Red Dead Redemption 2 Review

With an incoming release date of October 26, Rockstar Games have allowed various world-renowned publications to release their previews of their latest game within the Red Dead series, following an invitation to a pre-release gaming session. Here, we round them up to provide a complete Red Dead Redemption 2 review.

What is Red Dead Redemption 2 about?

The game is a prequel to the award-winning 2010 title Red Dead Redemption and is the third instalment of the Red Dead series by Rockstar Games.

It is set in a vast, Western-themed open world, and revolves around the gun-slinging outlaw, Arthur Morgan. Morgan is a member of the Van der Linde gang, which also comprises of the protagonist (John Marston) and antagonist (Dutch Van der Linde) from the previous game.

Set in 1899 – the latter years of America’s “Wild West” – the game is premised with a botched robbery attempt in the town of Blackwater, after which members of the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With the nation’s bounty hunters and authorities hot on his heels, Morgan is forced to traverse America via a life of crime, leading to internal conflict and testing his loyalty to the gang. Morgan will also have to make moral judgements throughout the game, too, and this honor system – which is carried over from the previous instalment – means that the decisions you make will have consequences down the line and lead to different pathways of opportunities.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Review

How is the gameplay in Red Dead Redemption 2?

A big feature of the game is the nomadic lifestyle that you must live. Camps will act as the base for your roaming adventures, and here you can interact and build relationships with other members of the group. It is also possible to pick up extra missions and contribute wealth and provisions for the benefit of the camp.

Outside of camp life, Morgan will be able to interact with all of the other non-playable characters (NPCs) in the game. This is where the honor system will come into play, as these NPCs will start to react to you based on your previous actions in the game – it’s probably worth considering this before riding rampantly through the Old West towns all guns blazing (this message is more aimed at myself than anyone else…).

One thing that all of the pre-launch reviews agree on is the wonderment and awe of the map. Within this vast open world, the player will encounter various beasts – bison, bears, foxes, deer, just to name a few of the hundreds (yes, hundreds!) of species in the game. Some are available to hunt for food, others will provide trading items, and some are just out there watching the world go by as they please. The main animal is, of course, your horse, and you must look after it

Character customization

One of the most exciting aspects of the game is the character customization and maintenance, and Rockstar have tried to make the game as immersive and lifelike as possible in this respect. Morgan will experience real-time hair growth, and players will have to visit the barber to have a cut and style, based solely on the amount of hair available on his head (no GTA-style afros being fashioned out of hairless heads, unfortunately). Items of clothing will also be able to be individually put on and taken off, enabling unique character outfit choices – keep an eye on your hat, too, it can fall off in combat if you’re not careful.

Players will have to look out for Morgan’s health, as his energy will diminish as time passes and he becomes drained from all of his gun-slinging, horse-riding shenanigans. For this, he must sleep to stay alert, and feed to maintain energy, with weight being another dynamic feature of the game. His cleanliness – or lack of – will be noted by other NPCs in the game, too, and Morgan needs to take baths in order to avoid snide comments from passers-by on the street.

Red Dead Redemption 2 graphics

Read Dead Redemption 2 graphics
The visuals in this game are truly stunning. In our opinion, this game will look good no matter what console you play on, and the gameplay trailers show that it runs solidly at 30ps. The attention to detail is simply breath-taking in this game – from the snow melting on the character in the mountainous regions, to the mud splattering on Morgan’s clothes whilst riding through the outback. The impressive graphics and the diverse environments of this huge open world map will certainly serve to enhance the games level of immersion.

When will Red Dead Redemption be released?

The game will be released on October 26, 2018, and Rockstar have made special, ultimate, and collector’s editions available for pre-order. The game will also feature online multiplayer capabilities, with Red Dead Online planned for release in November 2018 as a public beta. This multiplayer mode looks incredible and if it is anything like GTA Online, players will be able to expect something spectacular.

If it isn’t obvious already, Blog of Games is stupidly excited for the release of this game. We believe it will surpass the heights of the previous instalment and could, potentially, go down as one of the greatest games to ever be released. It seems Rockstar Games have produced another classic here, and one which we certainly recommend you try. Are you excited for the game? Let us know in the comments below.

If you liked this article, you might also like our article about free open world games.

Get in touch

Thanks for reading this article and I hope you enjoyed the content. Whether you agree or disagree with the content, it would be great to hear your thoughts, comments, and questions. If you have any, please get in touch below or contact me at richard@blogofgames.com.

Thanks.

Richard, Blog of Games

Red Dead Redemption 2 review
There are over 200 animal species in Red Dead Redemption 2

13 thoughts on “Red Dead Redemption 2 Review”

  1. This game sounds awesome! I can’t believe I haven’t heard of this one or the other one. Definitely sounds like a game I would love to check out.

    Reply
  2. Wow! I am really impressed that Red Dead Redemption 2 has over 200 animal species in their game. It is almost like real life. That is high quality detail. I may just have to quit my job and start playing this all the time. Lol!

    I do have a question though. I am kind of a scrub when it comes to video games. I love them, but I always need help. Who do you recommend for game walk throughs for this one? I like discovering things on my own, but it helps to see what others have done.

    Thank you for sharing and I hope you make it a great day!

    Reply
    • Hey Alex!

      Thanks for your comment. It’s incredible the amount of detail that has gone into this game – if I could, I’d quit work and play this full time, too!

      When it comes to walkthroughs, I know that theRadBrad will be doing a YouTube play-through of this game. He didn’t do one for the first one, so I’m really looking forward to this, as he always creates good content. I’d also recommend checking out tetraninja, who did a great play-through of the first game.

      Hope that helps, Alex, and have a great day yourself!

      Richard

      Reply
  3. Hi Richard.
    Thanks for the review on Red Dead Redemption 2.
    I absolutely love the first one and played til I had finished it.
    I loved the extra zombie part too.
    Rockstar make great games and they’re games that you can play and play and never get bored of.
    I’m really looking forward to this one being released.
    The NPC’s and animals in Red Dead Redemption make it all the more entertaining.
    Thanks and best wishes,
    Michael.

    Reply
    • Hey Michael! Yes, I’m really hoping this lives up to the standard of the first – it’s definitely looking like it will. I think Rockstar did a good job of being creative with zombie add-on content, making the storyline almost as enjoyable as even the linear story.

      Reply
  4. The first Red Dead is my favorite game of all time. I’ve waited patiently for this day to arrive. And now we are here. Time to go back to the old wild west guys!
    Thank you Rockstar. Despite GTA being such a selling machine, I’m very happy you guys stick to this franchise. RDR is not for everyone, specially not for young people who will not dig the slower pace. You probably won’t make the billions you made last time. But rest asure, you’ve made people like me and many others very happy.

    Reply

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