Red Dead Redemption 2 reviews – Farewell to the American West

The main character of Red Dead Redemption 2, Arthur Morgan, dreams of animals, like a deer that moves slowly in the desert. With melancholy music, the stag scene helps to bring the theme of sadness to the disappearance of the outlaws in the epic video game of Rockstar Games.

The Rockstar storytellers linger with such moments (as you see in the video) during a very long game, which sets it apart from all the others I've played. It is full of stories and subplots that alone would form the basis of an entire game if it was another studio.

Arthur is a character who is described in depth in this game, and he is one of the few outlaws who lives off a code. Whatever the case may be, the most serious tragedy concerns the disappearance of a way of life and a disillusionment as to what America has become in the industrial era.

This deer in the dream is a symbol or premonition of a kind of death. But what if someone else plays the wolf instead? This is one of the many things that will make you amaze here.

But even if history takes you into this long, out-of-law ode, it does not glorify outlaw life. From the beginning, while the gang is in full retreat after a robbery, it shows in color what can go wrong if you cling to romantic lies on the lawless border.

This is my complete review of Red Dead Redemption 2. I wrote earlier about my impressions when I was halfway to the party. But now I can see it in full relief. I think I can explain in this long article why he is about to sell 20 million copies or more.

I think this fits Rockstar's masterpieces such as Red Dead Redemption (2010) and Grand Theft Auto V (2013). And history and depth go a step further, as much as the game consoles of this generation can.

The world feels alive. It contains 10 times the custom animations of GTA V. It contains 300,000 individual animations, 1,000 things to do and discover, 500,000 dialogue lines (double the number in GTA V) and more than 1,000 performances of Actors in the game. (Yes, it is not surprising that Rockstar faces allegations of involuntary tightening or imposed overtime).

I was surprised by the breadth of the experience. I've done 105 missions (I remember GTA V, there were 69 missions total) and I'm 100% finished with history. I also watched the video of the game I captured to better understand how it all happens. It takes more than 50 hours to get through this part of the game, but you can spend much more time in the open world if you want to explore all its edges, side missions and emerging gameplay.

The game has left me a lot to think about. In some ways storytellers were linked. This happens in 1899, as a sequel to Red Dead Redemption of 2010, which took place in 1911. If you play the original game, you know who survived from the notorious gang of Dutch Van der Linde, including the main character of Red Dead Redemption, John Marston, who plays a secondary role as a gang member in Red Dead Redemption 2.

While the original focuses on Marston, this game puts the spotlight on Arthur Morgan and his interactions with all the characters in the gang. The charismatic leader of the outlaws, the Dutch Van der Linde,
who, unlike his rival Colm O'Driscoll, tries to justify his violence and greed with higher ideals of resistance, freedom and the extended family of the cult gang.

Dutch is like a salesman of snake oil, making his gang believe that another blow will bring in enough money so that they can settle in a distant paradise where they will no longer be prosecuted by law. Arthur is his loyal performer who begins to question the meaning of loyalty as his leader becomes more and more erratic.

From the beginning, Rockstar painted the gang without glamor. He checks loyalty after a bank robbery in the city of Blackwater. They fled to the mountains under the guise of a snowstorm and are looking for their scattered gang members. They desperately need food and money, and Arthur has to provide them.

Marston is among the missing. Finding it is one of your first tasks as Arthur. The start is a bit painful, but you learn important things like riding a horse, following an animal or a human being in the wild and hunt. The group sets up the camp and you try to help improve the common good by hunting, providing and protecting. And the gang must always be vigilant to escape federal agents, bounty hunters and private armies like the Pinkertons.

It also has better artificial intelligence that seems to understand what you think, especially in the part of the game where the world is open, rather than in directed scenario missions.

This means that if you follow a non-player character in an alley, they will look back and start to fear that you are thinking of bad intentions. The character will question you or stop walking to confront you. If you have a bonus on your head, passers-by can recognize you and signal your presence. If you pass near someone with your firearm, he may react in a hostile manner. You can defuse clashes with strangers or oppose them to attack you.

If you are known to have filmed a city and paid the premium, the survivors will treat you with disdain. From time to time, when you film someone, whether you are riding in nature or that an important part of the story is taking place, the camera goes into cinematographic mode. When you walk with two women in conversation, they will start to include you in chatter.

All of this helps you to feel that you are immersed in a living world.

What you will like

An epic story

I have already mentioned the cliché of the living world. And I do not always like to talk about the word "epic", that's what marketing departments do in almost every description of a video game. But Rockstar is distinguished by the quality of his stories. You may find pathetic in the loss of freedom and lifestyle at the border that forms the backdrop of the tale. Even if they are not nice, you spend so much time with them that you want to see them realize their dream of escaping.

Just when I thought I was getting bored, a new type of mission appeared. From time to time, a big turn takes the story in a new direction, and it reminds me that the Rockstar team has great storytellers. I liked knowing the characters in the gang and seeing life from an angle that would be considered a villain. You can get to know the gang members during missions, where you can find out if they are cowardly or brave, or you can spend time talking to them in a more relaxed setting in the outlaw camp.

Arthur was adopted into the gang at a young age and he is one of the few to have been part of the group ever since, compared to some who have only been on board for a few months. Arthur adheres to the Dutch dream of living away from the law and the interference of society. Dutch treats Arthur like a son, but the gang has a lot of luggage and Arthur has to decide how far he is willing to follow Dutch. Arthur must also make choices that tell you if he is an honorable outlaw or a rascal.

A band of characters

Arthur and John are like the adoptive sons of Dutch, but they do not hear. Arthur has a bad look on many things and likes to insult his colleagues, but he gets along well with those who have a good heart. He is loyal to Dutch, but he is also beginning to see through his lies. While Arthur no longer has a chance to be in love, he sees hope in Marston's family, with his wife Abigail and son Jack.

Among the gang members are women who can deceive men, a shark-lender named Leopold Strauss, a carnival-like rogue named Josiah Trelawny, and an aging, wise and cautious gangster called Hosea Matthews.

Sadie Adler blooms late in the story, but she becomes one of Rockstar's most memorable female characters. There are unstable characters like Micah Bell, Bill Williamson and Javier Escuella, and trusted people like Charles Smith, Lenny Summers and Susan Grimshaw.

On the side of the law, there are implacable pursuers like industrialist Leviticus Cornwall, who is seeking revenge because Dutch has so stolen, and Pinkerton's agent Andrew Milton. While the Netherlands escape the law, he must also be wary of rival gang leader Colm O'Driscoll.

By getting to know these characters, they tell more about the kind of man Arthur has become and how he stands out from Marston and Dutch. And at the end of the story, you will see how different characters come to the fore and why they are there.