Red Dead Redemption 2 Review
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a new game by Rockstar game studios and is one of the most ambitious open world games to have been created. There are many things to do in this old western video game from robbing trains to playing poker. Red Dead Redemption 2 has one of the most complete stories I have ever played with over 100 story missions and many more side quests as well that can take up a lot of your time in this beautiful game world. The graphics are some of the prettiest visuals ever put together and it immerses you in the game world and makes you never want to leave.
My favorite part of Red Dead Redemption 2 is the story. It follows the adventures of the outlaw Van Der Linde gang in 1899 led by charismatic Dutch Van Der Linde. You play as his right hand man, Arthur Morgan, who is very rough around the edges and is always looking for a good fight or any opportunity to help out his fellow gang members. The story is what makes this game my game of the year, beating out God of War and Spider-Man. The characters are very well developed and you end up caring about every single one of them as you follow the gang throughout the west. Throughout the missions, you will go on bank heists, rob a homestead, hijack a train, or just hit the town for a night of drinking with your fellow gang members. As the story progresses, Arthur is faced with more and more challenges that he has to overcome, and even question why they commit all of these crimes and hurt and rob innocent people. The voice actors do a very splendid job at convincing the player what they are feeling and they nail their diverse accents as well. Every mission is action packed or has a memorable quality about that I will not forget and will always compare other video game missions to, because they are so well done and fun to play. The graphics are also very well done.
The visuals in Red Dead Redemption 2 are an achievement in design and all other video game developers should aspire to reach the heights that they did. Walking through the massive world, I found myself constantly stopping and getting distracted by the beautiful scenery. Every single landscape is very pretty to look at. On your journey through this game, you are brought through winter snowscapes, the great plains, beautiful mountains and forests, an immersive swamp filled with alligators, and a terrifying desert, and every single one of these makes you feel as if you are in the game. Another well done aspect is the facial animations of all the characters. In every scene, each character shows their emotions through their voice and also their face, which makes them even more convincing. Each character is uniquely designed and has a certain walk and demeanor. The guns and gunfire are very convincing as well. The guns look real and have realistic effects and they leave real bullet holes in everything they hit. The customization of your gun and character also allows you to give your game a personal touch.
Mostly everything in this game is customizable. Every gun can be fully customized from the improvements, to engravings and color of the gun itself. Also, Arthur can be outfitted to your liking and every part of his outfit can be changed. You can change his basic clothes like his pants, shirt, boots, vest, jacket, and most importantly his hat, but you can also customize the small things like the color of each item, which spurs to put on his boots, whether or not he wears gloves and what kind, his scarf, a gun-belt and bandolier and much more. Also, you can change Arthur’s hair and beard style to your liking. Arthur’s hair grows as the game progresses, so you can let it grow or go into the barber for a trim. You can also decide how well you want to take care of Arthur. If Arthur falls in the mud or gets dirty, you need to wash him, the same thing goes for his guns. The dirtier you and your things get, the more your stats go down, so it is important to keep up with this. Feeding Arthur and his horse is important because they can lose weight, making them more prone to incoming damage from enemies. His horse is also interchangeable. You can name your horse whatever you like, choose the breed of horse you want, each better at certain tasks, the color of it’s hair, the hair and tail, the saddles and saddle bags, etc. Finally the game can be played to your liking, with the story being tailored to how you play. You can be an evil killer who doesn’t care about anybody else, but this leads to a higher bounty on your head and more people around the world who dislike you, or you can be a nice guy who helps people out that are in need, and the game rewards you for these deeds by giving you discounts in stores and some free items. Everything you do in the world effects the game in a way.
There is a lot of things to do in this game besides playing the main story. You can gamble in town saloons by playing poker or blackjack or just stop in for a drink and brawl some local townspeople. If you want to get away for awhile, there are many activities for you to do. I personally enjoy going fishing or hunting in the wilderness and maybe even find a legendary animal that can be used to craft certain items and clothing. You can also do various treasure hunts throughout the map that lead to treasure in the form of one of a kind trinkets that boost your stats or gold that can be sold for cash. There are plenty of things to collect throughout the world as well and once you find one, you will feel the need to find them all. Overall, whether you are wandering by yourself, doing tasks for your gang, doing side quests, or doing story missions, you will spend a lot of your time and have fun in this beautiful world.
All in all, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of my favorite games I have ever played that I can see myself going back to in the future and if you have an xbox or playstation, I can highly recommend this game to anyone for it’s price of 60 dollars.
