a work of art from the Wild West

Many characters, but especially Dutch, Arthur and John (the protagonist of the original game) have an incredible story, almost literary, during the game This is undoubtedly the most moving game that Rockstar has produced so far . But the big narrative moments are scattered beyond the 60 hours you spend with, and most of the time, you simply help your friends survive. By committing crimes.

Every person in the world is an opportunity to make money by stealing or killing, but apart from the fact that you can easily get killed by self-defense or the law, it is often more worthwhile to talk to them. Some will just growl or tell you to leave them alone, but others have surprisingly relevant things to say that can lead to new quests or intrigues.

Whether you're talking to people on the trail, doing a mbadive shooting, or enjoying the outdoors, the level of detail in this game is staggering. Random people will chat about your past actions in the game or make sudden remarks about dynamic time. Snow and mud move realistically as you cross them, and Arthur's clothes become dirtier the longer you wear them. Put a dog to bark and you will soon hear other dogs react in the distance. Stores are packed with items you can browse and browse – whether weapons, food, or tonics to restore your health, stamina, or "dead-eye" ability that slows down time – or you can browse the catalog that shows all the prices and describes the services, with the obsolete ads. It would be impossible to list all the small details and touch-ups I've noticed here, but everything is done to make it less like a video game than a world.

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In the same vein, coming from more interactive experiences of the open world as Breath of nature and Assbadin's Creed Odyssey makes Red DeadThe world of his is quite easy going, without having much to gain by venturing on the numerous roads and marked trails of horses. Creating a "fun" or "satisfying" experience does not seem to have been the main goal here.

Indeed, much of the game can look like work. For example, you have to shave, eat and bathe regularly. You must brush and feed your horse. tapping steadily and rhythmically on a button to keep it at a fast pace but that does not exhaust it. Do not forget to put on your mask when you commit crimes to avoid becoming a suspect. Stop in front of a campfire to prepare meals to keep in your bag for later. In a mission, you literally shovel pork shit into a barn and place it in a wheelbarrow (although you can blow it up with dynamite later).

I had a little trouble adapting to all of this at first, especially when the missions are so far apart that you have to regularly ride on horseback to get there, and that random events in the sometimes mean that these missions will be locked when you arrive. and you will have to come back later. But the more I played, the less it seemed to me oppressive; you just have to accept the fact that you live in one world and not in another.

On the one hand, long drives are often in the company of another gang member and the conversations on the trail are captivating. You can also start conversations by riding strangers or stopping to help someone. Even when you're alone, if your path takes you into a city, you can stop to play poker in the saloon, take a bath or buy new clothes. You can also spend time hunting, provided you have a plan to bring the carcbades to a butcher or to camp them before they rot on the back of your horse. Spending time to live is likely to introduce you to optional challenges, "aliens" (who give out side quests) and to many types of collectibles, my favorites being the illustrated cigarette card games.

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In many open world games, these activities may seem superfluous, but this is not the case here. Since you always have to bring money and food to your camp and you must be well equipped, these distractions have real value. Even your accidental interactions with other people in the wild are often interesting. You can meet a criminal at the back of a police car begging you to leave him free or seeing a man being robbed or a woman being kidnapped. Helping people can be rewarding, even if it is also very difficult. People will try to scam you in order to lure you into an attack or a robbery, but you could by cons (as I have already done) kill someone that you had previously agreed to help because you suspect that you had a bad intention. I still do not know if this guy was trying to rob me or just needed a lift to get to town.

When you are in the world, you are constantly struck by the beauty of nature. From valleys and streams to dense swamps and arid regions, everything seems absolutely incredible and the slow movements, the optional camera angles and the soundtrack inspired by the western film make you impregnate it. As in some great westerns that preceded, the hero here is a villain but largely bought by his desire to live a simple life and close to nature. I liked to organize for the night under the stars while crossing the state, although I felt very bad about the idea of ​​hitting a farmer who had not settled his debts the next morning.

Of course, there is a deep melancholy here too, as America as we know it now, for the most part, no longer resembles that at all. The vast city of Saint-Denis, in the east of the country, with its huge smokestacks of smoke spewing dirt in the air, its garish streetcars and its dirty stone streets, is the most obvious indication of the human excess that marks the charming world that surrounds the railroad tracks crossing the natural dwellings of the deer and birds and the senseless hunting of big game. Coupled with the incredible violence, this aspect of the game can be read as another criticism of America by the Scottish Rockstar, but it looks much more like a commentary on people in general than on a regular basis. other. GTA.

As GTAand like the previous Red Deadit's also a surprisingly masculine game. It is not completely devoid of critical sense, however, and the style puts it in coherence with its historical and cinematic inspirations. But from the drunken bond and frail egos to the preponderance of facial hair and grunty dialogue (and the awkward eroticism of strangely realistic horse testicles bath scenes), the game reveals and exudes masculinity everywhere. Even though he manages to soften Arthur (mainly thanks to his calm thoughts reflected in his diary), he succeeds less in raising his female characters beyond one dimension to match the depth and the interesting diversity of boys, with the exception of a notable woman. The coarse humor of GTA also returns to the parts but, again, is suitable for setting.

One of the few things I have to say about the game is that in the face of so much you can do, there are a lot of different functions grouped together on the same controller buttons. For example, it is very easy to try to examine something and accidentally fire your weapon, or even fire a shot. I've committed a lot of totally unintentional crimes, that it's about attacking a person trying to ride a horse or killing someone while I wanted to only steal it, and whenever that happens, I end up having to flee and potentially accept a bonus or go into total slaughter mode to eliminate the witnesses. In some situations, you can trigger a total shootout by inadvertently firing your gun or grazing someone else 's horse with yours. Given the bonus system and the financial penalty that causes death, these accidents can be costly.

But although he has his flaws, it's hard to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is not a master chef. The end result of minute details, wonderful writing and beautiful looks is an open world that sets a new benchmark in credibility, as well as a place and time that I can not afford. to stop thinking or wanting to be part of it This piece of America's past may never have existed, as far as I know, but this game not only gives it a sense of reality, but it also gives it a meaning, an emotion and, of course, a horrible and uplifting crime.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on Xbox One (review) and PlayStation 4.