We Need to Talk About Red Dead Redemption II.

*If the title didn't make it obvious, there will be spoilers in this post*

After pouring through the vast open world of Rockstar's recent outing Red Dead Redemption II over the Christmas break, it's hard to recall the last time I was this conflicted over a game's quality.
Red Dead Redemption II released this past September to a sea of perfect scores from review outlets; and while the game's immense attention to detail and drop dead gorgeous visuals are a sight to behold, I constantly find myself butting heads with critics over the amount of praise the end product should receive.

As 'hot takes' go, my dislike for the first 'Red Dead' game is a big one. Reviewers and players across the world hailed the romp across New Austin to be one of the very best video games of all time, yet I wore it on my sleeve that Red Dead Redemption simply was not good enough compared to other open world games that came before it. The controls were janky, the world felt lifeless and the story failed to keep me entertained for the duration. The only saving grace was John Marston, the game's protagonist. A welcome change considering I always felt that Rockstar seemingly nailed every aspect of a game aside from a compelling protagonist. Max Payne didn't become interesting until the series' 3rd instalment in 2012, Jimmy Hopkins from 2006's Bully was merely a generic thuggish schoolboy and most (if not all) GTA protagonists were nothing more than a vessel to wreak havoc on a beautiful fictional city. John Marston, a former member of the Van Der Linde gang seeking redemption (thus the game's title) for his past sins, finally managed to break the seal by managing to feel like a beacon of hope in a world where the outlaw lifestyle is quickly being forgotten.
Conceding to the devil on your shoulder is all too enticing, however, as John is frequently pulled back into a life once abandoned. Marston was the only true stand-out in a game I quickly disregarded, and being given the opportunity to revisit the franchise is something I had no real interest in.

Fast forward to last winter, and I cautiously jumped into Red Dead Redemption II with limited expectations. I knew the world would be rich with detail, the side content would be plentiful and the licence to be mischievous would be as present as ever.
I expected quality.
What I didn't expect was an end product that manages to overcome the vast collection of glaring flaws to blossom into something that moved me in a way no other Rockstar game has ever managed.
I finally finished the game's lengthy story a few days ago, and while the game has noticeable floors, there is something about this game that I absolutely adore.

So many of my complaints have been addressed in the sequel. The open world felt justified, as the sprawling map is littered with random encounters with wayfaring strangers, engaging side activities (and it's fair share of poor ones, this is Rockstar, after all) and breathtaking scenery. The overarching narrative felt both epic in scale and intimate in character development as you take Arthur Morgan on a tale of murder, deception and thievery, all topped off with gruesome gun-slinging that the Western genre is so famous for.
I've played many games where atmosphere has been a focal point of both the narrative and setting (Bioshock, The Last of Us, Resident Evil, Gone Home etc) which have all impressed me in different and amazing ways. More impressively, however, Red Dead Redemption manages to cram a deep sense of atmosphere into every nook and cranny of the expansive open world it presents.


The discussion of '2018's best game' heated up this past December, and while there were a number of exceptional titles to release last year, the battle for the top spot seemingly always boiled down to either Red Dead Redemption II or Sony Santa Monica's God of War. I was thrilled to see Santa Monica's hard efforts pay off with a historic win at the Game Awards, yet I knew Red Dead Redemption must have been something special to have earned it's way into the conversation. After finishing the narrative and a handful of side content for both games, the mental conundrum one has when deciding which is superior is clear to me.
God of War, for me, felt consistent. It consistently managed to maintain a level of quality that no other game in the 2018 calendar year managed to rival. From stem to stern God of War felt excellent; precise combat sequences and breathtaking set-pieces all chained together to form a game that never felt cumbersome or boring in any way.

Red Dead Redemption II, however, didn't.
There are missions, characters and even whole chapters that felt unnecessary. Chapter 2 was a drag; and for all it's attention to detail and breathtaking visuals, the game couldn't stop me from being bored throughout the entirety of the 17 missions that made up the chapter. I hadn't bonded with the Van Der Linde gang at that point, I didn't yet care about the beef with the O'Driscolls and I had only grown tired of the repetitive environments that I had trekked across for the past 10 hours of gameplay.

And yet, despite its pacing issues and narrative inconsistency, Red Dead Redemption 2 managed to create individual moments weaved into the lengthy narrative that are far in excess of what God of War could achieve.
The untimely death of Arthur Morgan, arriving in Saint Denis for the first time, the epic raid on Braithwaite Manor, John Marston building what would be the scene of his death, and Arthur's admission of fear in a time where he was at his most vulnerable. When Red Dead Redemption II manages to get things right, consistency be damned, it achieves heights that I never thought possible from an open-world video game.
It's that good.


During my play-through of the game, I predicted that I would look back at my time with Red Dead Redemption II with rose-tinted spectacles. While I'm still fresh off watching the credits roll and well aware of it's many shortcomings, I'm thoroughly expecting to reflect on the game in a positive way and, like Arthur's tuberculosis, I'm not going to fight it.



GG,



Billy.