The Reviews For Red Dead Redemption 2 Have Arrived, And They're Fantastic
Red Dead Redemption 2, the sequel that fans have been waiting for for the past eight years, is finally here. Though fans may have to wait a little longer for the game, the critical consensus is clear: Red Dead Redemption 2 is gorgeous, albeit not without flaws.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a ‘marvelous
achievement in every respect, and a shoo-in for one of the finest games of this
generation,' according to our own Jeff Bakalar, who has been immersed in the
world for more than 40 hours.
'I've been pouring hours and hours of effort into what I can certainly characterize as one of the most completely realized and explorable fictional worlds I've ever encountered. Overall, it's an incredible work of art and possibly the most accurate Western simulation ever created. 'Red Dead 2 makes Westworld seem like City Slickers,' Bakalar added.
Our pals at the Game Spot have given the game a
9 out of 10, with reviewer Kallie Plague concluding: 'Red Dead Redemption 2 is
an incredible prequel, but it's also an emotional, thought-provoking narrative
in its own right, and it's a world that is hard to leave when it's done.'
Despite her tremendous appreciation, she
did have some criticism.
'This applies to the layout of the story
missions, which become predictable about halfway through the game. It's not
that they're dull — quite the reverse, in fact, and there's a lot of motion
from beat to beat,' Plague noted. 'However, after a while, a pattern forms, and
it's easy to predict how any given theft or raid would proceed. This, too,
becomes irritating, partly because you frequently have no means of materially
influencing the outcome, despite any decision-making authority you may have
imagined you possessed.
The game was lauded by Comicbook.com for
its tremendous range of information, which is expected to keep players
committed long beyond the calendar year.
'I've spent a good, long week plowing
through all it has to offer, and I'm still digging, simply to see what surprise
awaits me next,' says the author. In his 5/5 assessment, reviewer Robert
Workman stated. 'The replayability is out of this world, whether you want to
start a company for yourself or your 'family,' or just get into trouble with a
few shootouts and wagon takeovers. We'll be playing for months and discovering
something — and that doesn't even take into account the potential of Red Dead
Online.
So far, the game has a Metacritic score of
97, making it the highest-rated game of the year on the PlayStation 4. This is
especially notable in a year that included standouts like God of War and
Spider-Man. Here are some of the reviews that have emphasized what makes
Rockstar's newest open-world epic deserving of such high praise.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Review: So Large That It Feels Like A Chore
Red Dead Redemption 2 does not begin how
you may anticipate. There are no unending expanses of scraggy sand punctuated
by the odd cactus. No vultures are circling above or dilapidated farms to
investigate.
There is, however, snow. There was a lot of
snow. Dutch Van der Linde's gang of ill-mannered misfits are hiking into the
mountains following a failed theft in the neighboring town of Blackwater in
1899, 12 years before the events of Red Dead Redemption. Snow is waist-high and
continues to fall in a thick, heavy blanket. You can barely see the hoof
prints your horse makes in the snow a few meters behind you, a far cry from the
wide-open views of the previous game.
The narrative is equally depressing. Right away, you discover that one of your fellow gang members did not survive the trek, while another - John Marston, the protagonist from the last game - has been savaged by wolves and needs your assistance. Food is in short supply, and the law is never far away. If the Van der Linde brothers are to survive in the Wild West, they must band together.
You take on the role of Arthur Morgan, a
grizzled and emotionally stunted enforcer who has been a member of the Van der
Linde gang since boyhood. Morgan's moral cosmos, like John Marston's, is
totally painted in different shades of grey. "We're horrible men, but we aren’t
them," he declares during an altercation with a rival group. Morality
pervades the whole game; even tiny favors for bystanders can raise Morgan's honor
rating, granting him discounts at specific businesses. At times, the moral
options are stark: execute a trio of hostages or release them, assist an old
friend on an errand, or turn away.
However, it is only after a few hours of
gaming that Red Dead Redemption truly comes to life. The Van der Linde crew
makes up camp after traveling across the mythical East Grizzlies Mountain
range, and the Dutch establish some ground rules. "It's time for everyone to
earn their keep," Dutch informs the gathering members of his gang. This
includes contributing to the camp's treasuries, hunting animals so the camp can
eat, replenishing the medical cart when supplies run short, and improving the
camp amenities when you have some extra cash from a recent theft.
Does this sound like a chore? It has the
appearance of it. Whereas Red Dead Redemption delighted in the freedom of the
Wild West, its sequel occasionally seems mired down in the RPG-like intricacy
of navigating the game environment. The vital signs system is built on three 'cores':
health, stamina, and dead eye, all of which decrease with time unless they are
maintained by diet, smoking, and drinking. But if you consume too much, you'll
gain weight and your vitals will deplete faster. If you dress inappropriately
for the weather, your core muscles will suffer as well.
Your horse, too, has requirements. It has
its own cores (just stamina and health), and a coat that has to be brushed, and if
you want to access particular talents, you must bond with the horse by petting
and caring for it.
Gulliver is the name I give to my horse since he travels. Gulliver doesn't seem to mind that his name is based on a terrible pun, therefore I don't mind feeding him oatcakes and running him through a stream when his coat gets soiled. I even replaced his stirrups with a somewhat nicer pair, which, despite the claimed stat improvement, seem to make little difference in his pace.
However, I began to worry that Gulliver was
not appreciating the effort I was putting into maintaining him in great
condition. Did he not realize I had a camp to feed, firearms to keep, plants to
pick, and animal bait to make? I couldn't bring myself to get him a new saddle
after he'd already landed me with a bounty payment for assault after colliding
with an innocent pedestrian in Valentine.
When Gulliver 'accidentally' dashed
full-tilt into a cart, providence intervened to remove a weight off my to-do
list. My $150 horse was definitely dead, lying in the dust at my feet. My
feelings were torn as Morgan stabbed the knife into his chest with a nasty
final flourish. My terrible sadness was mitigated by the guilty satisfaction I
felt at finally getting rid of my lovely horse (and significant time suck).
Despite its emotional ambiguity, Gulliver's
murder delivers the visceral, horrific edge that distinguishes RDR2 from its
predecessor. When your character skins an animal, the sly cutaways are gone.
Instead, you witness everything from the time you saw through the skin, tearing
it off the animal's flesh, all the way up to the dead corpse dangling and
rotting on your horse's saddle. In one assignment, you must chase a bear into
the bush and fire your rifle at its massive body when it rears up just feet
away.
However, it is in the towns that RDR2 truly
comes to life. The streets are alive with overheard discussion, most of it
about Arthur Morgan, assuming you've made a reputation for yourself in town.
You may welcome or antagonize non-playable characters as you walk by - tip your
hat or muscle them out of the way, and they will answer in like. The backroads
that crisscross the game map are alive with their own modest storylines that
you may only catch a glimpse of - lawmen hauling fugitives from far away and
families establishing new lives out west. They'll occasionally provide you a
means to become engaged, but just as often, you may ignore them and assume that
they'll live somewhere else in the game world, just out of your sight.
And what a world we live in. RDR2 is
massive once you get beyond its claustrophobic beginning. The map weaves
together green plains, modernizing cities, decrepit frontier settlements, misty
bayous, and the desert locations from the first installment. Much of your time
will be spent commuting between distant locales, and here is where the game's
real pleasure begins. RDR2 is a brilliantly detailed, fascinating environment
that begs you to forget about the mission you're supposed to be on and get lost
in the intricacies.
Discovering these hidden treasures is one
of the game's great joys. I found myself in an isolated woodland location after
being given a treasure map after a debt-collection assignment had no results.
At one end was a dilapidated hut, within which was a collection of skulls and
letters containing a sermon to some cosmic god. On my way out of the cabin
after looting it, I came upon a rival gang looking to settle some old grudges
in a firefight. After recharging my dead eye meter with a tonic, I fired a
couple of shots from my carbine weapon before fleeing.
RDR2 operates in this manner. A long time
of nothing much happening, punctuated by brief spurts of activity. Unlike the
previous installment, this game's plot is not limited to the cutscenes. As you
go around the camp, folks will discuss ancient rivalries that will be addressed
in later missions, or someone may fill you in on a background that will only be
revealed much later in the game. Despite spending most of the game on
lonely backroads, the tale revolves around the motley outlaws that comprise the
Van der Linde gang and their countless escapades.
This paradox - loneliness and the
uncomfortable comradeship of the Van der Linde gang - is central to RDR2. In it, Rockstar has achieved a goal that has taken eight years, thousands of
employees, and a possibly unhealthy number of late nights to achieve. With 60
hours in the main plot and many more outside of it, RDR2 is the follow-up that
fans of the original game have been clamoring for.
Inside the Rockstar headquarters, employees
will almost certainly be emptying out the shelves in preparation for the
avalanche of game-of-the-year awards that are on their way. RDR2 is a finely-tuned progression of everything that made the first game so good. Is it,
however, a delight to play? I'm not convinced.
Everything about RDR2 feels designed to
make me pause and marvel at its complexity and depth. Yes, the graphics are
stunning, but they don't entice me to enter the world in the same way that
BioShock's exotic underwater dystopia did. RDR2's perfection trades immersion
for observation.
At times, the ongoing character upkeep
feels like a nuisance, and the leisurely pace of the action makes it ideal for
lengthy sessions but, unlike GTA V, not one you can pick up and play in
minutes.
Perhaps it was inevitable that a game so
perfectly polished would need a near-equal amount of attention from the player
to properly enjoy it. And if you have the time and inclination to
devote to it, RDR2 will deliver adequate rewards for your efforts. However, the
finest games do not abandon you once you have moved away from the console. They
get into your head and force you to finish them as quickly as you can. Now that
I'm thinking about my half-empty in-game compendium and a rifle that needs to
be oiled, the notion of returning to Red Dead Redemption 2 feels like just
another item on my to-do list. Is it a flawless game? Sure. Is that what makes
it great? Perhaps not.
