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Review | Red Dead Redemption 2

"Always wanted to be outlaw and ride horses most of the time? Then this is for you! Combining the best in open world games with astounding amount of details and great story-telling, RDR 2 is more than expected. "

by Foggy, 04-12-2018, Edited by: Jim

Second entry in the serial - big daddy "Red Dead Redemption 2". Game is developed and published by Rockstar Games as the first one, probably you also know them for their GTA games and such. They took their time with the game and that turned out to be more than good choice. 

Game will also have multiplayer mode which will go out in December as Beta. Spare us the microtransactions, pretty please.


First landscapes in the game. Not different than watching a movie.

What awaits you is the game that will be remembered and will be twice-told to the future generations.

Set in 1899, the story centers on outlaw Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang, while also following fellow gang member John Marston, the protagonist of the original Red Dead Redemption game.

The game starts slow. There are many characters in the team running from the law and you find yourself in snowy turf. It looks simply beautiful. What kicks the most is the stunning details that hits you from the start. Whatever you expect that would happen with environment is there - snow tracks, realistic movement through deep snow, your clothes gets dirty...You have no idea where you are what is happening but there it is, you need to go find some food and of course kill some bandits.

There are some basic tutorials that guide you through the Prologue, you learn about Dead Eye perk, your Health and Stamina, your Horse's Health and Stamina and basics of the gun usage. Very soon after that you are capable to hunt deer's with your bow. Every shot defines the quality of deer pelt you will get for skinning your first victim. This gives a hint that everything in this game requires time, patience and some more time. After that, game barely gives you tutorials and many things you will have to learn and discover by yourself regarding game mechanics.


Half of the time you will be confused whether it's time to play the game or you are just watching cutscenes.

And so it begins. Spoiling anything about the story would be a crime. Story in RDR 2 is one of the best ones that this year games told and it can also very much beat many from previous years. It also gives you one of the best protagonists in the games, Arthur Morgan. He left big impact on me and for sure it will for each one of you. The game is worth it, just by experiencing the story and not touching anything else.

More or less the recipe for main pipe-line is straightforward - Find the quest marker in the camp, ride 10 minutes, shot some people, loot some people, rob some trains, repeat. Now you are wondering is that all there is? No, it's not simple as that. Every horse ride from camp to place of event is unique and subbed with perfectly recorded audio. Every character in the game talks. I mean every single one of them. That includes random guys in the villages, of course their lines are simple and repeat themselves but still, there are so many audio voice actings in the game. It is by far the most ambitios project done, so good that set some higher benchmarks to all future games. After beating the game you will consider all characters to be real persons with their voices and mimics. They've done it so good.


Riding while sun sets high, grass is tingling from bellow, birds tweet in the distance - ideal life.

So we have an open world game. What can we do here? If i want to say everything, i wouldn't be far from the truth. The world is very big, full of nature, beautiful and detailed. It is after all Year 1899, train is most advanced what the science developed to pollute the air. All around are green hills, thick forests, rocky areas, riverside areas, mountains, swamps and much more. Now, all of those have their own flora and fauna. Riding your horse and stopping just to pick some flowers and herbs is the normal way of playing the game. You want to shoot some ducks and bears? Go ahead. Just have in mind that bear will rape you Dicaprio style if you don't do your job quickly. After that you can skin the animal and go and make yourself some new clothes to wear.

There are 43 different herbs in the game, 178 different animals and a bit less fishes. It goes very fine if you want to start herbalist/hunter career. What goes along side of that? Crafting/cooking of course. You collect bird meat for example, pick some mentha herbs, cook that meat seasoned with those herbs, voila. Gain fat and replenish your health. There is weight ratio in the game, which will affect your performance depending of the state. If you are underfed you lose your dead eye quicker, stuff like that. But it is not something to worry about if you don't want to spend time.

Crafting is not so complex - you will use it to craft ammo, potions, even craft some weapons. For some you will need recipes that are spread throughout the world or simply buying in the shops after certain game events. It happens when you camp in the wild. What is better than cooking some meat before sleeping next to bear den.

Fishing is also in the game and it is fun. There is 15 normal types of fish and some legendary as well. It's very realistic and fish you catch you can cook or sell. You must use different bait for different types of fish, all explained as part of the story missions.


Let's play some dominos. Let's win 3 times in a row. Lets jump in front of the train.

Game offers some fun mini-games too, like Dominos, Poker, Blackjack and Five Finger Fillet. Nothing special that hasn't been seen already, but it can take up your time and earn you some bucks. 

As said, main story-line is something else. Not much to say here, maybe just to add a negative point. Almost every quest is structured similar - ride your horse, initiate the quest, ride along and talk a lot, kill, raid, loot, back. If they did not put so many effort in story itself it would be quite boring after some time. Fortunately, it's not a problem, camouflage is good.

A very big bonus and plus are side missions. They are called Stranger Missions and they feel like main story. Most of them consist of multiple parts and some can be started fairly early in the game but until you reach certain point in the game they cannot be finished. Good amount of effort was put in here as well which will for sure prolong your gameplay. We also have classic's like collect X of that and X of that. Although those are typical fetch quests, for example, finding all Dinosaur Bones will take you to some wild areas and hidden ones that you wouldn't experience without playing that mission. This I am saying if you are if you are 100% collector (like me), in other cases they are optional. 


Epic Mission time. Buckle up.

They've gone so old school that there is only partial fast traveling. At first, it's cool that if you want to quickly visit other part of the map you will pay and ride a train, Or maybe pay to the guy to transfer you in his wagon. But then again, after so many hours in the game, when you start collecting stuff all over the place, fast travel is what you will miss the most. Sometimes it feels like 40% of the time you are riding your horse and just waiting for it to arrive at destination marker. Good thing that they have Cinematic Camera which you can enter when riding - if you set destination point, run and enter that mode, your character will ride by himself until he arrives. 

Many random things happen when you explore. You can find a guy bit by the snake and you can help him or leave him. Or you can help the poor beggar with some money. Those are just random events that you can entirely skip but you can do them just to build your Honor level the way you want. 


When it's not your day, week or a year.

Honor level is here and there is not much to say. You can be the bad or the good guy. Depends on the level you can get different/better rewards, be respected more or get discounts when buying items. Also some missions become available only if you have certain level of Honor. So killing people just for fun and robbing trains is rewarded with negative reputation. Being a good guy always pays off. 

Your main perk will be Health, Stamina and Dead Eye which you will level up through the game. Running will neat you stamina experience, using Dead Eye logically that part. Many things will give you EXP for certain perk. Maybe it's a shame that this was not developed a bit more complex and that influence play style a bit.


Typical Monday.

Our main companion is also our Inventory. In open world games, loot is everywhere. So in RDR 2, loot is everywhere + a bit more. We can divide it into main equip screen and inventory. Main equip screen is like a quick select, either weapons, items or horse care items. Very often you will forget to take desired weapons when you get of the horse and that part was a bit confusing but realistic I guess. You are always equipped with few weapons that you chose, but considering there is 50+ weapons in the game, often you will want to change your style a bit. You just need to pull whatever you chose from the horse bag and you are ready to start shooting around.

What you kill you can carry to camps/towns. If it is big animal, you can only put one on your horse and ride back. Small animals fit into inventory just fine. I did not find any decent usage to hunt and carry back to sell skins and meat, it is time consuming and rewards are lame. You will gain money quite easily and all those tasks will become unnecessary. Even those 50+ weapons have no real difference other then types. Most of the game i played with Riffle and that is just one riffle.

Weapons can be upgraded in gunsmith stores, but as said, not a lot of benefits by doing that other then spending money and customizing them as you like. It's cool if you are into that, otherwise no point spending time on it. Cool fact is that guns get dirty with time so you need to clean them. Talk about realistic. Even when that happens it will not affect them much with lower stats, so you are good without even cleaning them.


Marko Dragic ladies and gentlemen. This one is totally optional.

They really nailed that western style theme. Music is on spot and when there is some sad moment, it will kick you hard in them fells. Soundtrack is quite good and worth paying attention, as then everything feels right and blends perfectly. I find music very important that music carries a game in a way that it deepens everything to a certain level. 


Your drive will be full very quickly because every scene can be candidate for screen capture.

The game is really big. To finish the whole story all chapters including Epilogue it will take around 60 hours if you are quick gunman. Chapter 6 is by far the best one for me personally. Epilogue did not feel good as the rest of the game, i don't blame them, but after giving so much until then it's hard not to judge. For sure you will find some interest in the game. Even after the story clears itself it feels a bit empty, but that we can I guess write down to the individual impression. Somehow, story is the best thing in the game, and for that I give big respect, other stuff just felt a bit not quite there compared to story.

If you are trophy hunter, you will lose your nerves, you are in for 200h+ of hunting and collecting.

All in all, what we have is must play title. Rockstar, you truly are a Rockstar.

"If you want memorable story-telling, mind-blowing protagonist, and a game developed to an almost state of perfectionism, think no more - this one must be played."
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