Red Dead Redemption II: A Review

Originally posted to my blog here, where I've included some screenshots: https://www.nlpapadopoulos.com/2018/10/28/red-dead-redemption-ii-a-review/

RED DEAD REDEMPTION II: A REVIEW

It’s here. Finally!

The long anticipated sequel to Red Dead Redemption is now available in-store or for download. Launching on October 26th, 2018, Red Dead Redemption II is Rockstar’s latest major release since Grand Theft Auto V. RDR is another established title from their portfolio with a loyal, robust following. It’s predecessor, the original Red Dead Redemption is still a playable joy (even 8 years later). It maintains its appeal, and is still an impressive and immersive game, not yet feeling its age. For those who followed the storyline, the wait has been agonizing.

Needless to say – the bar is set pretty high on the sequel. It remains to be seen whether RDR’s following is strong enough to possibly outsell GTA V, which has broken a number of Guinness World Records for its freaky crazy sales numbers, but it’s sure to make an impressive showing regardless.

Only the single-player campaign is available at this time, with the release of the multi-player portion of the game set to launch sometime in November as a public beta.

The following rundown is based solely on the gameplay that’s available right now (on Xbox One). Mutliplayer and DLC content will get their own overviews as they become available. This is NOT a comprehensive accounting. There really is more than I could list for you here without being ridiculous.

RDR II is everything you want it to be. The graphics are amazing, the gameplay is smooth, and of course- there’s plenty to explore and do. The transitions between cut-scenes and gameplay are flawless, adding to the overall game experience.

This time around, you’re a member of Dutch’s Gang. Escaping a job-gone-bad in Blackwater, you set off with your gang, into the mountains.

What about John Marston, our hero from the original? Sorry, folks. No spoilers here.

SO – WHAT’S NEW?
Your View–
Beside 3 separate 3rd person viewpoints, new to RDR II is the ability to switch over into 1st person view.

Stats–
You’ll have to keep track of some things you didn’t have to before. Besides your character’s core health, you’ll need to manage the stamina and dead-eye meters. Your food and alcohol consumption, as well as your rest time will all make an impact. Your horse also has similar stats that will need your attention.

Character Customization–
Rather than having to select from a pool of pre-made characters, you can now design your gunslinger’s look entirely to your liking. Clothes, facial features, and hair options let your imagination choose your player.

Dead Eye–
Now on the “stat” tracker, you’ll need to fill up your Dead Eye by consuming food and beverage. While the manual controls are the same, being a bad-ass killing machine will no long build up your meter.

Inventory–
There’s now a limit to what you can carry around during your adventures. The amount of goods you can carry (pelts, food, and such) will vary depending on the saddlebags that you have on your horse, or upgrades you’ve provided to your character. Personal inventory limits can be increased with things like ammo belts, that’ll enable you to carry more ammunition. Worth noting- the appearance of your bed roll and saddlebags are also changeable in color and style.

Speaking of Horses–
There’s 19 horses for you to discover, tame, buy, and sell. New options now allow you to interact with your trusty steed in a way you couldn’t before. Bond with your horse to achieve perks, such as being able to whistle for your horse from longer distances, or give your horse commands, like “stay”, “follow”, etc. You can also “lead” your horse to stay on foot while traveling with your 4-legged companion.

Interacting with NPCs–
NPCs are way more interactive in the sequel than in the original. A chat wheel lets you decide whether to make friends, enemies, or victimize the random characters you’ll come across during your explorations. Your honor rating will result from the choices you make along the way.

Economy–
Money is going to play a much bigger role than you’re used to. With the new abundance of inventory items (and a whole slew of new ways to gather them), you’ll find that the new world of Red Dead has its own thriving economy. Earn money by taking missions, like tracking down bounties, or tame horses to sell. With your new currency, you will be able to shop for clothing, supplies, weapons, riding tack, and upgrades at stores and stables. You’ll also be able to book passage on trains and taxi coaches to waypoints around the map.

Cooking–
Food is essential to maintaining and repairing your health in the single player campaign. Better quality food results in more health recovery. Add your fresh-caught fish, fresh-killed deer (or other gamey delight), and edible plants you gather from the wild to make healthful foods for your consumption, or stash it in your inventory. Different recipes yield different beneficial results, and you can cook at various places, including your pop-up camp.

Fishing–
30 fish are swimming the waters, ready for you to discover and catch. Add them to recipes to increase their healing capabilities. You can also contribute to your gang camp by “donating” your catch.

Hunting–
While hunting itself isn’t necessarily “new” to the game, the ability to track your game, and harvest the meat and pelts is. Use animal dung and the new tracking feature to highlight animal tracks. You can chase after and finish off animals that ran away after taking a bullet. Add meats to recipes, sell pelts for cash, and achieve all the glory that killing 178 various animals brings. Hunt on foot, or on horseback.

Plants–
Similar to the previous release, you can gather up fresh fruit, vegetables, and medicinal plants throughout the wilderness. Some of your foraged items will be suitable to feed your horse, yourself, or combine them in a cookpot with one of your recipes to achieve greater benefits from it. There’s 43 varieties of plants to discover.

Camp–
Setting up camp for the night will enable you to access a campfire for cooking, and sleeping will enable your stats to do some rejuvenating. This is a great feature if you’re out in the middle-of-nowhere, and can’t make it back to town.

WHAT’S GONNA BE FAMILIAR?
The Feel–
Like throwing on a comfy pair of perfectly broken-in shoes, you feel like you’re “back again”. Beautiful landscapes, entertaining cut-scenes, and an engaging storyline are all front-and-center, and the lure of the “Ol’ West” lifestyle draws your right on in.

The Controls–
Not much has changed in the handling of your character with regard to your controller buttons, so for RDR veterans, it will be like riding a bike, or rather, a horse.

Open World–
There’s a whole new world to explore here. While familiar town names, like “Blackwater”, will come up, you’ll have an entirely new map to discover. There are still major towns, remote shanties, hideouts, camps, and a hodgepodge of old-timey folk to help along the way. Travel dirt roads, across prairies and waterways, and even mountain ranges. This map is HUGE.

Missions (and side-missions)–
Follow the main story line, helping out innocents and bringing justice to the guilty (or not), while happening upon a cast of characters in the wilderness in need of aid, and some that are just looking for trouble. Like in the original, you have the freedom to choose what you do next.

FINAL THOUGHTS:
Red Dead Redemption II almost feels as if it’s been infused with an essence of Oregon Trail, focusing as much on surviving the elements, counting your coins, and managing your inventory and well-being, as it does on gunslingin’ and collectin’ bounties. While the wait for the multiplayer release might seem agonizing, there’s an immense amount of content in the campaign to stay busy in the meanwhile.

If you were a fan of Red Dead Redemption, picking up the sequel should be a no-brainer. It lives up to the hype thus far, and is proving (to this gamer, anyway) that it was well-worth the 8 year wait.

If you’re new to the franchise- don’t fret. You won’t feel “lost” not having played the original, and as an open-world game, you can learn at your own pace. You’ll definitely want to master the controls during campaign play, because I suspect the multiplayer competition will be pretty fierce. In fact- I hope it is.