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The release of Rockstar 's Red Dead Redemption 2 has come, and the game is out now on PS4 and Xbox One. Before jumping into the game, you should be sure your console is connected to the internet to download the day-one update. It is not required to play, but Rockstar recommends you install it first, as it includes "a number of last minute tweaks, bugs, and fixed." We have also been working on a number of different types of tools, and we have discovered them in a number of different ways. . Read on for our full Red Dead 2 review.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game about consequences where you only have the illusion of choice. Yes, there are some decisions to be made, and those decisions will shape your character and the world around you. But some of the most disastrous choices were made for you before the game even begins, leaving you to deal with the fallout. And because it's a prequel to Red Dead Redemption, you probably know how the story ends. All that's left is discovering what happens in between and making the most of it. To that end, you fight against the repetitive nature of missions, frequent moral dilemmas, and the inconvenience of doing what's right. For the most part, the frustration that tension can cause also makes the story impactful, and when it all comes together, your effort is not wasted.
At the beginning of the Red Dead Redemption 2, the Van der Linde is already on the decline. Blackwater, they're on the run, a few members, and on the verge of capture, starvation, and succumbing to a snowstorm. There are familiar faces – Red Dead Redemption protagonist John Marston chief among them – as well as new ones. As a senior member Arthur Morgan, you are in the privileged position of being Dutch Van der Linde's right hand, privy to his machinations and included in the most important outings. Once you've gone to the campground, you're also in charge of the camp's finances, meaning you'll pick up all the upgrades and supplies. If Dutch is the center of the gang, Arthur is adjacent to it's vital parts at once, and that gives you a lot of power.
With that power, you're encouraged to see your own pace. A lengthy series of stories early on you introduce your time, including hunting, fishing, horse-rearing, and robbery. There are a lot of systems, and covering the basics takes several hours. While they are not so well educated, the reality is well-established, and the missions also acquainted you with the characters and the surrounding area. For example, the fishing "tutorial" has you taking young Jack Marston out for the day, since John is not exactly great at fatherhood. Jack is pure and sweet – and incredibly vulnerable to all the gang's wrongdoings – and the mission is memorable for it.
In addition to the mechanics of various activities, you are also presented with a few elements of semi-realism that you need to contend with. Mainly, you need to eat to your stamina, and Dead Eye ability "cores," which deplete over time. Eating too much or too little results in weight changes and stat debuffs. Eating itself is not a problem, and neither is general, but it is sufficient to maintain an average weight is intrusive; despite experimenting with what and how often I ate, I could not get Arthur out of the underweight range, and more often would be too time-consuming to justify. You do not have to sleep (and you need to get away from it all), and surviving hot or cold temperatures are more important than driving your body. immersion.
Limited fast travel options are the best-implemented side of Red Dead 2's realism, perhaps counterintuitively. There are so many things in the world, so you have to rely on your horse to get around. It can be slow, but there is no shortage of things to do and see along the way. Chance encounters are plentiful and frequently interesting; you might find a stranger in need of a ride to town or a snake dick victim who needs someone to suck the venom out of their wound. You can stumble upon a grotesque murder scene that you completely off-track, or you can ignore someone in danger and just keep riding. And just as you can decide to rob or kill most anyone, you'll also run into people who will do the same to you. Even the longest wrinkles are not wasted time, and it's hard not to feel like you're missing something.
Red Dead Redemption 2's version of America is vast and wide open, stretching from snowy mountains and the Great Plains down to the original game New Austin in the southwest. Further to the east is the Louisiana-inspired Deep South, which is still feeling the effects of the Civil War after nearly 40 years. There is a distinct shift when traveling from region to region; as grbady hillsides become alligator-filled swamps, Union veterans give way to angry Confederate holdouts, and good intentions and casual racism. The variety makes the world feel rich, and it new buildings will go up as soon as you go, and you will be better off.
Incidental moments as you explore make up a large part of the morality system, in which you gain and lose honor based on your actions. "Good" morals are relative – you 're a gang member, after all – but, it' s more honorable to punch up rather than down. Helping an underdog, even if they're an escaped convict and even if you need to kill some cops or robbers to do it, can net you good guy points. In these situations, it is easier to be noble than a true outlaw. This is a crime that can be made in the past, or even in remote locations, and usually requires you to track down and threaten a witness, run and hide from the law, or pay a bounty down the line. While you'll earn money more quickly doing "bad" things, high honor gets you a little discount at shops, and you'll make good money either way through story missions.
In many ways, you're nudged to a "good" Arthur. The gang members are motivated by loyalty and a desire to help others, while he insults, argues with, and reacts negatively to those who are hot-headed and vicious. The most rotten of them is Micah, who's so easy that it's hard to follow Arthur's lead and take the higher road. Unlocking camp upgrades like one being; all donates, you have to invest in your own pocket.
One of the best, most understated details in the game is Arthur's diary, in which he recaps He sketches places you go, doodles the plants and animals you find, and writes out heels loudly. The journal changes with your level of honor, but at least for a relative honorable Arthur, the pages are filled with concerns and existential crises – inner turmoil over being either good or evil, for instance – that makes you want to see him become a better person.
Like any good prequel, there's an incredible amount of tension in knowing what happens without knowing exactly how.
It's a lot like doing a good guy when doing the main story missions, though. Arthur, along with almost everyone else, is loyal to the gang first and foremost. This means following Dutch into trouble, busting friends out of jail, and committing a number of robberies in the interest of getting money for the gang. Even if you're trying your hardest to be good, you'll inevitably be slowing down all the miles in mandatory story missions – stealth and non-lethal takedowns are not always an option, and the snappy auto-lock has made shootouts a far easier anyway option. The dissonance is frustrating to play in the moment, but it's incredibly important to Arthur's arc as well as your understanding of the gang as a whole. To say any more would venture into spoiler territory.
That extends to the structure of story missions, which starts to get predictable around halfway through the game. It's not that they're boring – the opposite is true, actually, and you see a lot of action from beat to beat. But after a while, a pattern emerges, and it's easy to figure out This is becoming frustrating, partly because you have had some way of making decisions. But your weariness is also Arthur's, and that's crucial. The mid-game drags in the service of the narrative, which only becomes apparent much later. There's also a variety of missions and free-roam exploration to prevent it from dragging to the point of being a chore to play.
Like any good prequel, there's an incredible amount of tension in knowing what happens without knowing exactly how. If you played Red Dead Redemption, you know who survives and has a result that will probably make it to the end of the game. Even during the slower parts, you're waiting for betrayals and injuries. You are looking for characters to reveal their true selves, and watching as everything is riveting and heartbreaking if you know what's to come.
You can still enjoy the story in its own right, though. Some of Red Dead Redemption 2's best moments have almost no relation to its predecessor. One mission takes you to a woman's suffrage rally, and a painful side mission has you facing a woman whose husband you killed and life you ruined. The new characters are among the best, too; Sadie Adler is a personal favorite for reasons I will not spoil. Lenny, mentions how the Southerners treat him a little differently; Arthur says that he has not noticed anything, to which Lenny replies, "All respect, Mr. Morgan, you would not notice."
Generally, Red Dead 2 tackles relevant issues of the era with care. Rather than defining them, they allow the person to be well-rounded while still not ignoring that they like racism and badism exist. One arc focuses squarely on a very serious issue, and here, the lack of real choice in the story's direction – and your resulting involvement in what transpires – will likely make you uncomfortable in a powerful way.
While Red Dead is focused on John Marston 's story, Red Dead is about Van der Linde' s gang – as a community, as an idea, and the death rattle of the Wild West. It is about Arthur, too, but as the lens through which you view the gang, his very personal, very messy story supports a larger tale. Some frustrating systems and a predictable mission structure, but it takes patience and understanding. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it's also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it's a world that is hard to leave when it's done.
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