Red Dead Redemption 2 Review
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the prequel to the 2010 classic Red Dead Redemption published and developed by Rockstar Games. The game takes place in a fictional Western United States in 1899 featuring a wide variety of environments from the cold, harsh mountains to the muddy and farming prairies to the post Civil War South.
The story has characters full of personality who you can interact in a mostly organic way. Each mission in the game either builds bonds between characters or adds tension between them. Characters from the original such as Javier Escuella, John Marston and Bill Williamson are built on more throughout the game, going more in-depth about their characters.
Throughout the game there are many important themes, change being most evident. Change as in outlaws being phased out of society, or change in the south post-civil war, or even just change in characters. Throughout the whole game, the characters are faced with change, and we see how different characters react to these changes.
Gun customization in this game is more than just cosmetic, for example, you can buy better sights or a longer barrel for better accuracy. Although some guns are better than others, the more you use a single gun, the better the stats. So you CAN buy a new gun and upgrade it, but you don’t HAVE to.
While you are roaming the world, you may encounter non-playable characters that need your help. Depending on how you act towards them, your honor increases if you are helpful or decreases if you antagonize to let the person die. Though you may be able to get more money through robbing people and banks and trains, if you have good honor then you get discounts at stores as well special outfits.
One cool encounter that you may face is a man that has been bitten by a snake. If you help the man by giving him medicine you are given honor. Later on, if you walk by the gun store in Valentine you will see the man. If you talk to him he will give you any gun in the store for free. I found this really added to the experience, it made me feel that my actions had consequences.
RDR2 could’ve had better controls. There is some delay between commands. For example, when you press (X) it will take a bit for your horse to start galloping. Now, if that is intentional then it may be justified.
RDR2 is very different from Rockstar’s last game, Grand Theft Auto V. It is much slower than the chaotic and breakneck speed of GTA V, which isn’t a bad thing. Being set in the old west means everything is slow and easy going as opposed the fast-paced modern day.
