Rockstar Games’ famed western title “Red Dead” returns in Red Dead Redemption 2. Following the lives of the now infamous Dutch gang, you play as Arthur Morgan; an aging member who’s trying to ensure no more lives of his makeshift family are lost by the law and their own undoings.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a 2018 third-person shooter, it is developed and published by Rockstar Games. It is currently available for Playstation 4 and Xbox One.

Editor’s Note: A Playstation 4 review copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 Ultimate Edition was provided by Rockstar Games in support of this review. An Amazon Affiliates link for this title is present within the review. Near complete to complete spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2 may be present within the review.

Welcome to the beautiful world of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Taking place several years prior to the original Red Dead Redemption, the sequel starts the beginning of the end of the Old West. Arthur Morgan is a trusting and  top leading member of the Van der Linde gang and holds a close bond with it’s leader Dutch. Having aged since his early days in the gang Morgan begins to question his actions as well as those of the gang he holds so dearly and the effects they take on those closest to him. With trouble brewing from rival gangs and the lawmen of Black Water looming ever closer to home, Morgan must choose between his family in Dutch’s gang or setting off to live on his own terms.

Sometimes less is more, but even as overwhelming as RDR2 is, it’s often too good to put down.

THE GOOD: Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game with a huge world that’s total focus on realism is something that should be commended on. There’s so much taken into account that it’d likely take more time than necessary to detail things here. Improved mechanics from the original Red Dead Redemption such as Dead Eye and hunting animals to crafting makes it easy for newer players who skipped out on the last gen title to get into the game. New mechanics such as horse interactions, camp upgrading, and a new Outlaw/Deputy wanted level system gives seasoned Red Dead players new experiences to learn. The thing about Red Dead 2 however, is the fact that you’re nearly always learning something. Hell the first ten hours of the game is one super large tutorial teaching you everything from hunting to Dead Eye to getting in hand to hand brawls these are spread and taught over time rather than within a single chapter or so.

The Van der Linde gang rides.

The Arthur Morgan character is a complex one. He will gladly live or die for his gang, but as the story progresses he clearly holds certain regrets for things he’s done since being there. In addition to his own internal struggles he has a few issues with certain members of the game for his own reasons such as Uncle, Bill, and perhaps even more importantly previous protagonist John Marston. I wasn’t expecting Marston to have too much of a role here, honestly I was more thinking it would be a cameo type deal. However, fans of the original will be happy to know that not only is Marston’s role rather larger than expected, but he also will accompany Morgan on story missions. Their relationship with one another is odd. They have a great deal of respect for one another, but Marston leaving for over a year for whatever reason clearly put a wedge in their relationship with Morgan feeling he basically betrayed the Van der Linde gang and being uneasy about his return being consequence free. As Morgan spends more and more time with his fellow gang members we as players learn more and more about their backgrounds & their individual relationships to Arthur.

The story of the Dutch van der Linde gang and it’s downfall unfold in Red Dead Redemption 2.

THE BAD: At times Red Dead Redemption 2 can feel rather overwhelming there’s so much going on in the world and whether you’re travelling the world map on the destination of your next mission or just messing about some kind of event will trigger which makes you think “should I stop what I’m doing to handle what’s in front of me or not?”. It’s not really a bad thing in of itself, but it does get rather distracting when you’re in a hurry to the next story mission or whatever it is you’re planning to do. And these events won’t be around forever some end up being lost opportunities if you’re not in a rush to take action on them. To add to the overwhelming nature of the game, there’s a ton to do and at times the controls and mechanics can get very confusing and hard to remember throughout. There’s also the stiffness of certain controls, to give an example I once accidentally punched my horse after attempting to pat it for bonding and it ran off for a bit until it calmed down. And having to hold a button like triangle for certain mechanics while triangle also does other things is a bit of a pain as well. I can’t tell you how many times I attempted to hitch my horse only to have climbed on top of it instead. Minor annoyances of course, but annoyances nonetheless. There’s also the fact that the realism can get in the way. What I mean by this is more often than not when you’re doing something in RDR2 there’s likely to be an animation which can last anywhere from a few seconds to a minute or so and it slows things down a lot especially when so many happen in large bursts of activity, which again leads to the overwhelming nature of it all.

You can upgrade your gang camp in addition to upgrading Arthur & his horse.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Red Dead Redemption definitely isn’t perfect, but it’s as damn close as we’ll be getting to perfection for the eight generation of gaming. This is a rare opportunity where a prequel continuation actually works from all sides and newcomers can play without feeling too lost or disinterested before ultimately jumping in on Red Dead Redemption 1 and possibly even Red Dead Revolver if they’d like to complete the trilogy.