmark achievement in gaming, one that will stand the test of time. Its legacy is undeniable, influencing modern game design and setting new standards for realism. Few games can match its depth, making it one of the most celebrated titles in gaming history.

If you haven’t played it yet, there’s no better time to experience one of the best video games ever made. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolute must-play.

I did not care for this game.

I did not like the story, I did not like the characters, I did not like how every single action took a half minute for the animation to play, I did not like anything about this game, really, except for how it looked (the graphics and world design were amazing, beautiful, and well thought out)

Laborious, is the word to describe this game. This game was work. It wasn't fun, it was just effort expended to drive the game forward. And just when you think the game is done, that you are mercifully released from the agony of unskippable action animations, the dump an Epilogue on you. Then, after several hours in that Epilogue, they dump another one on you! TWO epilogues! Wholly unnecessary; just hubris and a sense of over-importance on the behalf of the game director is the only rationale I can find for this over-extension of this sad, dour, uninteresting game.

I played Persona 5 at the same time as Red Dead Redemption 2, and my feelings were almost polar opposite. That was a 120 hour game that felt like 40, such a joy it was, such an engaging, exciting, emotional experience, that respected the fact that you'd be playing it for 120 hours. Red Dead Redemption 2, in comparison, felt like it hated you, hated the time you spent with it, hated the fact that you were a product of the modern world, and resented you for not being an actual cowboy.

Go to hell, truly, Red Dead Redemption 2.

Campaign

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been decades in the making; a culmination of rockstars story telling and technical abilities.

It's hard to think of a game that builds upon its legacy in every possible way. Narrative, environments, soundtrack - all of these elements have been elevated. Narrative is undoubtedly at the heart of this game and although it is not required that you play the first instalment, you will not appreciate the weight behind a lot of the story beats in RDR2 if you do not.

The journey you go on with Arthur is unforgettable, the entire cast in fact is written with huge amounts of love and care. Seeing the gang experience a historic turn in history where the wild west is quickly dying out and modernising is an interesting back drop for the game. Aside from a few bizarre story branches during the middle of the game you will certainly be clinging on to every word that comes out of these characters mouths. The story is gripping, emotionally moving, and deeply personal. Without a doubt the best work rockstar has produced narratively speaking and perhaps the best narrative experience I have ever played in a game, period.

The main story is not the only reason to play the game though. As with the first instalment you're free to live out your cowboy fantasy; hunting, cooking, drinking at saloons, gunslinging etc. The animations, physics, and overall visuals are breathtaking across the board. The world feels alive and lived in with some of the best moments happening during random stranger encounters in the wilderness.

Expect to spend a lot of hours (around 80) exploring this gorgeous world. And remember to take it slow and soak it all up. It's definitely an experience to be savoured.

Online

Unfortunately RDR2 Online falls short of the incredibly high bar set by its single player story and its previous instalment, RDR1. The groundwork for a unique experience has been laid but in true rockstar fashion they have decided to ignore the fans and focus instead on GTA Online and MTX content.

There is fun to be had in RDR2 Online but the insane amount of focus placed on the economy ruins a lot of the enjoyment. There are little to no random encounters to come across in the open world aside from repetitive delivery missions and gang hideouts.

Instead, you will spend the majority of you time playing the various roles the game has to offer which act like jobs. The concept of roles / jobs sound fine on the surface but the payout for these jobs are pitiful. Furthermore, to gain access to these roles you have to pay in gold bars which are earnt at a laughably slow rate. Items cost extraordinary amounts of money resulting in the game turning into nothing more than a grind fest. This is of course unless you decide to buy the premium currency, gold, which is what rockstar hopes you will do.

There is so much potential waiting to be unlocked with the online portion of this game; train robberies, bank heists, robbing shops etc. But instead rockstar have decided to tilt the scales in favour of repetitive, grindy gameplay loops which point players in the direction of their mtx store.

It's truly shameful what's become of this once great franchise and company. I sincerely hope they listen to their fans sooner or later, otherwise someone else will come along and give the fans what they want.

Everyone knows RDR2. I've heard so many things about this game, that I just wanted to try it. And even tho I got it on discount… I regret buying it. I don't even know what to say about it. It's so boring and overcomplicated. It has so many mechanics that it becomes overwhelming. The movement is restrictive that it becomes actually claustrophobic. I didn't get to play more than probably 5-10 hours, because just one more hour of it would feel like torture.

The story, at least in the beginning, is very slow paced and lacking a direction. You don't get a clear idea about what the character wants or needs. All of them just feel like they're… existing and surviving. None of them are likable enough for me to care for them.

The only great thing this game has for me, it's the world and side quest. There are so many little details in this game, it's amazing. I've seen so many tiktoks about different side quest that could probably go unnoticed, but they're there. And are excellent. But such a slow start and uninteresting gameplay didn't give me a chance to actually experience it for myself.

This is one of the few games where I'd say you should just watch a gameplay of it on YouTube lol. Obviously, this is my opinion. If someone told me this is their favorite game, I would totally understand it.

It's just not for me

Red Dead Redemption II is a fascinating game with a lot of interesting things to say, but often these elements clash in very uncomfortable ways. Not unlike the history of the US itself, this could make for some insightful (though not very original) social commentary. However, RDR2 is like this because it is a product of the contradiction-ridden society whose origin story it is trying to portray, and not because of a sophisticated artistic vision.

The game is set in late 19th century North America. You take the role of Arthur Morgan, who is a member of a gang of criminals fleeing from the increasing presence of the law in the United States.

Let me get the most obvious thing out of the way: this game is visually stunning. The amount of detail and just sheer technical competency at display here is unrivalled and makes for the visually most impressive game to date. Even the colour management, something that a lot of AAA studios fail at, is spot on.
This richness in detail creates a problem however. It fosters an expectation by the player for everything to have this fidelity. If that detail is absent or things don't go as intended, they stick out all the more. For example, Arthur putting away a fishing pole on the horse makes it just disappear suddenly. Something that I would have totally accepted in most other games without a second thought, gave me pause.
This is also where we run into the first uncomfortable contradiction. All of this has been built from a lot of uncompensated labour and at the reckless expense of the workers' health at Rockstar Games. It just makes you ask what the point of all this is. The graphics will age and even now its novelty weirs off quickly after just a few hours of playing. This is not to belittle the work done, it's just incredibly cynical to realise that the graphics are more of a means to advertise the game in trailers, than the result of a genuine artistic vision. That vision is still present, of course, but it's tainted to such a degree it might as well not be there.

Gameplay-wise this is a slow game—at least that's what it wants you to think. The world features many activities dislodged from the main narrative for you to engage in. Wanna go fishing? You can! Wanna spend an entire session just playing Poker? You can do that too!
If you play a main mission however, the game switches pace drastically. The vast majority of these missions feature huge shootouts in which you kill dozen of men. This can be anything from a heist going wrong, to the law catching up with the gang. Later when the gang falls apart and the remaining members become part of "civilised" society, the game does slow down. But even here there are select sections, where the pace picks back up and you mass kill a bunch of people in a mission. This is probably meant to remind us that you can't simply "retire" from living as a professional criminal and it also foreshadows the events of Red Dead Redemption, which this game is a prequel to.
The shooting itself feels good and responsive, but is hardly a standout in the sea of action shooters we are in right now. Among all the other weird contrasts in this game, this one is wholly intended and, I think, works quite well.

The part of the game that is easily the most uncomfortably contrasting, is the setting and storytelling. The game puts you into a criminal gang of socially progressive outlaws. Black people, native Americans, and women are almost completely accepted within the group and on similar standing as white men. However, the racist and misogynist reality of late 19th century America is rarely examined by the game. It certainly doesn't pretend that violence against minorities didn't happen, but this oppression is almost never a focal point of the narrative. With only two exceptions, the game always offloads that kind of storytelling into mere dialogue instead of showing it. When one of the black members of the gang is almost lynched in a town during his arrest with somebody else and barely escapes with his life, he tells you about this on your way to rescue the other guy that didn't get away. When a suffragette leader, you previously drove into town with other feminists, is assassinated, it is just casually mentioned.
I totally understand why the writers would be reserved about showing these horrifying realities, but this careful dancing around the issue clearly isn't a solution either. In fact, it seems to me like the player is placed into such a progressive group, exactly so that they are shielded from anything some might find to be too socially challenging. Nowadays you can't really pretend any more that everything was fine back then, like a lot of media from decades ago does. These small nods to the oppression of marginalised communities, without actually showing them in detail, allow the game to exploit the popular setting of the Wild West, without sacrificing mass appeal. I said there were two exceptions to this, so let's talk about that.
The first is the game showing the subjugation of black people on the fictional island of Guarma (near Cuba). Here, in conditions that effectively amount to slavery, labour is exploited to enrich one white guy. The gang strands there during an uprising of the slaves and help to repel forces called in to strike them down to get off of the island again. There are multiple issues here. For one, it isolates depictions of systemic racist violence to a tropical island outside of the US. Whereas anti-black racist violence in the US is shown to be much more individualised, like a law enforcer euphemistically referring to slavery as a "change in labour laws", or a character using racial slurs. It also shows that clearly the game doesn't have reservations about showing racist violence, since on Guarma it's commonplace.
The other exception is the only genuinely good handling of these issues. In the last chapter of the game, when the group is noticeably starting to fall apart and dreams of escaping with a fortune to tropical paradise have been shattered, the story focuses on a local native American tribe. It tells a story of constant harassment by agents of the state, the constant violation of treaties that promised to secure their land and life, and how even for the gang of criminals with high ideals, this group of desperate people is just another pawn to be played in its scheme to become rich. It shows the actual face of the Native American Genocide, which wasn't just massacres, but also the slow stealing of their land—decade by decade, denying them access to vital resources like vaccines, and generally systemic neglect and apathy. This section of the game is by no means perfect, but the only place the game comes anywhere close to decent and self-aware commentary.

It's clear that the gang with its high ideals it fails to live up to is a metaphor for the American Dream and the US itself. Conceptually this could have made for a great game, but the broadly present unwillingness to honestly examine the white-supremacist settler colonialism of the US greatly dulls all potentially interesting social commentary that could be derived. The feeling I get from playing is that Red Dead Redemption II is a heavily focus-grouped product, which's existence as an object is a much more poinent commentary on the failings of the American Dream, than its story ever could be.

In summary: 6/10

It ruined open world games for me. I really hope other developers will at least somewhat adapt to the insane amount of detail that went into this game. It is true art. And it is going to take years (hopefully we don't have to wait for the next Rockstar title) for something like this to happen again.

I hope CD Projekt RED proves me wrong.

Wow, this game left me with some really mixed emotions. There were definitely times that I was in total awe of this game, and a large chunk of the time I was very much enjoying myself. But the largest portion of my time with Red Dead 2 was spent with a level of frustration that varied from mildly annoying to wanting to put my fist through my TV.

The best part of this game is it's story. The characters and overall story arc are executed with great effectiveness. I deeply cared about the majority of the characters in the game. There are still issues with some of the story beats though, and there is definitely some significant dissonance at times between how I was playing Arthur (i.e. as a do-good cowboy) and how the story portrayed Arthur at certain points (i.e. as a total jerk). And I eventually got extremely tired of the gang's leader, Dutch, always saying "We just need money! Just one more score and then we're out of here!". This was almost always followed by us making some sort of big score, but getting screwed out of the money somehow, and then doing it all over again.

Which leads to my complaints about the gameplay. The mechanics themselves are very fun for the most part, although Rockstar could certainly have made the controls less complicated and perhaps sacrificed some of the intricacies thereof in order to benefit the player. By the end of the game--over 80 hours in--I was still pressing wrong buttons when trying to talk and aim and reload! As far as the missions themselves, many were interesting, but the middle portion of this game is incredibly, overwhelmingly repetitive. It's one of those games where I eventually give up on all side quests and activities because I just want to plow through the main story and get it over with because I'm only interested in the story any more.

Which leads to the main reason I'm only giving this game two stars: the pacing. This game is paced so, so slow. And so many of the mechanics reinforce this plodding pace. The walking speed of Arthur is infuriatingly slow, skinning animals and picking herbs always requires a 5-15 second un-skippable animation, the menus are slow and bloated, and the crafting system requires more steps than should ever be necessary.

So my final thoughts are that this game is certainly a massive achievement in its scope and execution, but the poor mechanics, systems, and pacing mean I won't be looking back fondly on this game any time soon.

I loved the original RDR. But that was years ago, and games have changed a lot. The years go by, but RDR2 is still RDR, but much bigger and with a much fancier paint job.

Some things are awesome. There's a huge world with a cool story and an ungodly amount of things to do. I probably spent 2-3 hours of my time in this game playing dominoes, poker, and blackjack. You can fish and hunt for approximately 1.2 million different species of animals. You can try to find dinosaur bones, treasure maps & treasures. You can upgrade your camp & your outfit using hunted and scavenged materials. You eat food, and feed your horse food, but somehow you both always seem to be underweight, yet it doesn't really seem to have a noticeable effect on stats, so does it matter? Near the end of the game, a huge new chunk of map opens up that's almost entirely optional, but still fully fleshed out.

Unfortunately, all of that extra stuff is really just a big pile of useless diversions, and none of it has any real effect on the main story.

The main storyline is great, though somewhat predictable based on what we know from the original game. The first couple chapters, I tried to keep my camp supplied at the expense of not doing story missions. The pace dragged. Then, all of a sudden I'm loaded with cash, and there's no need to scrimp & save for food & supplies. So then, chapters 4-6 went by fairly quickly and I had a great time. Then it all grinds to a plodding crawl again in the epilogues.

The controls are what we all know from Rockstar games since GTA4. Kind of slow and kludgy, but luckily your aim snaps right onto anyone within 10 feet of where you point your gun. You eventually fall into a routine of letting the aim assist snap onto an enemy, then slightly moving the little red dot upward to get a headshot.

Everything you do has an animation, which is cool at first, but then eventually you just want to loot that freakin' cabin and get out. Walking on foot is slow, and even slower in camp. Control buttons will sometimes change for no explicable reason, and when you try to talk to someone, you end up pointing a gun at them or something else that results in you ending up with a bounty on your head.

I feel like this review focuses on the negatives, but the game really is an amazing feat that clearly had a ton of attention put into it.

The 1st Red Dead Redemption is my favorite game, one of the few games that I've replayed more than once or twice. And I'm a huge fan of Westerns. So, head's up, this is going to be a lengthy review.

To start with, I was able to fall back into the Red Dead style of gameplay easily. The shooting & movement still have that familiar feeling with a few new things added on. Arthur is a bit unwieldy like John was, but it wasn't a huge hindrance. Though sometimes scrolling through menus or grabbing stuff off my horse led me to accidentaly drawing a gun on someone. A lot of the buttons do multiple things, so it can get confusing at times. I also loved the soundtrack of this game. Lots of good licensed songs at key moments, and I love when a scene is enhanced by music like that, more games should do it. The ambient soundtrack for travelling and gunfights is also great. The music this time sounds less like a typical spaghetti western of the 60's and more like a spaghetti western from the 70's. There's also hints of the old RDR soundtrack snuck in there.

Some of the new additions are a cinematic camera that works best during rides and gives you awesome looking vistas. Another feature is that you have to "action" your gun before each firing, whether that's pulling back the hammer or levering in a new round. It gives the combat a much more slow & deliberate feel, vs. a twitchy, machine gun filed shooter. Rockstar also must've really liked the people that made those roleplaying servers on GTA V, because this game has a lot of roleplaying aspects; shaving, bathing, eating, sleeping, gun maintenance, feeding your horse. Which does help drench you in the Old Western world they created.

The whole game has a very slow, deliberate feeling. Seeing as you have only your trusty steed to get across the map, traversing takes time. One thing I dislike about open world games is when they try to make the "largest map ever" and it just translates to taking 10 minutes to get anywhere. Luckily, the Red Dead map rides right on that line of being a bit too big and being a good size. It's also helped by the fact that you come across plenty of random events during your rides and the scenery is varied and beautiful from the swampy Deep South to the snowy mountains of the North, and the big city of St. Denis feels like the whole map of AC Syndicate's London. Though there were plenty of times that I just set the auto-run on and went to make a sandwich. The original map is also in this game, but as I started to expect after a few minutes of gameplay, you don't really get to explore any of it until the epilogue or after it.

One of the few aspects I didn't like in this game was part of the hunting mechanic. I thought it was a great system with using the right gun for the job and making a clean kill affecting the fur's quality, but I found the animal rating system too tedious. If you come across a one or two star animal there's no point in hunting it meaning they've little use.

This game is a prequel & those have certain pitfalls no matter what. One being we know which characters are going to survive and that everyone else has to die or disappear. And admittedly, I expected a lot more gang mates to be killed off. Another issue is avoiding contradictions to the original. Like I thought the original implied John left the gang after the ferry job & I figured the gang was literally just him, Dutch, Bill, and Javier, but instead of a Jesse James-esque gang it's more of a Robin Hood-esque band of misfits. And while John is vague about his outlaw life in the 1st RDR, yes I do find it odd he never mentioned important influences on his life like Arthur, Hosea, Charles, or Sadie. There's also a rather pointless cameo of Edgar Ross, who disappears halfway through so not as to ever meet John.

Okay, now I'm talking about the story, so spoiler warning, skip to "Rockstar also shows a lot" to avoid them. The prologue starts us off strong & get you acquainted with the slow & deliberate pace. You get a good tutorial of most the basic mechanics and get to meet all the gang members you'll grow to love or hate. When we're first introduced to John most the gang, especially Arthur, consider him a numbskull screw-up & I respect Rockstar for not having everyone in-game treating John like the most greatest, best thing because we know about the 1st game. The story feels a bit stronger in overall plot here than in the first one, cause here you're always working to make money and you see Dutch lose hope and his mind as he's always trying to find a new out; first the West, then Tahiti, then New York. There wasn't a random break in the story like the first's Mexican Revolution plotline. It is a long story though and there is a slight misstep in my opinion with the Guarma missions that make it feel less like a Western, and the first chapter in Valentine could've been shorter cause it was more spinning their wheels of "get more money" especially when you compare it to the quick pace of big events they backloaded on the plot. I think the O'Driscoll plot line should've been resolved a lot quicker and played more prominent in the Valentine area.

And most the main story isn't so much focused on Arthur, but really it's the story of Dutch through the lens of his right hand man. You see how he falls apart after Hosea's death, the realist to balance Dutch's idealism. Arthur tries to fill that role, but he doesn't have the same sway over Dutch that Hosea had. For Arthur's story the best mission set is the debt collecting missions. He never likes doing it, but at the start he gives it his all but by the end, he doesn't have the heart for it anymore.

Now, the story ends with Arthur's death, which is just a powerfully good scene, again thanks to a great soundtrack moment. Then you go into the epilogue, which is a lengthy set of missions as John Marston. I've mixed feelings on it. I did have a big, dumb smile on my face for most of it; getting to see John don his classic outfit and building his ranch up. The other part of me feels Rockstar was trying to have their cake & eat it too while dishing out some fan service. If the epilogue were shorter, I'd probably have less issue with it. After a bit it feels like you're playing DLC of the 1st game. There's just a weird disconnect for me between the main story and epilogue. Still, it makes me want an RDR1 remastered with these new systems & if this game does get a PC port I could see a fan mod attempting that.

Rockstar also shows a lot more maturity with this game. They've always had a cynical, weird, dark humor in their games that isn't as prevelant here. The first RDR had a lot of "Weird West" moments and stereotyped characters, alot of stranger missions had a cynical twist at the end. I expected the competing brothers missions to end with them dying or for the photographer to get devoured by animals, but that never happened. I appreciate these stranger missions with more honest people that aren't just there for jokes. One of my favorite being when Arthur teaches the widow to survive in the wild. I was disheartened that a lot of the early stranger missions you come across were passive collecathons; bones, stones, & fish.

All in all, I love the world they created, the story, the systems, and just how alive & natural everything feels. It is a legit cowboy simulator and I can see myself falling into playing the Online mode for a long time. A New Game Plus would also be appreciated, so I can play through the story without having to rebuild my arsenal & wardrobe. Most of my complaints are just where I would've wanted them to add more on, nothing was at all bad or game breaking. Though it did aggravate my inner history buff everytime they called a Maxim gun a Gatling gun.