Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

Part of what made Red Dead Redemption great was its characters. John Marshton was one of the better protagonists in a Rockstar game, which is not exactly a small feat given some of the other games they've put out. Giving up his outlaw life to be a family man after a bank robbery went awry, he maintains his tough exterior but seems to be making an honest attempt at being a decent human, even if doing so within the confines of the law is somewhat negotiable. The bar was set high enough with Marshton where the only thing I'm mildly worried about with Red Dead Redemption 2 is whether or not the new protagonist can match him. Aside from the lead there were numerous other characters. Nigel West Dickens was one of Marshton's more entertaining companions. Dickens was a swindler and snake oil salesman if there ever was one, but he did assist John on a few occasions, even if it was painfully obvious John wanted nothing more than to pistol whip him.


Another couple of pieces on the collectible item list is the Broken Pirate Sword, complete with a stylish Tricorn Hat. To snag these items, you'll need to head just South of Saint Denis, to the small cluster of islands nearby. Keep an eye out for alligators as you search for an old and mostly destroyed boat that's washed up on the shore. Sticking out of the boat is--you guessed it--the Broken Pirate Sword, entirely usable as a melee wea

Assassin’s Creed: Victory was rudely outed December 2014 as the next Assassin’s Creed game, and there’s one thing everyone is thinking right now; please don’t be like Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Unity was a broken wreck at launch. Riddled with bugs, glitches, a Co-Op feature that barely works, and a continuously dipping framerate, Unity is the poster-boy for how not to launch a game. True, the experience has gotten better with patches, but that’s no excuse for launching Unity in the state it was in. Victory cannot achieve victory if it is in anyway like Unity. Hopefully, with Ubisoft Quebec leading development, we won’t have to experience an Assassin’s Creed wreck two years in a row.

Red Dead Redemption is simply one of the best games available for the seventh generation consoles. It did receive a zombie-themed expansion pack called Undead Nightmare, which was a fun novelty but didn't resonate the same way the base game did. The Grand Theft Auto San Andreas Bigfoot reference was rather humorous, though. It clearly uses the Grand Theft Auto games as a template but ends up finding its own identity through the setting, characters and storytelling. Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most highly anticipated games of 2018, and with the quality of its predecessor, it has big boots to fill.

Getting back on topic, the problem with the controls is that they can be overly finicky. For example, mounting your horse and strangling a nearby pedestrian are assigned to the same button for whatever reason. Same goes with interacting with an item on the ground and say vaulting over a railing to your death. Throwing dynamite while in cover can also be hazardous as more than often it found itself on the cover in front of us. In addition, dealing with a horse is the biggest pain in the ass than anything else in video games and Red Dead Redemption 2 is no exception. The difference between this and Grand Theft Auto is that your vehicle won’t run away when it hears gunfire, ensuring you fail a mission when you need him. The physics can be a little wonky, too, as we had multiple instances where the horse could easily make a small dip or go over a rock, but instead decided to trip over its own feet, dying in the process once in a while. We even had an instance where it ran into another rider while in the cinematic camera angle (which allows you to put the controller down as the horse gallops to a set destination), something the recipient of the crash was not too happy about. Finally, I don’t know who thought it was a good idea to assign the run button (tapping X) to the horse, but there has to be a better way. As you can see, I’m not a big fan of horses in video games, as it consistently feels like you’re fighting with them, which doesn’t help with the already finicky controls.

Unfortunately, one key component to Red Dead Redemption 2 I have difficulty getting into is the controls. The controls are similar to the typical Rockstar Open World Game Patch Notes Open world game money guide formula (at least Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption), with a thousand different actions being assigned to a handful of buttons. This is a mechanical marvel with all the different systems at play, from gunplay, horseback riding, hand-to-hand combat, character interactions and so forth. Controlling Arthur feels loose and stiff at the same time, something I can never put my finger on, and I have a difficult time determining if it’s a good or bad thing. Sometimes it can be frustrating, while other times it can lend to the charm of the game. The gunplay is still top notch, though, with each of the old rifles, pistols and shotguns feeling authentic and enjoyable to fire, especially with the Dead Eye skill. There are a ton of different weapons to obtain, all of which are need to be properly maintained, which somewhat ties into the survival aspect of the game, such as maintaining food intake for both you and your horse.