Red Dead Redemption 2

 PlayStation 4
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 21344 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18,146 out of 21344
  2. Mixed: 1,261 out of 21344
  3. Negative: 1,937 out of 21344
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  1. Hellspeller
    Jan 12, 2019
    7
    RDR2 is a good game with flaws and one HUGE problem.
    I will be brief as would rather point you to MisterLupus' review who's exactly on point.
    The game is okay, but Rockstar gameplay system is starting to show it's age here. I got the impression of playing GTA4 still. There is a tremendous attention to details, yes; but when the core mechanics are sloppy, what gives that there is 187    RDR2 is a good game with flaws and one HUGE problem.
    I will be brief as would rather point you to MisterLupus' review who's exactly on point.

    The game is okay, but Rockstar gameplay system is starting to show it's age here. I got the impression of playing GTA4 still. There is a tremendous attention to details, yes; but when the core mechanics are sloppy, what gives that there is 187 variety of animals in the game...?
    But the main issue is with the story. Since this is a prequel to RDR1; the story is very very poor. You feel like an actor and the ending is so so bad!! One of the worse ending that will leave you sour.. Sure, all story don't have to be "perfect" ending; but this is just Rockstar sitting on the success of RDR1 and dont give 2 cents about your main protagonist and all that you have built here. For all the hours you will put in Arthur and the gang; it'll all be destroyed in the end and nothing is to be carried over or remembered in the end.
    For the rest; I am quoting MisterLupus who again; did an amazing job submerizing what I think of the game :
    "Graphics are stunning, world is rich on content and the general atmosphere really sucked me in. Attention to details is almost unparalleled. The story is predictable and feels a bit forced - some turn of events simply doesn't make sense and the characters turn either dumb or genius according to what's convenient in furthering the storyline - and it's also quite quite static. "

    "Gameplay suffers profoundly in this game. The controls are clumsy and bad - needlessly hard to navigate, often unresponsive - and both movement as well as combat are clunky to say the least and altso unimaginative. Something youd expect from a game made ten years ago"

    "[Missions are] so overly-scripted your actions and options constantly gets limited to a point where you might as well put the controller on the table and simply watch a movie."

    "this game will revert your choices to what it wants you to use during the first cutscene "

    "Rockstar is - as always - brilliant in creating the framework of a truly inspired game. Rockstar is also however - as always and unfortunately - mediocre at best when it comes to everything else. "    … Expand
  2. tibzoid
    Dec 1, 2018
    7
    Starts out well (RDR 1 is my favorite game of all time). But this one degenerates into unrelenting tedium. By the end, no spoilers, I was deliberately skipping ahead in missions. The time it takes to travel, plus the repetitive encounters and banal dialogue, made this game excruciating. I'm still not done at 95% and I want to die.
  3. DrownedDrone
    Nov 23, 2018
    7
    With all the hype- I thought it's worth giving some warning.
    while there is no doubt the game is beautiful, and it's not a total bore (I do believe I will get to finish it), it's play-ability should definitely be put into question.
    On the one hand, most of what you have to do in the world are chores. Most of the time is spent horse-riding, and a lot of what you can do is just a perfectly    With all the hype- I thought it's worth giving some warning.
    while there is no doubt the game is beautiful, and it's not a total bore (I do believe I will get to finish it), it's play-ability should definitely be put into question.
    On the one hand, most of what you have to do in the world are chores. Most of the time is spent horse-riding, and a lot of what you can do is just a perfectly executed boring activity. I was amazed by level of details they put into the animation and speech during a game of Domino, a game so astonishingly boring I finished it just because I couldn't believe that was really it. And Domino is by no way alone in this game.
    On the other hand, are the gun fights, which are surely less boring than Domino but not different by the amount you would expect. Auto-aim in this game is ridiculous- you can hit a hare with a bow while fast driving on horse with little to no effort. Combat is more about not getting hit and healing wounds than its about actually aiming because this part is automatic.
    I can usually tolerate boring tasks if they succeed in creating immersion. I did love the boring tasks in Kingdom come deliverance for one because I felled immersed into the character. but what works for a slow paced RPG does not work for a fast paced action shooter like RDR2. There was no way to fill immersed when playing a guy who is pretty much unbeatable from the start.
    So far, I would say the best part of this game is the random events. They are interesting enough to go investigate and does not require long travel.

    Edit after finishing the game:
    While I still stands behind everything I said, I am giving the game +1 for everything else. The amount of content the developers put into this (base) game should be rewarded.
    Sadly, the game is, still, in it's core, a mediocre cover-based 3rd/1st person shooter. The only things it adds on top for the core *gameplay* are:
    Dead eye (time slowing, not very interesting nor innovative at this point)
    No automatic weapons (Good to have, doesn't change much)
    Horses mechanics (Also good, doesn't change a lot)    … Expand
  4. Gwyndolin
    Dec 7, 2018
    7
    I feel like I've been told one of the biggest lies by game journalism.
    The game is a real chore to play. I never watch "Let's Play" videos and even I think I should have just watched the Let's Play of this game's story missions and probably felt better about the game than actually playing it.
    The game's beautiful and the attention to detail is there....but at the end of the day, it's    I feel like I've been told one of the biggest lies by game journalism.
    The game is a real chore to play. I never watch "Let's Play" videos and even I think I should have just watched the Let's Play of this game's story missions and probably felt better about the game than actually playing it.
    The game's beautiful and the attention to detail is there....but at the end of the day, it's just not fun to play.
    Usually, I believe in rating a game by how well it executed its strengths, to be exceptional at what it tries to do, rather than trying to be decent at everything. But the caveat here is that, the weaknesses of a game should not interfere with the enjoyment of its strengths. The controls/gameplay/quality of life elements for this game is a horrendous mess and to me that detracts from its merits in realism/visual/story, and to be completely honest with myself, I don't even think the story is that great. It is typical off the wall GTA nonsense trying to fit inside a realistic western shell.
    I was on board the hype train because i enjoyed Red Dead Redemption 1 very much back on PS3, so it especially hurts when it let me down.
    It's not all bad, I feel like it's a love/hate relationship when it comes to this game. In one moment I am in awe with the visual or amused by character interactions/dialogue, and immediately followed by frustrating controls and tiresome gameplay.    … Expand
  5. theTRUTHson
    Nov 8, 2018
    7
    All the good things you've heard about this game are true. But here's the problem. Most reviews didn't even mention it's flaws.

    Red dead 2 has terrible aiming and bad controls overall. It is a slow game with lots of waiting and little action. It is a very very easy game. You might not die more than a couple of times throughout the 50 hour playthrough. Why the press failed to inform    All the good things you've heard about this game are true. But here's the problem. Most reviews didn't even mention it's flaws.

    Red dead 2 has terrible aiming and bad controls overall. It is a slow game with lots of waiting and little action. It is a very very easy game. You might not die more than a couple of times throughout the 50 hour playthrough.

    Why the press failed to inform buyers about these flaws is something we should all ask ourselves. But these flaws are there and RDR2 is not the ten out of ten they told you it is.    … Expand
  6. Mandulum
    Dec 9, 2018
    7
    Favorite Thing: An enjoyable story in a detailed (if empty) world.
    Least Favorite Thing: The cores and their survival-esque monotony.

    Date Completed: 2018-11-24
    Playtime: 40h
    Enjoyment: 7/10
    Recommendation: People seem to love it. Cowboys are taking forever to ride from A-B just aren't my thing.
  7. dwenaus
    Sep 27, 2021
    7
    I found the realism confusing: sometimes it was required to shoot people in the head (missions) other times you get in a lot of trouble with the law when you do the same thing. In the end I gave it up.
  8. hope1
    Nov 3, 2018
    7
    I respect the effort that has been put into the game, but I don’t appreciate that developers in this era where we are pushing game design forward, force me to play the game their way to be immersive.
    It is always the option of the player to use simplified controls and fast travel anywhere whenever if he wants to.
    I don’t like this abusive relationship and if I enjoy the immersion the    I respect the effort that has been put into the game, but I don’t appreciate that developers in this era where we are pushing game design forward, force me to play the game their way to be immersive.
    It is always the option of the player to use simplified controls and fast travel anywhere whenever if he wants to.
    I don’t like this abusive relationship and if I enjoy the immersion the game will pull me back to do things manually.
    Also to be honest this game is leaning more towards the “Sim” Genre and we all should be clear about that.    … Expand
  9. dannygards
    Nov 9, 2018
    7
    Overall its what I expected. A huge cash cow of a world for there online services... with a medicore single player game thrown in it.

    Pros - great world, quirky characters.

    Cons - basic gameplay, sluggish movement, inventory system awful, rpg elements worthless, lack of weapons, ultimately I found it boring.
  10. Grismar
    May 19, 2020
    7
    The game is about as good as everyone says it is, as least as far as the single-player experience goes.

    So, a 9. Minus 1 for all the bloatware. Minus 1 for having to play online even if you're playing solo. Minus 1 for getting a user to solve 3 sets of captchas for every interaction while getting them to set up for a complete privacy rip-off. If there's every a DRM-free version of    The game is about as good as everyone says it is, as least as far as the single-player experience goes.

    So, a 9. Minus 1 for all the bloatware. Minus 1 for having to play online even if you're playing solo. Minus 1 for getting a user to solve 3 sets of captchas for every interaction while getting them to set up for a complete privacy rip-off.

    If there's every a DRM-free version of this game, it'll be amazing. And even with acceptable, more or less normal DRM it'd be great. Right you have to be Faust to truly enjoy it, or a masochist. So sell your soul, try not to feel too dirty and hope the game is fun enough to get you over your trauma.    … Expand
  11. OutlawTX
    Nov 3, 2018
    7
    While this game is not even close to deserving of all the zeros on here I believe it’s completely deserving of the over all score it evened out as in the player ratings(as of now 7.6). It’s also incredibly apparent that most journalists that have it a 10 never played through the entire campaign. I’m baffled that Rockstar thought it was a good idea to completely neuter your character forWhile this game is not even close to deserving of all the zeros on here I believe it’s completely deserving of the over all score it evened out as in the player ratings(as of now 7.6). It’s also incredibly apparent that most journalists that have it a 10 never played through the entire campaign. I’m baffled that Rockstar thought it was a good idea to completely neuter your character for the final 1/3 of the game. The reliance on dead eye, hence continuous swigging down of every substance that will enable it, completely breaks the fluidity of combat. Limiting that ability made it become an incredibly annoying and frustrating trial. I absolutely loved the first part of the game, 10/10, but after a certain event happens, the gimbal movement coupled with shaky targeting without(or limited) deadeye completely ruined my enjoyment of the game. I no longer wanted to complete any side quests or activities. I just,angrily, wanted the game to be over. After all is said and done, I don’t see how this control scheme is going to be enjoyable in a multiplayer environment. It’s such a great game but the outdated gimbal like character movement and wobbly targeting just kill it. It’s a shame.… Expand
  12. Eglin
    Jul 18, 2019
    7
    I'm sorry, but the critics got it wrong. This game is a very solid 7-8, but by no means does it deserve the "best ever" slot. RDR2 is a solid game but deeply flawed. Every game design decision was biased towards realism or selling microtransactions instead of FUN. As a result, you spend the vast majority of your time doing monotonous busy-work like securing food, shelter, maintainingI'm sorry, but the critics got it wrong. This game is a very solid 7-8, but by no means does it deserve the "best ever" slot. RDR2 is a solid game but deeply flawed. Every game design decision was biased towards realism or selling microtransactions instead of FUN. As a result, you spend the vast majority of your time doing monotonous busy-work like securing food, shelter, maintaining your weapons, etc. Even those looking for a deep simulation experience are going to be disappointed, however, because so many of the supporting systems are so bad.

    Expect to struggle with your horse and your horse-oriented storage. You are REQUIRED to keep every weapon you've ever picked up on your horse with no way to throw them away, sell them, or force a loadout for example, but your horse is very often unavailable when starting missions. You can only carry one of the 50 million large pelts you require for crafting around at a time, but each time you begin the 20 minute horse ride to the drop-off location you lose the pelt to side missions or horse malfunctions or whatever. It's tiring and unenjoyable and that's the bulk of the game!

    The actual story has some of the worst pacing in video game history, with the first hour of gameplay featuring only one gun-fight amid thirty minutes of horseback travel and inconsequential dialog. It's the kind of thing better games let you skip as cutscenes, but it sets the stage for an excessively drawn out main campaign. If you distill the game down into "main" campaign missions, the campaign length probably drops from 60-ish hours down to less than ten with the only meaningful or memorable bit falling squarely in the third quarter.

    The game world is fairly bustling, but it's not even the same planet as something like a GTAV. It has some nice vistas and such and is probably the best looking video game I have ever played, but the level of detail that makes each location memorably distinct simply doesn't exist.    … Expand
  13. bulger_paul
    Jun 10, 2019
    7
    I get why people love this game, it's brilliant, but a little too brilliant for its own good.

    For example, people laud this game's meticulous attention to detail, which can be awesome in a lot of cases, like Rockstar's attention to detail in animal behavior, which is awesome to just observe at times, but other times the amount of visual detail and animation is more cumbersome and    I get why people love this game, it's brilliant, but a little too brilliant for its own good.

    For example, people laud this game's meticulous attention to detail, which can be awesome in a lot of cases, like Rockstar's attention to detail in animal behavior, which is awesome to just observe at times, but other times the amount of visual detail and animation is more cumbersome and annoying than it is immersive, which absolutely isn't aided by the game's finicky controls. Since the game's controls are so imprecise, there will be hundreds of occasions where you'll click a button you didn't mean to click, or you won't be facing in the precise direction you need to be facing in order to do the action you wanted to do, so you'll be subjected to watching Arthur in an over-animated manner mount his horse, which lasts for literal seconds, before you can push the button that gets off his horse, an animation that also lasts for literal seconds, before you can do the thing you were trying to do before accidentally mounting your horse. Or, every single time you kill an animal, to collect its skin you have to sit through an unskippable animation of Arthur skinning whatever animal it is that also lasts for literal seconds, all of which are attention to detail in manners that actively make the game less fun to play. It would be all the more bearable if you were simply capable of pushing a button that would cancel whatever action you're doing in case you accidentally hit the wrong button or prompted Arthur to do something you didn't mean to do, but no, you are committed to sitting the gratuitously over-animated sequences through literally every mistake you ever make due to how finicky this game's controls are. Yes, the attention to detail in a lot of cases is incredible, but a lot of that detail just simply doesn't make the game fun.

    It's also annoying that you can't sprint through town areas without every NPC you pass acting like you're attempting to physically assault them, or if you accidentally forget to holster your weapon you'll have law enforcement raining bullets on you in a matter of seconds, so your stuck walking for an eternity through buildings and town areas for fear you'll be wanted for assault in case you accidentally nudge an NPC, which also makes the game significantly less fun to play.

    But the writing and characters and acting is all fantastic, as expected, so it's absolutely worth checking out, it's just a shame that it isn't as much fun to actually play.    … Expand
  14. PaleNielsen
    Mar 25, 2022
    7
    I have this for a long time but I really got tired playing it but I still finish it, must be the setting of it or probably too much realism. I hate the horse riding aspect of it because it takes a long time to get from point a to point b and kinda breaks the immersion for me but despite all that I still like the game, the story is really good and also the feels.
  15. leaveit
    Oct 30, 2018
    7
    It's a fine game and the intense dedication of the developers is obvious. Most of what it accomplishes, however, is at the cost of designing an entertainment product as a "game," though. The game incentivizes keeping a main horse and even has an icon for it, but regularly teleports you away from the horse so that you have to backtrack. The game boasts an open world but you have practicallyIt's a fine game and the intense dedication of the developers is obvious. Most of what it accomplishes, however, is at the cost of designing an entertainment product as a "game," though. The game incentivizes keeping a main horse and even has an icon for it, but regularly teleports you away from the horse so that you have to backtrack. The game boasts an open world but you have practically no choice in the outcome of the missions. There are rewards for collecting perfect animal pelts but the availability of the pelts is random to the point where it is no longer skill-based to find an animal with a perfect pelt. The graphics are truly incredible but they regularly slow to sub-projector-framerates, even in battle. Is this a game or an interactive movie? The player may pass most of the game believing that they're still in the tutorial. In the end, the time is passed but we are not better humans and haven't seen anything new or more refined, just old and perhaps even un-fun mechanics done more professionally.… Expand
  16. Chowjust
    Feb 20, 2019
    7
    Red Dead Redemption 2 is good game. But it's not a masterpiece. The story is great, voice acting is great, graphics, game-play, all aspects of the game is of a very high polish. The problem for me is that the game is so realistic, it got boring real fast, For me having to spend ages riding from point A to point B would bore me and I would just start falling asleep and since there's noRed Dead Redemption 2 is good game. But it's not a masterpiece. The story is great, voice acting is great, graphics, game-play, all aspects of the game is of a very high polish. The problem for me is that the game is so realistic, it got boring real fast, For me having to spend ages riding from point A to point B would bore me and I would just start falling asleep and since there's no proper fast travel and its a open world game, your going be riding around a lot. Most of what you do in the game feels more like a chore that you don't do for fun but more so that you don't die. Red Dead Redemption 2 feels more like a interactive movie than it does a game which isn't a bad thing and some people will definitely enjoy this game and think it's the most amazing game ever and that's fine, but for me it comes in at just above average.… Expand
  17. colinsmall34
    Nov 3, 2018
    7
    Fair review of RDR2

    I'm almost 15% finished the game overall, which might be a little premature to review, but I just don't know if I can be bothered finishing the game, in all honesty. The things that are bothering me about this game are things that are fundamental to the gameplay anyway, and won't change no matter how much longer I play it. How to sum up RDR2: It's really not that    Fair review of RDR2

    I'm almost 15% finished the game overall, which might be a little premature to review, but I just don't know if I can be bothered finishing the game, in all honesty. The things that are bothering me about this game are things that are fundamental to the gameplay anyway, and won't change no matter how much longer I play it.

    How to sum up RDR2: It's really not that much fun to play, sadly. Considering I paid a fair sum for it, and am a big RDR, and was waiting ages in anticipation of this game's release, then I ask myself why my PS4 is switched off and I'd rather surf the net instead? I should be glued to the game during any free hours that are available, chomping at the bit to get back from work to get back into the fray , but instead I'm kind of sighing like ok, I'll give it another shot, it's going to get better. The game feels like it's had a lot of love invested in it, but it's unbalanced love, focused too much on unnecessary details and a plethora of tedious tasks/chores and not enough on fun gameplay. You can still communicate an artistic and meticulously-crafted experience, but the game still has to be fun!

    Obviously, the users giving it 0/10 are clearly wrong, there's no way it's a 0/10, but, at the same time, the critics giving it 10/10 seem deluded? There's no way a game this flawed is a masterpiece/GOTY candidate. Absolutely no way near it. Horizon Zero Dawn was a 9/10 for me, and it was a pleasure to play. You found yourself struggling to put the controller down. Not so in this case. Regarding the critics reviews of RDR2: is there something more sinister at play...?

    Pros:
    - When out and about in the open world, the graphics are really nice, the world feels very real and alive, with weather changes, wildlife, nice scenery etc. The storms that come in look really beautiful.
    - There's clearly been an investment of time in covering details which make the towns look like real old west towns.
    - The option to kill/spare some side characters that you meet adds an element of Telltale to the game, giving you the impression you're making your own story to some extent.

    Cons:
    - The control system really saps the fun out of the gameplay. It's convoluted, confusing, and very difficult to use, especially during the times when you need to retrieve items fast from your inventory, or switch guns. What were Rockstar thinking, in making the control system this way??
    - The movements of Arthur Morgan are clunky and don't feel smooth. He's either sauntering at a snail's pace or running full out. No in between. The playable cut scenes restrict you in many ways, but its' not always clear you're in one. It's frustrating. Gun fighting, running from cover to cover is awkward and doesn't flow well. Fist fighting is mostly just mashing one button and requires very little skill. It's not fun. It's certainly no Batman Arkham.
    - It's too much hassle to commit any crimes. I defended myself against an O'Driscoll, beat him up, then the law was called on me. It wasn't clear what the sheriff wanted me to do? It seemed like he was telling me to 'go on, git' (as in get out of here) but when I tried to run he started shooting. I then had to fight off a neverending spawn of deputies and run in my clunky run/swim style for about 15 minutes. The bounty system means its much. much more convenient to just pay off your bounties than continue to be an outlaw, as your crimes never go away.
    - The graphics of close up faces aren't anything special for PS4. Detroit Become Human set the bar on graphics and RDR2 is nowhere even close.
    - There are just too many tasks/chores to remember! Brush your horse, feed your horse, shave your face, clean your guns, earn money for the camp, hunt food for the camp, wear the right warm/light clothing, take this tonic, eat this food, and so on and so on. The tasks/chores actually do feel like chores, and I want to play a video game, not do chores.

    My advice would be if you are a RDR fan and want to give it a shot (no pun intended) then wait until the price goes down, and maybe during that time the game will be patched a bit.

    Hopefully Rockstar will read some fan reviews and take note for their next endeavour, as if RDR3 continues along this path, I won't be buying it.    … Expand
  18. 80sChild
    Feb 26, 2019
    7
    The story mode is flawless, absolutely incredible. As much as I wanted to just roam and explore I had to see what happened next. Visually stunning, technically accomplished and surprisingly bug free for such a massive and detail rich open world. Absolutely perfect campaign from start to finish.

    The online mode is a shameless cash grab. How anyone was surprised by this after Shark Cards    The story mode is flawless, absolutely incredible. As much as I wanted to just roam and explore I had to see what happened next. Visually stunning, technically accomplished and surprisingly bug free for such a massive and detail rich open world. Absolutely perfect campaign from start to finish.

    The online mode is a shameless cash grab. How anyone was surprised by this after Shark Cards in GTAO is beyond me. Further, in order to shield themselves from the inevitable criticism for their ridiculous greed and disrespect towards the consumer, Rockstar has labeled the online mode as "in Beta". It's not in Beta, they're just trying to see how much of their crap players are willing to put up with.

    Had they not removed options (private lobbies, pacifist mode, etc), had they not made another online grief fest mode loaded to the absolute brim with MTX's, this would have been a 10. As it is, with the unrelenting greed and disrespect towards their consumers, this is a 7. And they wonder why nobody is playing it.    … Expand
  19. PEnchan707
    Oct 26, 2018
    7
    Once again R* have created a fantastic world to explore, with an incredible dedication to the highest production values. Unfortunately, once again they have also delivered mediocre combat and that's the only hands-on gameplay the game has.

    Seriously, like the last game, you'll spend most of your time talking, listening and just riding around the countryside and when you do finally get    Once again R* have created a fantastic world to explore, with an incredible dedication to the highest production values. Unfortunately, once again they have also delivered mediocre combat and that's the only hands-on gameplay the game has.

    Seriously, like the last game, you'll spend most of your time talking, listening and just riding around the countryside and when you do finally get to, you know, actually 'play' it's really quite an average shooter.

    Honestly, if they could just spend some of those millions crafting great combat then they'd have a legendary game instead of a legendary Western simulator.    … Expand
  20. Myers
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    cons: horrendous controls, over-simulated mechanics, buggy and often boring game play.
    pros: beautiful art, flawless tech, good story and acting
  21. moisaras
    Oct 27, 2018
    7
    Been playing for a couple of hours - as expected, polished to death. The people who made this are maniacs. Was probably not going to bother voting, but it's literally unethical how pc kids vote the game down. Console players unite.
  22. RoderikR
    Nov 10, 2018
    7
    +Huge, detailled, and immersive open world.
    +Great story, music, and atmosphere.
    -Requires a lot of patience, because some parts can take hours and get pretty repetitive. -Looks horrible on PS4 Pro due to broken 4K checker-boarding (see the tech analysis on Digital Foundry). The game looks so blurry on the Pro it almost gave me a headache. -No support for HDR and a fake-HDR mode that    +Huge, detailled, and immersive open world.
    +Great story, music, and atmosphere.

    -Requires a lot of patience, because some parts can take hours and get pretty repetitive.
    -Looks horrible on PS4 Pro due to broken 4K checker-boarding (see the tech analysis on Digital Foundry). The game looks so blurry on the Pro it almost gave me a headache.
    -No support for HDR and a fake-HDR mode that just makes the game look way too dim.    … Expand
  23. thryce3
    Mar 10, 2019
    7
    There is a lot of good here, but there are so many flaws to bring it down. The story is good, but Arthur is just not as engaging as John Marston. It is cool to see some of the back story of the gang, and Dutch is a great character.
    It has a HUGE world with a ridiculous number of things to do. But as much as they try for immersion, the (almost literally) shoot themselves in the foot over    There is a lot of good here, but there are so many flaws to bring it down. The story is good, but Arthur is just not as engaging as John Marston. It is cool to see some of the back story of the gang, and Dutch is a great character.
    It has a HUGE world with a ridiculous number of things to do. But as much as they try for immersion, the (almost literally) shoot themselves in the foot over and over. I spent way too much time trying to stand in exactly the right place for a prompt to appear and doing the wrong thing when it changes. I started a bar brawl when I accidentally choked a woman attempting to play poker. I kept going into fights under-armed because my character put my rifles back in the saddle bags. My horse constantly ran directly into trees. You know. Just like the Old West.
    it really tries, but never reaches the heights of the first game. In fact, the epilogue is probably my favorite part, but it goes on for way too long. Overall, the good narrowly outweighs the frustration, but it could have been so much more.    … Expand
  24. WhiteHawk05
    Feb 23, 2019
    7
    Very beautiful world and good characters but the shooting/fighting mechanics just are not fun in the slightest. Can't get myself to finish or even make decent progress in the game because it can be boring. Mission structure is outdated but it atleast has some fun side quests.
  25. GeorgeOrwell
    Nov 20, 2018
    7
    If I had a separate life just to play this game, I would like it more. I feel like I need so many hours of time to dedicate to the gameplay, which some people obviously love.

    Its beautiful, the animations are crazy good too.
  26. elandroid
    Jan 3, 2020
    7
    Es un juego barroco. Todo está lleno de detalles espectaculares y cada pedacito del juego tiene su por qué, pasear por el mundo y verlo en movimiento es una obra de arte y la historia es coherente y engancha. Pero no es un juego de mundo abierto. Las misiones son bastante repetitivas y el mundo no anima a explorarlo. Es un quiero y no puedo de un buen mundo abierto y un buen juego deEs un juego barroco. Todo está lleno de detalles espectaculares y cada pedacito del juego tiene su por qué, pasear por el mundo y verlo en movimiento es una obra de arte y la historia es coherente y engancha. Pero no es un juego de mundo abierto. Las misiones son bastante repetitivas y el mundo no anima a explorarlo. Es un quiero y no puedo de un buen mundo abierto y un buen juego de acción pero al juntar las dos cosas se queda en tierra de nadie.… Expand
  27. wigclyne
    Jan 8, 2019
    7
    Not the masterpiece some will have you believe but still a content filled ride through the wild west.

    The controls feel dated which is my biggest problem with the game. Online also feels like its there to milk you of any spare cash. Also it is too easy for the law to get on your back. Ive run out of an alley and accidently knocked off a person leading to the law chasing me and delaying    Not the masterpiece some will have you believe but still a content filled ride through the wild west.

    The controls feel dated which is my biggest problem with the game. Online also feels like its there to milk you of any spare cash. Also it is too easy for the law to get on your back. Ive run out of an alley and accidently knocked off a person leading to the law chasing me and delaying my missions by having to pay bounties and escape the law. Beyond that though is a large beautiful map, good not great story and a game that will make you laugh or even put a tear in your eye. The graphics and detail along with the abundance of missions and side missions will keep you engaged for hours and hours.    … Expand
  28. scorp332211
    Oct 28, 2018
    7
    I wanted to like this game. I wasn't a huge fan of the first one, but wanted to give this a try. The intro part was interesting. But once in the open world, things got boring really fast. Go here, free this guy, go back to camp. Rinse & repeat. This is the trouble with many "open world" games. There's no consistent story moving things along. I really hate hunting, and don't even mentionI wanted to like this game. I wasn't a huge fan of the first one, but wanted to give this a try. The intro part was interesting. But once in the open world, things got boring really fast. Go here, free this guy, go back to camp. Rinse & repeat. This is the trouble with many "open world" games. There's no consistent story moving things along. I really hate hunting, and don't even mention that you can go fishing. Boy that's a blast! The exciting scenes in the trailers are few and far between- only seen 2 in 10 hours. The graphics are PS3-after all the touting about the graphics- they are pretty washed out. The faces are not close to modern next-gen graphics. That's Rockstar for you. Overall, upset that I spent the money for the Ultimate Edition. Hopefully it will do well on Ebay!… Expand
  29. Latenightbreak
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    The slow pace works cause the game is fantastically built. The scenery, the animals, the NPCs...everything is so well thought out. So much so that it's too well thought out. At the end of the day, this is a game and when I come home from work or I'm free from my house chores on the weekend, I don't want to play something that forces me to build the same real life routine. I have aThe slow pace works cause the game is fantastically built. The scenery, the animals, the NPCs...everything is so well thought out. So much so that it's too well thought out. At the end of the day, this is a game and when I come home from work or I'm free from my house chores on the weekend, I don't want to play something that forces me to build the same real life routine. I have a routine. I don't need another.

    Fast travel? What a useless feature in this game. I thought long and hard about doing the unlimited gold bars glitch because I don't want to ruin the in-game experience. That said, I decided to go ahead and use the glitch as it meant that I can afford trains now. I can finally buy tickets anywhere and not ride a horse for 10-15 minutes WITHOUT holding my controller. I can't understand why they wouldn't add a "skip to location" function with a small load. It's brutal. It's legitimately terrible that everytime I need to go anywhere, I end up going into the cinematic mode and walking away from the game for 10 minutes or until I hear gun shots. That's unacceptable to the experience.

    Everything about maintaining a horse and my health should be optional. Again, I pick up a game and I expect a game, not the Sims.

    Great games shouldn't have engineers in charge of user experience.    … Expand
  30. amotherscrime
    Jan 11, 2019
    7
    It fails to reach the heights of it's predecessor. It's doomed to constantly be compared to RDR and the best of the GTA games. Rockstar set the bar high. As high as they possibly could have.

    With that said, you can really taste the blood and sweat of the people who made this game. It is the most vivid and beautiful world ever created. Hat's off. But when you look at the rest of the    It fails to reach the heights of it's predecessor. It's doomed to constantly be compared to RDR and the best of the GTA games. Rockstar set the bar high. As high as they possibly could have.

    With that said, you can really taste the blood and sweat of the people who made this game. It is the most vivid and beautiful world ever created. Hat's off. But when you look at the rest of the game, it has problems.
    First of all, I really feel like they should've gone with a brand new story with brand new characters. It felt kind of lazy with this prequel format. I felt done with these characters already. Dutch, especially, is a pretty dumb character to begin with and isn't half as charming and charismatic as they want you to believe he is. And the rest are just kind of there.
    And I didn't really feel that the way the story developed was very believable either. It lost it's momentum halfway through and became a bit repetitive and predictable and the actions of the characters (also of the protagonist) didn't make any sense. It became more and more painful to witness and just go along with all these stupid decisions. The protagonist (Arthur Morgan) is as passive as he could possibly be. Rockstar did promise ahead of release that you would get to affect the outcome of the story. Something I value above all in gaming. That's not the case at all.
    Then we have the very clumsy mechanics and physics of the game. VERY frustrating at times and it could really screw you and take you out of the experience. Like riding your horse into a tree or off a cliff. Or maybe you accidentally shoot or ride into a NPC. I spent A LOT of bounty money on accidents.
    Then we have Arthur himself. Very slow and clumsy to handle. Especially when you want to walk through your gigantic **** camp in order to quickly save the game or to change your outfit.
    And what about the whole weight system? I ate and ate and f*cking ate, but was underweight throughout the entire game. I tried EVERYTHING. Am I supposed to spent half of my friggin gametime eating? That's insane.
    And there isn't nearly enough cool or diverse clothing to boast the experience and make Arthur your own.. Most of it doesn't suit even Arthur at all, and most of it is really difficult (as in prolixly) to get your hands on. (IE: hunting) Do you really want to spend 6 hours to get a damn rathat?
    Then we have RDR Online beta. Absolute travesty. I did not enjoy GTA V Online at all. It was a pointless and juvenile way of spending your time. I was hoping RDR would make the most of it's rather vast online potential. But it did not deliver in any way. There is no point to it except to make your very own character. Something I wanted to do in the story mode.

    There's probably other things that has temporary slipped my mind. But ultimately this was a very good game. It was the best gaming experience I've had for quite some years now. It is really a beautiful game and it has A LOT going for it. Don't get me wrong. It just could've been even better. It could've been the best game of all time. Unfortunately it was not.    … Expand
  31. Brandondwn
    Nov 3, 2018
    7
    I'm just gonna tell it how it is and agree with most actual constructive criticism. The game is huge, draw distance is gorgeous and the scope of detail is insanely ambitious. The kicker? Stuff is *too real* and a lot of the time it isn't fun. The game needs a patch bad and a couple things changed. It's not fun or innovative for me to have to go to my horse for most of my stuff, it's notI'm just gonna tell it how it is and agree with most actual constructive criticism. The game is huge, draw distance is gorgeous and the scope of detail is insanely ambitious. The kicker? Stuff is *too real* and a lot of the time it isn't fun. The game needs a patch bad and a couple things changed. It's not fun or innovative for me to have to go to my horse for most of my stuff, it's not fun taking forever to hunt, carve up and put SOME animal pelts on the horse. It isn't fun holding multiple buttons to run, holding buttons to play a game that feels like it controls like a game from 2003. Not sure what happened in their overworked, 100 hour weeks that they messed up mobility so bad, but please patch it. Let me keep my stuff on my character, let me move without a stick in my butt, let me grab stuff out of a drawer all at once with pushing the button once or twice. The other huge issue that needs patched is the character models looks like A$$, like early ps4 games A$$. The HDR doesn't work and screenshots looks hideous. There isn't a photo mode? I know some don't care, but I love showing off the games I play and having good pictures helps a lot. What I do like is the care and detail to the world, the shop books are incredibly done, corpses rot, people remember you when you save them, the random occurrences are Skyrim good! If stuff isn't fixed, I probably won't finish the game, because everything feels like a chore and if i'm not having fun the game has failed in my opinion. You can be as detailed and ambitious as you want, but if it's not a good escape from the real world, then why bother? I'm not giving up on it yet and if they fix all of this and the story delivers, absolutely GOTY, but right now it's looking like Spider-Man or God of War have that honor. I mean this is a veteran company who put nearly eight years into this game and the game itself took 2-6 hours to download and install depending on where you live! No other game or company would still be getting 9/10, 10/10’s for the game performing so poorly after that. People aren’t even letting Bethesda get away with it on the new Fallout game for crying out loud. My score is mostly round up out of respect for the work put into it and not so much enjoying the game as a whole so far.… Expand
  32. Akk3d1s
    Dec 6, 2020
    7
    So...I finally finished the single player story. My review will only be about the single player experience. Firstly, the game starts off with a lot of awe. Beautiful world and just so, so much detail. I have to applaud Rockstar for creating a game that makes you really feel you are reliving those cowboy days. Music is also top notch and at times, I really felt like I was the main characterSo...I finally finished the single player story. My review will only be about the single player experience. Firstly, the game starts off with a lot of awe. Beautiful world and just so, so much detail. I have to applaud Rockstar for creating a game that makes you really feel you are reliving those cowboy days. Music is also top notch and at times, I really felt like I was the main character in a classic wild west movie. The game nails the atmosphere. Where the game drops points for me is in the actual gameplay and the fact that the single player feels longer than it should be. The last 10 hours felt like it was better left out and really felt like a chore to finish. The character that you control feels extremely clunky and at times I got really annoyed. It feels like they tried too hard to be realistic and sacrificed fluid game mechanics for that goal. Framerates were also terrible on my PS4 so if you really want to play this, get it on PC instead or maybe on the next gen consoles.

    Its a good game, that ultimately gets let down by its lack of fluid gameplay and a campaign thats longer than it should be.    … Expand
  33. thedstrat
    Jun 2, 2020
    7
    It’s not a bad game, but gets extremely repetitive after a while. The story is good, but there are no rpg elements and the economy (money system) and FPS mechanics are really lackluster
  34. Jalmerk
    Nov 27, 2018
    7
    RDR2 is extremely detailed, and will blow you away with it's boundary pushing animations, worldbuilding and excellent writing. It is extremely ambitious and tries to set itself apart from other more formulaic open world titles, but unfortunately not all of it works out. RDR2 greatly emphasizes realism, which is impressive the first few hours, but the extremely slow and cumbersome actionsRDR2 is extremely detailed, and will blow you away with it's boundary pushing animations, worldbuilding and excellent writing. It is extremely ambitious and tries to set itself apart from other more formulaic open world titles, but unfortunately not all of it works out. RDR2 greatly emphasizes realism, which is impressive the first few hours, but the extremely slow and cumbersome actions lose their novelty after the first act, and end up creating endless tedium, as the simplest tasks imaginable slow the pace of the game down to a crawl. Speaking of pacing, this game has a serious pacing issue. The lack of effective fast travel means that you will spend about 70% of your playtime riding your horse from one place to another, and while the random encounters in the world are unique and interesting, there isn't nearly enough of them to fill out the absolutely massive - and ultimately empty - open world. One problem that resulted from this was that I stopped pursuing side quests entirely because of the absurd time investment required to ride across the map to your destination. in conclusion, RDR2 is an ambitious game that offers some unique and highly polished content, but truthfully - I struggled to finish the game because of the absolutely molasses-like pacing.… Expand
  35. cgandrade
    Nov 5, 2018
    7
    Horse Riding Simulator.

    esta es una peliculas disfrazada de videjuego. Le llamo Simulador de montas a caballo porque la mayor parte del tiempo te la pasas cabalgando. La jugabilidad deja mucho que desear ya que son demasiadas combinaciones de botones que se vuelve complicado el manejo del personaje. En cuanto a los graficos son excelentes no he visto un juego que se vea como este.    Horse Riding Simulator.

    esta es una peliculas disfrazada de videjuego.
    Le llamo Simulador de montas a caballo porque la mayor parte del tiempo te la pasas cabalgando. La jugabilidad deja mucho que desear ya que son demasiadas combinaciones de botones que se vuelve complicado el manejo del personaje.

    En cuanto a los graficos son excelentes no he visto un juego que se vea como este.

    No me atreveria a llamarlo un clasico porque es mas una pelicula interactiva de cabalgatas.    … Expand
  36. Stresspresso
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    Beautiful game(?), but like a piece of modern art it takes too much effort to enjoy. It's annoyingly complex with minor details, yet frustratingly basic on so many other levels. This game will show you a glimpse of fun but take it away with random **** that will make you question why you even play games? Oh right, this isn't a game, it's an "experience." Just go ahead an experience thisBeautiful game(?), but like a piece of modern art it takes too much effort to enjoy. It's annoyingly complex with minor details, yet frustratingly basic on so many other levels. This game will show you a glimpse of fun but take it away with random **** that will make you question why you even play games? Oh right, this isn't a game, it's an "experience." Just go ahead an experience this from the videos of your favorite youtuber, this is really meant to give them content rather than make it a fun experience for you.… Expand
  37. chrisd19844
    Dec 22, 2018
    7
    There's a lot of mixed reception on this game, so I decided to break it down into the pros/cons. Obviously you can't trust a lot of critics as they've given special perks for providing games/movies/music with favorable reviews.

    Pros: -The game itself is probably a masterpiece. Massive open world with tons of side missions and a lot of content that will take you a year to fully    There's a lot of mixed reception on this game, so I decided to break it down into the pros/cons. Obviously you can't trust a lot of critics as they've given special perks for providing games/movies/music with favorable reviews.

    Pros:

    -The game itself is probably a masterpiece. Massive open world with tons of side missions and a lot of content that will take you a year to fully appreciate.
    -The writing in the game is the best I've seen, probably even better than Last of Us. You really get a feel you're immersed in this world.
    -The graphics are stellar, easily blow away anything else out there right now.
    -Arthur Morgan is a pretty cool character - humble, yet still has a complex personality.

    Cons:

    -You've probably heard of the awful weapons wheel controls already - whoever thought this out should be reprimanded. You literally have to keep selecting the item/weapon you want after any major cut scene or deviance in the story. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but when you have to do it multiple times every few minutes it just gets tedious.
    -The first few hours of game are very slow, but it's mostly just to teach you the (sometimes dreadful) controls.
    -Online portion is a mess still, let's hope they get it sorted!
    -Probably my biggest complaint with the game is the politically correct agenda they inserted into the story. Myself like many others play games to escape this sort of thing, not be further subjected to it. Unfortunately Rockstar has also fallen victim to the PC agenda. You can see it a lot in the game, how it's okay to shoot Caucasian men and how Caucasian men are the enemy, yet there are almost no missions where you shoot a woman or a black man or a red man. In fact, all of the missions involving black/natives make them out to be saints. And of course I'm sure you've heard about the feminist views in the game as well, which is also pretty odd at times. I'm not a super political person but I do sense the game is trying to have an agenda at times. It doesn't allow you to go on the indian reserve and shoot anyone - but hey, killing Southern Caucasians is alright. Yeah...not cool!

    But if you can look past the PC stuff and the weapons wheel issues, the game is pretty solid and will keep you entertained for many a long evening.    … Expand
  38. DarthNihilus
    Nov 1, 2018
    7
    I usually don't buy into the hype surrounding large releases and this game was no different. I bought it off of the strength of the first game and how much I liked the story. Here is my brutally honest take on the game. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a gorgeous looking cinematic disguised as a video game. It seems like the folks at Rockstar put a lot of time into trying to make this gameI usually don't buy into the hype surrounding large releases and this game was no different. I bought it off of the strength of the first game and how much I liked the story. Here is my brutally honest take on the game. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a gorgeous looking cinematic disguised as a video game. It seems like the folks at Rockstar put a lot of time into trying to make this game movie-like instead of focusing on gameplay. I'll focus on what I think the main points of the game are here:

    STORY:
    We all loved playing former gang member turned bounty hunter, John Marston, in the first game. That alone helped all of us want to play this prequel. This game focuses on an entirely new character named Arthur Morgan within the Van der Linde gang. The cinematic quality of the story is pleasing and there is more character development this time around. However, I never really found a connection with Arthur like I did with John. John's story was straightforward with a hint of mystery which made it very thrilling to play. Arthur's story seems quite the opposite. Not as thrilling a character to play as.

    DESIGN
    I must say, one of the overwhelming positives of this game has to be the breathtaking graphics. It is a stunning upgrade over the previous entry. I've been playing it on my 75Inch HDR 4K TV on my PS4 Pro and I have to say it is nothing short of beautiful. Riding through the country side watching day turn into night, lifelike animals and sounds were all stunning to behold. Cutscenes play out like a Quentin Tarantino movie. Nothing bad to say here

    GAMEPLAY
    Here is where my main issue lies. The gameplay of RDR2 is not bad but not great either. You'll spend most of your time doing mundane tasks like shaving, sleeping, eating, grooming your horse, etc... While these aspects of the game add a realistic quality to the gameplay, they can be quite tedious and ultimately boring. They seem to slow down the gameplay and fun factor. Also, the gameplay mechanics could be better. Aiming is a real pain and horses aren't very fast. The amount of time it takes to get from one place to another on horseback is ridiculous. It's almost as if the developers wanted people to be forced to enjoy the scenic route from one objective to another. Even though you are able to be a murderous and thieving outlaw, it seems like the game punishes that behavior. You'll be hunted by bounty hunters and not able to step foot in town without being swarmed by lawmen. Not to mention the only way to remove your notoriety is to pay off your bounty which is hard considering money isn't easy to come by.

    SUMMARY
    RDR2 is a good game with some noticeable flaws. I don't regret buying the game at all and found some aspects of it enjoyable. However, I wouldn't call it game of the year. I think God of War or Spiderman are far superior in every aspect.    … Expand
  39. DanRaven
    Nov 30, 2018
    7
    This game is near perfect when it comes to details. With near perfect I mean that there's some glitches here and there, but there's also some details that may or not work out in the end (haven't finished the game).

    The graphics are fine, not the best I've ever seen. The open world is big, but also largely empty. It consists for a bit part of open fields that are there just to add    This game is near perfect when it comes to details. With near perfect I mean that there's some glitches here and there, but there's also some details that may or not work out in the end (haven't finished the game).

    The graphics are fine, not the best I've ever seen. The open world is big, but also largely empty. It consists for a bit part of open fields that are there just to add minutes to your travel time. To me it didn't feel like it was amazing.

    Story begins slow of course, which isn't a downpoint. But then it stays either slow or just random. The side characters, who are supposed to feel like family, I don't even know their names. I don't care for the story nor them at all. Playing this game feels for the most time like a chore. I'm supposed to eat, drink and whatever, but there's no indication that I'm doing it too much or too few. A lot of stuff just isn't clear which is why I'm fed up with it and selling my copy. I really wish the story and characters were better and made me care because the rest of the game is wonderful when it comes to detail and I happen to love those.    … Expand
  40. ThatGuy007
    Jan 26, 2019
    7
    I’ll keep this shirt and sweet, RDR2 is a good game but suffers from repetitive missions and some poor design choices. Multiplayer is boring with limited things to do and of course everything cost money even fast traveling across the map witch the map itself is huge but filled with very little and traveling across it on horseback takes an age. Overall it’s a game that was hyped up to muchI’ll keep this shirt and sweet, RDR2 is a good game but suffers from repetitive missions and some poor design choices. Multiplayer is boring with limited things to do and of course everything cost money even fast traveling across the map witch the map itself is huge but filled with very little and traveling across it on horseback takes an age. Overall it’s a game that was hyped up to much and for me at least isn’t as good as RDR on PS3.… Expand
  41. thehoneyman
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    Beautiful graphics, excellent voice acting, lots to do.

    Terrible gameplay. I've wasted too much time in this game riding a horse. 60 hours of gameplay is nothing when 75% of it will be on the back of a horse tapping x and steering.
  42. jerkface910
    Nov 23, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I don't think I've ever looked forward to a game as much as this one, but ultimately I feel a little let down. Sure, the game looks amazing the level of detail is really great. The design is all over the place, however. The game wants to be a survival simulator, making you watch your weight, temperature, etc. This even extends to your horse; if it's dirty it will take more damage. Your horse will be dirty all the time. This means as the gang rides off to a heist, you'll be stuck behind, brushing your horse yet again. I feel like micro details like this should have been flagged during play testing, because no one likes it. No one likes having to scrub each body part in the tub. It's ridiculous. Just give us a bathing animation and be done with it. This sort of busy work is pervasive throughout the game, including the stingy fast travel, which lets you travel one-way (after unlocking it) but still makes you ride long distances, constantly. The beautiful scenery begins to feel stale after the 40th gallop through it. For a long time I dreaded the cheap ambushes by rival gangs, but then I craved them, just to break up the boredom.
    The controls are also awful, even after tinkering with them. 99% of my crimes in town were a result of the controls, either I would shoot someone on accident, or while running and trying to mount my horse I would instead begin strangling an innocent bystander. This made the busy work they give you even more tedious, as I would have to flee town after just trying to come in and take a bath.
    My biggest gripe, however, is with the story, or lack thereof. It's sad that the bar for a 'good' story in video games is so low. This story has no narrative hook, it's a lot of 'day in the life of an outlaw' which again grows stale as you continue missions with your bungling gang. Arthur's story of redemption in cut scenes is marred by your actions in the game. You talk about being a good man and then five minutes later you're back to murdering people for their belt buckles. The game coyly avoids any satisfaction in Arthur's overall story, climaxing with Arthur and Micah exchanging blows through the game's horribly stiff melee combat system without resolution. Then, in a supreme middle finger to the player, the game acts like you are starting a new game and makes you do mundane ranch tasks as John Marston. You'll play this 'new' game for hours and hours before finally getting some resolution in the final chapter (which was great and only about 60 hours overdue). I will say I enjoyed the epilogues much more than the main game, it was the old west world I wanted to play through in the first place.
    The legendary hunts are also a huge disappointment. Hunting is really fun in the game, however, these hunts were the easiest kills! Simply find the clues, run between them, then when the legendary animal spawns, simply plug it with a few explosive rifle rounds and collect the pelt. I wish they had the same stringent rules as regular pelts to add a challenge. To me the best hunt was the rare cougar in the dark cave. That was a legendary hunt.
    Also, while I liked Arthur and found him to be a great character, I think it was a huge missed opportunity not to make Sadie Adler the protagonist of the game. You find her at this disastrous moment in her life, then you could have learned to be an outlaw over the course of the game under Arthur's tutelage.
    Overall there is a lot of great game here (especially the little side stories out in the world, like the widow and Hamish) but I think the game is not a perfect 10 by any means.    … Expand
  43. maddiplomat
    Aug 2, 2022
    7
    This is a great game, but it has some of the worst controls in an AAA game.
  44. tulkasdk
    Nov 9, 2018
    7
    Severely overrated game - I'm surprised how this scored so high. RDR2 is not a bad game as such since it has many great elements like an impressive world, good characters, a lot to do, and... well, that's about it. Controls are terrible, movement sloooooow, gun-play sloppy, poorly designed menus, story pacing way off, world much smaller that it was hyped, many breaking bugs forcing theSeverely overrated game - I'm surprised how this scored so high. RDR2 is not a bad game as such since it has many great elements like an impressive world, good characters, a lot to do, and... well, that's about it. Controls are terrible, movement sloooooow, gun-play sloppy, poorly designed menus, story pacing way off, world much smaller that it was hyped, many breaking bugs forcing the player to restart missions, etc. Way to many things drags the experience down, worst of all, it's simply not fun to play and feels tedious.
    Disappointment of the year.    … Expand
  45. here_and_there
    Jan 4, 2019
    7
    The game that demonstrated once and for all that realism must not be the ultimate goal of gaming.

    RDR2 would actually be a wonderful game with a stellar cast set in one the most incredible and lively realistic open worlds ever. But at its core it is basically a cowboy real life simulator, with heavy and hard realism as its main character. This doesn't only mean a beautiful and richly    The game that demonstrated once and for all that realism must not be the ultimate goal of gaming.

    RDR2 would actually be a wonderful game with a stellar cast set in one the most incredible and lively realistic open worlds ever. But at its core it is basically a cowboy real life simulator, with heavy and hard realism as its main character. This doesn't only mean a beautiful and richly detailed map teeming with human and animal life, love for detail and historical-geographical accuracy, but unfortunately also a lot of chores (they are literally called that in the game) that actually feel like real chores but are of primary importance to gameplay and progression. Incredibly slow walking, running and horse riding, slow animations (looting and skinning is a drag after you do it the tenth time, but the game needs you to do it hundreds of times), overly complicated health and stamina systems, dozens of subsystems (cleanliness of character, weapon and horse, camp economy, etc.) to keep track of.

    After a while it is so much that it takes away some of the fun and the doubt arises that it is all just a big trolling from Rockstar saying "Do you want realism? Here, take all your ugly and boring realism in the face", or worse: a way of making a 20-hour game with a big map into a 60-hour game with a seemingly huge map.    … Expand
  46. gnadenlos
    Nov 1, 2018
    7
    The main problem is, that it's not a real open world game. If you focus on the main story, like many reviewers and some users do, you will experience a linear and scripted game with almost no freedom. Every time you try something different the missions will fail.

    Controls aren't very good, so it's also hard to recommend the game for that linear story experience. The separate and real    The main problem is, that it's not a real open world game. If you focus on the main story, like many reviewers and some users do, you will experience a linear and scripted game with almost no freedom. Every time you try something different the missions will fail.

    Controls aren't very good, so it's also hard to recommend the game for that linear story experience.

    The separate and real open world part is done quite well, but it doesn't have enough interesting and coherent/interlocking elements to keep you motivated very long. If you remove the linear story and high production value, it's the usual open world stuff, we've known for years, mixed with light survival elements.

    So what you will get is an average to good open world sandbox for maybe 15-20 hours of random fun and a separate, very scripted and cinematic game with high production value. Both parts have average gameplay and problematic controls. The only highlights and reasons to play the game are its great graphics, atmosphere and story.    … Expand
  47. FilipeGoncalves
    Dec 22, 2021
    7
    Great story, graphics and a lot of stuff to do. 10/10

    The issue that I have with this game is the gameplay... too large, slow and like a new version of tank controls. Massive disappointment in the gameplay department.

    7/10
  48. GoFrozen
    Dec 10, 2020
    7
    Good graphics, well made alive world + never ending boring horse riding and terrible outdated gameplay overall. Its was extremely hard to complete this game, because how boring it is! It took me more than a year... thats a record for sure!
  49. arnolddavid
    Nov 12, 2018
    7
    Como juego es una pasada, de lo mejor en la historia de los video juegos. Pero el mayor problema que tiene es su historia. No por lo lenta, si no por sus argumentos.
    El juego deja mucho que desear en ese sentido, pero lo demás es espectacular.
  50. Skibz
    Nov 8, 2018
    7
    World, characters and setting, well Rockstar nailed it. The issue with this game is the gameplay. Over the many hours I played it was frustrating to say the least, very poor fast travel, replaying missions are not rewarding because you are given a standard load out, and often input lag was significant (played on a pro) It got to a point where I pushed through just playing the story ratherWorld, characters and setting, well Rockstar nailed it. The issue with this game is the gameplay. Over the many hours I played it was frustrating to say the least, very poor fast travel, replaying missions are not rewarding because you are given a standard load out, and often input lag was significant (played on a pro) It got to a point where I pushed through just playing the story rather than explore the beautifully crafted world.… Expand
  51. TredZ
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    NDLR: Open world immersion is perfect. Bad UI/UX. Base features to unlock!

    This game is really good if you look everything, but, you have to be passionate to give it a 10/10. For me it doesn't deserve it, a lot of things ruined the experience and make the game an annoying one. Open-World Simply the best experience ever: beautiful, living, immense, trees, animals, atmosphere,    NDLR: Open world immersion is perfect. Bad UI/UX. Base features to unlock!

    This game is really good if you look everything, but, you have to be passionate to give it a 10/10.
    For me it doesn't deserve it, a lot of things ruined the experience and make the game an annoying one.

    Open-World
    Simply the best experience ever: beautiful, living, immense, trees, animals, atmosphere, environment, weather, world object proportion, everything is perfect!
    The key word here is "Exploration": you have to explore to find objects, treasures, locations, random events, camp etc.

    Character/Horse/Weapons
    A lot of customization, it is good for the online mode later.
    Too much unnecessary stats (weight, food/drinks), different bars (health, energy..) with a secondary bar under it! Too complicated, at the end I eat the same thing every time and don't think to use drinks because it is too much. A single bar for the 3 stats which refills with time would be easier and perfect (and drink to have an extended bonus)

    Camp
    Your buddies are kids, incapable to eat for themselves. Why I would stay in a band like that?
    Every time after a mission, you have to do chores, feed your band...

    UI/UX
    Bad. Really bad.
    - I took the train. and.. oh my horse is too far, I lost it, and with all my weapons on it. I have to go back and waste 30min. Later you can unlock the feature to retrieve your horse at your camp...
    - Fast travel: you can unlock it after (why?! is a base feature) and you have to chose the destination on a list! it doesn't show the map!
    - Item management/inventory. Worst ever. The game keeps telling me I don't have enough places to get all the loot on animals. I try to clean but I don't know which parts I have to empty, or is this separate container?
    Same for materials: Can not see the list of skins I need. And different NPC needs different skins. So every time you have to talks to the NPC to see the list and remember who needs what. You can't have a tracker on the screen to know what you want get.
    Pad is for changing the camera! No. Pad is for map. I never change the camera, or wants a "cinematic" mode, I want fast access to the map.
    A lot more...
    - NPC reactions if you hurt him by accident with these bad controls.

    Missions/Story
    Simply boring.
    Each missions are: Go to point B from A. Ride and listen to the dialogue (80%). Do an action/fighting (20%). Listen to dialogue. End.
    Too much dialogues, slow riding phases.

    This game is more a slow-real cowboy Role-Play game than an action game.    … Expand
  52. hedgic
    Nov 21, 2019
    7
    PC release has tons of crashes
    Control buttons are not shaped as on controller what causes constant misclicks.
  53. Gittoplo
    Nov 22, 2018
    7
    In one sentence? It's just not that much fun. From controls, to aiming to inventory. Missed opportunity. I thought I might spend months in this world but now I am just going to power through. Still not a bad game which I will finish. I always finish. I just wish I was running around in Ancient Greece right now. It's OK, I will get it on sale with all DLCs ;)
  54. Samurai-King
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    To sum this game up quickly without rambling. (for reference 52.6% completion)

    It looks beautiful. Story is solid 8.5/10. Overall sound of the game is amazing. Game physics 7/10. The AI 6.5/10. Gunplay unfortunately 6.5/10. Horse mechanics 6.5/10. Animations 7/10.

    Finally there are lots of bugs in this game, to be fair to Rockstar this is a huge map but there are still too many bugs.
  55. Daniel_64
    Feb 23, 2019
    7
    RDR2 is a very beautiful game that has an amazing art direction and gameplay At First. I was taken aback at how beautiful the game is and how fun the game was. However picking up the game recently agian I can now see that unfortunately how stale the gameplay is. After your 20th or so mission you find the missions to be very repetitive for example get to point A or point B or kill all theseRDR2 is a very beautiful game that has an amazing art direction and gameplay At First. I was taken aback at how beautiful the game is and how fun the game was. However picking up the game recently agian I can now see that unfortunately how stale the gameplay is. After your 20th or so mission you find the missions to be very repetitive for example get to point A or point B or kill all these men in this town. I found the gameplay to get very stale very quickly which lead to me not being able to still play, once I had finished it afterwards. Overall RDR2 is a stellar game with a good narrative and art direction but lacks heavily in the gameplay section, which in my opinion is the most important part to a game.… Expand
  56. Mirabai
    Oct 26, 2018
    7
    I only played it 10 hours by now and i cant understand the 97 Score. The Story/Sound/graphic is amazing - but the pure Gameplay, the thinks you do in the world are not. The controlls feel weird and the worst part overall if the gunplay. If you break it down to the pure gameplay, all thats left is a decent Cover Shooter.
  57. Lemonade1408
    Dec 14, 2018
    7
    Edit - This game while technically brilliant is a little bit boring, I have sort of given up halfway through the 3rd act, still a very decent game with loads to do, but the majority of you game will be riding your horse on the same tracks getting brief bits of action
  58. bronydell
    Nov 17, 2018
    7
    Reggie once said "If it's not fun, why bother?", so this is the case. I don't know how this game got 97 points, it's not revolution or anything mind blowing. Here's why:

    Cons: Clunky controls Slow storytelling (the story seemed boring until chapter 5) Too much realism (weight, food, horse systems suck!) The game isn't fun Pros: The graphics are amazing, truly incredible for the    Reggie once said "If it's not fun, why bother?", so this is the case. I don't know how this game got 97 points, it's not revolution or anything mind blowing. Here's why:

    Cons:
    Clunky controls
    Slow storytelling (the story seemed boring until chapter 5)
    Too much realism (weight, food, horse systems suck!)
    The game isn't fun

    Pros:
    The graphics are amazing, truly incredible for the open world game
    Music and acting are just amazing
    The world contains a lot of details and events, it makes the world immersive and believable
    Shooting mechanics are wonderful, you really feel the weapons and damage
    I like the story

    So, basically I have no complaints from the technical side, but the game wasn't fun for me. I expected GTA V level of fun, but it didn't give me that much fun    … Expand
  59. CyberRobotnix
    Nov 8, 2018
    7
    For short, Red Dead Redemption 1 was the better Red Dead Redemption.

    For the long version, I liked this game quite a bit, but the gameplay is extremely sluggish and the controls are stiff, it's really what ruins the fun of the game as a whole. To be fair though, I liked most of the things in the game, but again you should look for something else if you like extremely vivid and fast gameplay.
  60. egoBorder
    Sep 19, 2019
    7
    When a game is this close to perfection it's hard not to be embarrassed to complain. Unfortunately this game suffers badly from bloat, and the longer it goes on, the more tiring it gets. And boy, DOES IT GO ON.

    On a technical level the game is beyond impressive. I was initially seduced by the experience of Red Dead Redemption 2 because its world is so rich. For the first 10 to 15    When a game is this close to perfection it's hard not to be embarrassed to complain. Unfortunately this game suffers badly from bloat, and the longer it goes on, the more tiring it gets. And boy, DOES IT GO ON.

    On a technical level the game is beyond impressive. I was initially seduced by the experience of Red Dead Redemption 2 because its world is so rich. For the first 10 to 15 hours, that richness was tantalizing.

    But once the slow, deliberate pace of the action and story of this game become obvious the world's richness becomes obnoxious. Everything in this game wears out its welcome and the maddening thing is that simply cutting out 10% of the content would have given the player more breathing room. Rockstar's design philosophy often involves taking control away from the player, and it creates a problem where taking on a mission is a crapshoot as to what a player can expect.

    As for the story: the characters are rich and deep, the voice acting is just superb, and the presentation and direction are expert. But the material just isn't that great. They're thieves and the law is after them. That's all. It takes itself way too seriously despite a great deal of characters making some pretty dumb choices. And again, everything just moves at a glacial pace.

    This game is a roller coaster, and despite how thrilling some parts are be sure to stay strapped in for the duration and watch your hands.    … Expand
  61. SodaBoy1000
    Dec 14, 2018
    7
    This game has horrible movement and bindings. I couldn’t get into it... storywise, it cannot touch other works e.g. witcher3, gta 4 and 5, etc... it is way too predictable - perhaps that is just down to subject matter... also graphically... wtf are we comparing this to? Other ps4, xb1 titles or games in general? Because even a 4 year old texture modded witcher3 is more crisp on a pc...This game has horrible movement and bindings. I couldn’t get into it... storywise, it cannot touch other works e.g. witcher3, gta 4 and 5, etc... it is way too predictable - perhaps that is just down to subject matter... also graphically... wtf are we comparing this to? Other ps4, xb1 titles or games in general? Because even a 4 year old texture modded witcher3 is more crisp on a pc... lets not even go to graphic comparison of AC on pc vs RDR2 on console... so how this can get a 97% overall is beyond me...… Expand
  62. Svinoed
    Nov 16, 2018
    7
    Открытый мир 10. Музыка 10. Сюжет - 7 (концовку слили - телепортирующийся последний босс и пачка клише на уровне рукалицо в последней разборке) . Управление и меню (особенно выбор оружия) 1. По итогу 7. Магия повествования сломана менюхами, управлением и убогой развязкой. Если бы не последнии два пункта, то однозначно WIN!!!Открытый мир 10. Музыка 10. Сюжет - 7 (концовку слили - телепортирующийся последний босс и пачка клише на уровне рукалицо в последней разборке) . Управление и меню (особенно выбор оружия) 1. По итогу 7. Магия повествования сломана менюхами, управлением и убогой развязкой. Если бы не последнии два пункта, то однозначно WIN!!!
  63. Ben37
    Mar 26, 2019
    7
    Pretty good game, but there was several things that brought my enjoyment down. For starters the whole robbing aspect of the game never made sense, for a game that trys to drive home immersion i was rather confused. I go into town and rob a store and escape (i was wearing a bag over my head) and get a bounty on my head. i come back some time later in completely different clothes, guns, andPretty good game, but there was several things that brought my enjoyment down. For starters the whole robbing aspect of the game never made sense, for a game that trys to drive home immersion i was rather confused. I go into town and rob a store and escape (i was wearing a bag over my head) and get a bounty on my head. i come back some time later in completely different clothes, guns, and a beard so there is absolutely no way anyone should know who i am but i still am recognized by a random lawman and i am wanted again and being chased. How exactly is that supposed to make sense? Whats the point of bandannas or bags over your head? (i am told this is supposed to help with the karma meter but mine still goes up and down even while wearing them sooo?) That aside i never could make much money in the early stages of the game thanks to this so the i had a hard time at the start, though late game you dont really suffer on that front. The controls (the horse more so than most) felt rather clunky at times. The story was never really there for me, sure the development bewtween the side characters was pretty good but the most i got out of the actual story was "we need more money!". Lastly the game as whole felt like a chore to play considering how big the map is, believe it or not but spamming the X button over and over to run your horse 5-10 min every time you want to go somewhere gets real old real fast. All in all it is a good game but these things just weighed the experience down for me.… Expand
  64. vigoroth0402
    Nov 6, 2018
    7
    I'd say this game is way too long and drawn out story wise, and the actions are clunky and slow. But, there are many silver linings. The open world is beautiful and has so much to be admired, and the the exploration itself is fairly rewarding. However, it's truly just another Rockstar game.
  65. combobreaker96
    Jan 8, 2019
    7
    El juego está bastante bien, pero tiene un problema grave. Su jugabilidad no es divertida. Vamos por partes: los gráficos para mi son el techo de esta generación, dificilmente otro juego se vea mejor de acá a PS5. La historia me pareció excelente, personalmente me gustan (SPOILERS) los finales trágicos y eso fue un plus. Es una historia con un desarrollo bastante lento, pero eso para mi noEl juego está bastante bien, pero tiene un problema grave. Su jugabilidad no es divertida. Vamos por partes: los gráficos para mi son el techo de esta generación, dificilmente otro juego se vea mejor de acá a PS5. La historia me pareció excelente, personalmente me gustan (SPOILERS) los finales trágicos y eso fue un plus. Es una historia con un desarrollo bastante lento, pero eso para mi no fue un problema. El tamaño del mapa es algo nunca visto, y la vida que despide la flora y fauna, las ciudades, todo es increíble. Pero toca hablar del apartado que para mi puede matar tu experiencia si no tenés paciencia y si no fuera porque todo lo demás está tan bien hecho: la jugabilidad. Es sin duda alguna uno de los juegos con los controles más toscos que he jugado este año (no jugué Fallout 76). Entiendo que se haya optado por un nivel de realismo altísimo, pero eso es justamente lo que se lleva por delante la jugabilidad. El input lag en los movimientos del personaje es atroz, provoca que el jugador sienta que no tiene control total sobre el personaje, un grave error. El gunplay no es malo, pero podría ser muchísimo mejor, es regular diría. Pero sin dudas lo peor del juego es su sistema de coberturas, que es automático y el personaje se cubre donde quiere y en el ángulo que quiere. El jugador solo puede decidir si cubrirse o quedar expuesto, y muchas veces la cobertura automática es tan mala que se "cubre" justo en el ángulo de tiro de los enemigos, por ende, te llenan de plomo. Otra negativa (pero menor que las anteriores) es que cada acción del personaje tiene una animación, entonces todo se hace muy denso pasadas unas horas, ejemplo: tener que agarrar item por item de un mueble, cada uno con una animación que dura lo suyo. Todos estos detalles al principio dejan boquiabierto a cualquiera, pero con el paso de las horas se vuelve tedioso.

    Finalmente quiero destacar sin mucho detalle, lo que más me gustó del juego por lejos: el sistema de caza. Es el primer juego en el que realmente me divierto cazando durante horas sin hacer otra cosa. Y eso tiene mucho mérito teniendo en cuenta que esa es una actividad opcional, y las animaciones de desollamiento de los animales son increíbles, las únicas que no se me volvieron tediosas con el tiempo.

    Para mi es un 7, uno sólido.    … Expand
  66. JoeDanger420
    Nov 4, 2018
    7
    Playing on the base PS4 and the visuals are horrible. The game is very blurry and the dithering on all the alphas is really bad. Everyone must be playing on the PS4 Pro or Xbox one x to be raving about the visuals. The player movement is clunky. The game play is really slow. The wanted system is very unfair. A NPC will walk in front of your horse, assault, a NPC steals off you and you getPlaying on the base PS4 and the visuals are horrible. The game is very blurry and the dithering on all the alphas is really bad. Everyone must be playing on the PS4 Pro or Xbox one x to be raving about the visuals. The player movement is clunky. The game play is really slow. The wanted system is very unfair. A NPC will walk in front of your horse, assault, a NPC steals off you and you get the money back, assault, Someone starts a fight and you defend yourself, assault. This really needs to be re-balanced in an update.

    Its not a bad game but it certainly doesn't deserve a flawless rating many are giving it. It can be fun at times but for the most part it can be a chore to play.    … Expand
  67. gummyapples
    Dec 5, 2018
    7
    The graphics are really good, but The controls and basic mechanics feel really dated. The game play is severely lacking. The game doesn't break any new grounds in the open world game style, or in the forced story. They attempted to add plot twists, but most of them either made no sense or were predictable. However, the game is graphically the pinnacle of gaming so far, and it has thatThe graphics are really good, but The controls and basic mechanics feel really dated. The game play is severely lacking. The game doesn't break any new grounds in the open world game style, or in the forced story. They attempted to add plot twists, but most of them either made no sense or were predictable. However, the game is graphically the pinnacle of gaming so far, and it has that feeling of "just a little bit more" that sucks you in. The game is definitely decent, but it is a little over hyped. I came into the game expecting the best game that I have ever played and I just found myself comparing the Red Dead Redemption 2 to other games that do what it does while maintaining a good feel to the game. It does feel over hyped and that may have affected my experience, but this is still a solid game without a doubt.… Expand
  68. Fairbottom
    Mar 18, 2019
    7
    This game probably has an interesting story. But I don't know what it is because I've spent most of my time hunting badgers. Let me explain. I have no particular interest in badgers, only that I, apparently, need a very fine badger pelt for something—I no longer remember what. Fine, I accept your challenge, Rockstar Games.

    So away I go, to stalk the plains and forests for badgers. Hours    This game probably has an interesting story. But I don't know what it is because I've spent most of my time hunting badgers. Let me explain. I have no particular interest in badgers, only that I, apparently, need a very fine badger pelt for something—I no longer remember what. Fine, I accept your challenge, Rockstar Games.

    So away I go, to stalk the plains and forests for badgers. Hours pass. The real world intrudes; my boss calls. I've lost my job. Fired for non-performance. It is no matter: I have badgers to hunt. A few more hours pass. Finally... a badger! I go full Daniel Boone. I say a prayer to the badger god and set off back to camp with my badger carcass. Boy oh boy, I am excited. I can barely stand the anticipation. 'It's Arthur!' I shout to all the waiting sentries. I hitch my horse and I mosey into camp, triumphant.

    And then that **** in a top hat says: 'Sorry, Bucko, that's only a two star pelt. Here's a dime for your trouble. Oh, by the way, you smell.' I breathe in, deeply. I turn off my ps4. I take a long walk. I reflect upon the finitude of humankind.    … Expand
  69. ArchNemesis86
    Jan 12, 2019
    7
    Single player is pretty good. Controls are outdated and sluggish. Story is pretty good. Online is awful. Filled with grindy gameplay, lack of content, and predatory microtransactions.
  70. mpordes
    Nov 16, 2018
    7
    This game deserves a 7 based on the following characteristics: 1. Excellent story 2. Immersive world 3. Frustrating mechanics 4. Unoriginal and generic gameplay.

    1. Excellent Story There has never been a game with such a compelling story. The characters are all well-developed and you feel drawn in to a realistic, but exciting wild west. RD2 also benefits from the way its story is    This game deserves a 7 based on the following characteristics: 1. Excellent story 2. Immersive world 3. Frustrating mechanics 4. Unoriginal and generic gameplay.

    1. Excellent Story

    There has never been a game with such a compelling story. The characters are all well-developed and you feel drawn in to a realistic, but exciting wild west.

    RD2 also benefits from the way its story is told. The story is interwoven into every quest and surprises you at almost every turn. This is still a standard western with all the typical plot points: outlaw on the run, unrequited love, etc. But the game delivers these points in a continually fresh way. For example, sometimes a main quest is labeled with one character's name when it actually revolves around another.

    2. Immersive World

    Every new location you visit in the game is distinct and interesting in its own way.

    When you enter a town, the people that live there have their own personalities and occupations. And there is always some driving force to the town - it might be the clash of two wealthy families, or the mischief carried out by the city king pin.

    The outdoors is a mix of wild life, adventurers, and bandits. You can set out in any direction and find entertaining things to do when you get there. Whether hunting a deer or taking out an enemy camp, there are plenty of distractions to take you off the main course.

    3. Frustrating (but learnable) mechanics

    The main character, Arthur Morgan, moves really slowly. I've read multiple reviews that make this sound like a perk, but be assured that it is not. He barely moves and the only way to move even a little faster is to constantly press the "x" button. My hand was killing me. (It's even worse when riding your horse).

    Shooting is ok. However, the dead eye feature (freezing time to shoot) is not as cool or useful as advertised. I'll admit I couldn't get it to work at first, but this actually didn't give me a problem. It's easy enough to focus your gun on enemies and just shoot them. However, it's not that fun. Also, I would sometimes die on the first time through a mission because I entered the fight from the wrong angle. Once I died and came back to life, the game automatically adjusted me to the correct position. I'm glad I could continue on with the game, but this obviously took me out of the moment and gave the fight an artificial quality. This game is really stiff.

    4. Unoriginal and Generic Gameplay

    There is nothing original about RD2's gameplay. In fact, despite some denying that it is anything like Grand Theft Auto, it IS exactly like that!

    The main quests are tied into the story which keeps them interesting. But when you're not doing that what can you find? A fetch quest, and another fetch quest: bring the horse to the seller, deliver the letter, bring the lost person into town. And you know what? There's nothing wrong with that! Until game developers find a way to fill these massive worlds with original content we're going to have a lot of fetch quests. But this is not original content and that's why inflated reviews from the major gaming sites trouble me.

    One review site in particular (the biggest one) has a regular love fest about this game, where the critic turns all the game's flaws into perks and ignores any of the obvious problems. (Having to click the same button twice to reload your gun is not a plus...it's not necessarily a negative either but it's ridiculous to paint these aspects of the game as somehow beneficial). I've come to the conclusion that such reviews are for entertainment and not for information.

    I have nothing against users who rated this game as a 9 or 10. However, I must note that the mediocre and low user reviews on Metacritic are much more detailed than the high score reviews. In other words, it's easy to come on here and say "this game is great!" without justifying your opinion, but much harder to defend it.

    RD2 is a great game and most people will have a fun time playing it. It's the next step in action and role-playing video games. However, don't come into this expecting something revolutionary. You're sure to be disappointed.    … Expand
  71. Tuoppi
    Jan 30, 2021
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. After the first four chapters I was pretty happy with it although still frustrated with the poor controls and time wasters like skinning animations, gun cleaning and bathing. But with chapters 5 and 6 the game loses me totally aside from actually wanting to help the indians. I know rockstar doesn’t make RPG's but the way these games take the control from the player just so it can take the story in the direction it wants is infuriating. Why is there a moral system if it doesn’t impact the story other than some characters calling you a psycho if you go "all evil"?

    The problem for me is that Rockstar seems to want to make interactive movies. And that’s fine. But when I want to watch a movie, I'll watch a movie. When I want to play a game, I like to play not watch long cut scenes and/or listen endless expository dialogue when travelling to a mission that is pretty much on rails. Leave your horse here, go there, use that path, don’t kill that guy... or the mission doesn’t progress or fails. Most of the main missions end in a shoot-out and that's fine too. But even then, you're often told to follow a certain path.

    As for the story... This part of rockstar games is the most overrated part. GTA-series especially but also this game are full of genre cliches and predictable as hell. Even though I haven’t played the first RDR and didn’t even know this game was prequel I could see pretty much from the start where it's headed. Nothing in the story surprised me. Dutch was so full of BS from the start and Micah was so obvious traitor that he might as well had neon sign above his head. There is some interesting side content but main story just gets more boring and predictable with every chapter. Most of all it's really frustrating to listen to Dutch BS:ing towards the end when the game forces you to follow him regardless. GTA 5 story had much the same problems but it isn’t this long and there for doesn’t waste the players time as much. So in my opinion the writing in rockstars games isn’t nearly as good as people say or they themselves think! RDR 2 isn’t a masterpiece or a "work of art". It's pretty good game with rigid gameplay and one that overstays its welcome.    … Expand
  72. andrew9
    Nov 16, 2021
    7
    Good story bad gameplay .
  73. Hirenkj
    May 17, 2019
    7
    Red Dead Redemption 2 is not a great game, but a great movie giving an illusion that its a great game too.
    This game is the biggest example that a publisher or studio is making the product for casual gamers.
    Don't get me wrong this is an amazing experience to go through but it has its flaws, very bad flaws but no one seems to look at it or talk about it. To keep it short i will just    Red Dead Redemption 2 is not a great game, but a great movie giving an illusion that its a great game too.
    This game is the biggest example that a publisher or studio is making the product for casual gamers.
    Don't get me wrong this is an amazing experience to go through but it has its flaws, very bad flaws but no one seems to look at it or talk about it.
    To keep it short i will just list down the positives: Amazing story, Amazing characters, Beautiful world and fun combat and gunplay.
    But with all this why did i give it a 7 and am not impressed with this game? well its because this game gives me the illusion of freedom and choices. The game holds your hand through out the entire hours that you put in and will not let you try anything on your own and if you do, BOOM! MISSION FAILED!
    Rockstar games have a very old game design and because of how they make the game and story look good, gamers or let me say casuals forget it. I really hope we get more choices and mechanics from the next rockstar games.
    let me end by saying "ARTHUR MORGAN IS THE BEST PROTAGONIST I HAVE EVER PLAYED!"    … Expand
  74. Vitolo98
    Nov 2, 2018
    7
    Amazing story, world, and attention to detail. Gameplay is clunky at best and broken at worst. Outside of main story, much of side content is weak. This game will sell due to the R* name, and may win goty (Rdr2 vs God of War reminds me of Gta v vs Tlou in 2013). Overall, although a enjoyable experience, it hasn't dethroned Witcher 3 as the GOAT of open world games, and God of War is stillAmazing story, world, and attention to detail. Gameplay is clunky at best and broken at worst. Outside of main story, much of side content is weak. This game will sell due to the R* name, and may win goty (Rdr2 vs God of War reminds me of Gta v vs Tlou in 2013). Overall, although a enjoyable experience, it hasn't dethroned Witcher 3 as the GOAT of open world games, and God of War is still my game of the year 2018.… Expand
  75. esdrasfera
    Nov 13, 2018
    7
    RDR2 é um jogo que divide opiniões. Como essa é a minha opinião, deixou um pouco a desejar. Começando as partes negativas do jogo, temos um começo extremamente entediante (mas entediante mesmo, tanto que eu fiquei com sono nas duas primeiras vezes que joguei e desliguei o PS4 pra dormir). Outro ponto negativo são os comandos um pouco complexos e facilmente esquecíveis, além doRDR2 é um jogo que divide opiniões. Como essa é a minha opinião, deixou um pouco a desejar. Começando as partes negativas do jogo, temos um começo extremamente entediante (mas entediante mesmo, tanto que eu fiquei com sono nas duas primeiras vezes que joguei e desliguei o PS4 pra dormir). Outro ponto negativo são os comandos um pouco complexos e facilmente esquecíveis, além do gerenciamento de diversas coisas. Embora na teoria fique incrível você ter que mudar de roupa dependendo do clima, alimentar o personagem e seu cavalo de acordo com o tempo, manter um nível de saúde de acordo com o peso e coisas do tipo, isso na prática fica bastante chato. Claro que com o tempo o jogador pode pegar as manhas, mas isso à princípio é bem incômodo. Um terceiro ponto que deixou a desejar e que vou "agregar" com um quarto ponto é o HUD e a mistura de legendas com instruções. A barra de energia é pequena e bem esquisita, temos a explicação de como funciona, mas o jogo segue enquanto as instruções são dadas e o jogador fica meio "perdido" entre ler as instruções e as legendas pra tentar entender a história do jogo. Nesse ponto, uma dublagem faz uma falta absurda. Um último ponto negativo, pelo menos pra nós brasileiros é o preço. R$ 250 nesse game que, pelo menos até onde eu joguei, dá pra se pensar se valeu a pena. Mas como nem tudo são espinhos no RDR2, os gráficos estão de encher os olhos. A vida silvestre está muito bem feita e é muito interessante ver os animais por perto enquanto andamos à cavalo. Outra coisa que está muito bem encaixada no jogo é sua trilha sonora, seja em ação ou em momentos mais tranquilos, a trilha sonora coloca o jogador no clima. E o que dizer da música que toca quando saímos da região de neve?! Que música! Um outro ponto positivo (que está mais pra um bônus do que um ponto positivo em si) é pra quem adquiriu o jogo em disco, ganhar um mapa da região do jogo. Enfim, o jogo começa bastante sem graça e depois ele fica mais animado. Com certeza ele será indicado ao GOTY 2018, mas no meu ponto de vista, se dependesse apenas da campanha (pois ainda vem um online e talvez esse seja o ponto forte do jogo), não venceria como jogo do ano.… Expand
  76. TheSnowman
    Oct 26, 2018
    7
    Pros
    Good graphics
    Good story No load times Cons Story pacing is very slow Controls are very clunky (turning and aiming) Menu system is terrible Gun gameplay mechanics are garbage They fail to do anything new, game is a next gen version of RD, who wouldn’t like that. No skill progression or RPG feeling to the game, this missed an opportunity for sure, feels like they could    Pros
    Good graphics
    Good story
    No load times

    Cons
    Story pacing is very slow
    Controls are very clunky (turning and aiming)
    Menu system is terrible
    Gun gameplay mechanics are garbage

    They fail to do anything new, game is a next gen version of RD, who wouldn’t like that.
    No skill progression or RPG feeling to the game, this missed an opportunity for sure, feels like they could have done a lot more, considering how long the game was delayed.    … Expand
  77. Gerardcc
    Jun 1, 2019
    7
    It's actually a good game from rockstar and I loved but it's getting boring on the horse
  78. isaka
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    Astonishing open world and detailed game design. But these elements don't equal to FUN.
    The game is just not that fun compare to the expectation everyone has before it released.
  79. B0rn2_w1n
    Oct 4, 2020
    7
    Good game overall but with several cons

    Pros:
    Graphics
    Characters
    Dialogs

    Cons:
    Very slow
    Nut much entertaining things to do on the open world, I ended up using the auto-pilot feature while riding the horse
    Some of the missions are a joke in terms of 'excitement'
  80. Damedius
    Oct 26, 2018
    7
    It looks pretty, i'll give it that much.

    The main story is somewhat entertaining but most of the rest of the game is kind of boring. I will be honest though I get bored of most Rockstar games after awhile. Game is still kind of buggy. Often your character will get stuck in a repetitive loop where you keep holstering your gun. All those 10 out of 10 reviews from gaming websites    It looks pretty, i'll give it that much.

    The main story is somewhat entertaining but most of the rest of the game is kind of boring. I will be honest though I get bored of most Rockstar games after awhile.

    Game is still kind of buggy. Often your character will get stuck in a repetitive loop where you keep holstering your gun.

    All those 10 out of 10 reviews from gaming websites seem suspicious. It's a good game but doesn't deserve 10 out of 10.    … Expand
  81. TheCrises
    Oct 26, 2018
    7
    It's a very slow burn. I'll give it to Rockstar with the realism they implemented, however, down the road it can be aggravating just to watch meticulous tasks over again can be discouraging to play the game for a half an hour or an hour. I haven't finished the game so the review might change, who knows.
  82. remaille69
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    Bought this game 2 days ago and i was so exiting to play it, after playing once again to the 1st RDR to feel the western vibe. and...
    DAmn, this game is beautiful, great atmosphere...BUT....
    - The gameplay is really really slow , Arthur is way too 'heavy', really feels like a Lag is present , crafting takes eternity . - Lot of dialogues (ok it's a Rockstar game, it's great with the    Bought this game 2 days ago and i was so exiting to play it, after playing once again to the 1st RDR to feel the western vibe. and...
    DAmn, this game is beautiful, great atmosphere...BUT....
    - The gameplay is really really slow , Arthur is way too 'heavy', really feels like a Lag is present , crafting takes eternity .
    - Lot of dialogues (ok it's a Rockstar game, it's great with the cinematic View), but no way to make subtitiles bigger.
    - You can't set the difficulty ...

    After the 1st hour i was ready to give a 10
    after 2 hours a 9
    after 4 hours a 8...
    and i'm feeling it's a 7 now :(

    RDR 4K would be the climax actually...    … Expand
  83. Wafflestein
    Oct 29, 2018
    7
    Some of you might wonder why the Critics Score is so high in comparison to User Score. You simply have to invest more playing time than the average critic. 20% into the game you hit a bit of a wall, you begin to no longer enjoy the game on the same level as you did in the beginning and all the beautiful landscapes won't save it. Don't get me wrong RDR2 is a beautiful immerse game but as ISome of you might wonder why the Critics Score is so high in comparison to User Score. You simply have to invest more playing time than the average critic. 20% into the game you hit a bit of a wall, you begin to no longer enjoy the game on the same level as you did in the beginning and all the beautiful landscapes won't save it. Don't get me wrong RDR2 is a beautiful immerse game but as I got older I realized that I needed more content and less tedious mundane tasks that I do from 9-5. It needed to be more than just ride one direction and back to complete a mission.

    So, let's get into the review part.

    Story:
    Last time around I felt more invested in the story. I feel like with every Rockstar game you really care and feel for the characters even though the characters are protagonists with the life of crime. Arthur isn't really a cool character he's just there and whoever you put in his place would be fine. I don't get a sense of his personality to the world. Honestly, if this was GTA 3 and the character didn't talk I would've felt the same way. With all the other characters, every time you do a mission you're like who theis this guy that's giving me this mission, oh okay some random member of the gang. Great... You're not hooked on being that guy or another.

    Mission gameplay:
    The world is big like really big... like I ride for 15 mins kill someone then realize... I have to ride back now... 30 mins spent on just riding. Shooting is clunky and majority of the time is spent using Dead Eye to kill people. The first person then becomes a bit unplayable. The realistic part is there, you definitely can't just walk towards enemies and kill everyone without hiding. On PC, I think the shooting would've been a bit better, but we shall see when it's released.

    Overall experience:
    The game is filled with stuff to do but it feels empty... idk maybe I'm just outgrowing single player campaign games. I'm like 20% into it but I decided to play Wow instead after a while.    … Expand
  84. SrirachaChicken
    Oct 30, 2018
    7
    The game is absolutely amazing and there is plenty to be astounded over and loved, but there are some game play issues that muddles over the fantastic core experience and dirties the game into the mud.

    The question is, how much realism do we actually need in a game. Rockstar has tried to nail down the realism of RDR2 to its core but instead of enhancing the gaming experience, to me it    The game is absolutely amazing and there is plenty to be astounded over and loved, but there are some game play issues that muddles over the fantastic core experience and dirties the game into the mud.

    The question is, how much realism do we actually need in a game. Rockstar has tried to nail down the realism of RDR2 to its core but instead of enhancing the gaming experience, to me it feels like there is more control over the player and what he can do then actual freedom within the game.

    One thing that is really bothersome is when Arthur tries to do anything in camp. He moves at a slow pace and there is no work around to have Arthur move faster within camp. Horses cannot be ridden to your bed and skinned animals cannot be dropped off at the butcher. Trying to successfully accomplish a task within camp can sometimes feel like you're fighting the controls when you are trying to achieve a button prompt. I think it has something to do with the camera and the way Arthur steps around, he could sometimes hum over certain prompts within camp just because he isn't positioned right or directly over the object.

    The button prompts have drastically changed from Red Dead 1 to 2. Now you can essentially "engage" someone by holding L2 and focusing in on them. This has caused me more problems with the NPC's then good ones... I don't know why but everytime I try to talk to someone or focus in on them, I get into more fights then friendly banter. I'm also not really into holding the square button when trying to pick up a body or animal pelts and then you use the Triangle button to loot bodies and mount your horse. Its confusing what i'm trying to say and can really halt the progress of normal mundane tasks because the player is confused trying to figure out how to achieve his goal. Picking up someone else's gun is the same concept too. You have to Press R1 to scroll over the option menus to choose the right prompt and then press L1 to switch a weapon you wanted to pick up. Its just a mess really and game play wise extremely confusing.

    The menu is cluttered, making it confusing for the user making it a hard time understanding what exactly could be sold at a market or used for practicality. There isn't a sorting option available that organizes your pack for you, which I feel like they sorely needed to implement or give the option to manually sort items for ourselves so we can clearly define exactly what we need and what we don't need.

    One last thing.. The hunting is really bad. Really really bad. Its VERY hard to track and find an animal let alone kill it properly to get the perfect skin. it takes more time out the game when trying to hunt and it does it in way that doesn't feel satisfying. Hunting gameplay needs a huge look at and needs to be made in a way thats more friendly and rewarding to do.

    There are things that bother me about RDR2, its more about the controls then anything but the story and quests are engaging. Its a rockstar game in an open world scenario. You're going to be fetching things, you're going to be an errand boy but thats how its always been. Nothing new there and thats why we come back to these games for the immersion and silly quests. The game is beautiful and the world feels alive.    … Expand
  85. Skymning
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    So I'm finally back in the real world after a hectic weekend in the wild wild west, and while I was hoping to go back to work bustling with excitement, praising the game I have been looking forward to for so long, I realize that the best way to describe my state of mind ambivalent.

    The graphics are amazing, the story is engaging, sound, music and voice acting are on point. But the    So I'm finally back in the real world after a hectic weekend in the wild wild west, and while I was hoping to go back to work bustling with excitement, praising the game I have been looking forward to for so long, I realize that the best way to describe my state of mind ambivalent.

    The graphics are amazing, the story is engaging, sound, music and voice acting are on point.

    But the game has some serious flaws that I would like to highlight:
    Rockstar decided that they wanted to make this game very realistic and immersive, but somewhere along the line they forgot that it is still a game and should be entertaining as well.. You don’t have to sacrifice fun to make it more immersive, you can have both. “Well you make a better game then, cried the fanboy” I will give an example on how to improve the game, hope that is enough?
    In camp you do choirs to boost the morale for your partners in crime, chopping wood for example. I don’t mind doing it, if you actually make it rewarding instead of feeling like a proper choir, we all have enough of those irl.

    Chopping wood: You walk up press triangle and watch Arthur do a 10 sec animation of him swinging the axe, then you get to press R2 to see him do it again for 10 sec, R2 and repeat.
    Improvement: A minigame where you have to angle the axe correctly with the analog stick to actually hit the wood while timing the swing with R2.

    It’s the same scenario with other tasks that you are required to do; Brushing your horse, skinning a animal, cooking, weapon maintenance etc. Implement minigames that is rewarding and challenging and these realistic features becomes entertaining.

    My next rant, the interface – Long story short, its overly complicated.

    You press L1 to get a equipment-wheel where you browse different weapons, press R1 to change to a different wheel with consumables. Browse between the different items with R2 and lift L1 to equip/consume. It’s complicated, you missclick way too easily and its hard to get a overview on your inventory, esp in a fire fight.

    In order to open the world map you have to press Options, wait for 1½ sec for the menu to load and then press X. Why not do like every other game where you press touchscreen and from there you can browse your inventory, journal etc? Now these functions are spread out in different menus without any apperant logic behind.

    Shopping is also too complicated. I want to buy a hat and a jacket, here how it goes:
    Walk into store
    L2 to greet shopkeeper
    X to see catalog
    You get a realistic catalog with a “root-menu”
    Select Clothing
    Submenu: Select hats
    You get to browse differnet pages in the catalog with drawn pictures of hats and get to select the one you like, press X to view on character.
    All of a sudden you have a list of all the hats available and can skip through them all to try before you buy.
    From here you actually have to go back to the rootmenu in the realistic catalog and start over and do the whole process all over again. Why not give us an option to press Circle in the hat-menu, select jacket and browse them quick and easy?

    A lot of people complain about Arthur being slow and its true, he is. But I don’t think that is such a problem. It gives the game a different feeling that I can appreciate. If it was consistent.. It is not. You can run at a certain phase all over the world, but when you spend time in camp Rockstar decided to cap it by half. I get it, they want the player to really notice the details they invested in the environment here in camp. The problem is, it doesn’t work that way. Don’t force me to stop and appreciate as I will only get annoyed and see even less.

    I could continue ranting about the game mechanics, strange UI and wierd priorities; realism vs fun, that you can’t summon your horse, how bleak the gun fights are, awkward controls but I think I have made my point. Its a flawed game with a beautiful facade and a good story. Almost like they did a remake with improved graphics but forgot to hire people to upgrade the game mechanics to the smooth standard we are used to in games in 2018.

    I really hope that Rockstar can remove the horse blinders, listen to the legit critique some people try to raise and patch the game to the masterpiece it could have been.. But whom am I fooling?

    Reading the professional reviewers whom should be objective when judging a game but won’t even mention to bring up the strange controls and outdated game mechanics, something that would be a major drawback for a total score on any other game out there. R*logo equals quality, through and through. Otherwise you don’t get it, or the game isn’t for you. The end.

    But the game is for me - I love open world games in general, I loved RDR1 in particular and have been hyped for a sequel for as long as the rest of you.. It’s just that I cant praise a game this flawed. Please do better.    … Expand
  86. Bayden
    Oct 31, 2018
    7
    Just finished it this morning.
    The game is technically amazing, but is brought down buy tiresome gun mechanics and movement along with a frustrating lack of freedom within missions and many other inconveniences.
    For example if you forget to get your rifle from your horse before dismounting during a mission it will often fail you for walking 5 meters back to get it, so your left with a    Just finished it this morning.
    The game is technically amazing, but is brought down buy tiresome gun mechanics and movement along with a frustrating lack of freedom within missions and many other inconveniences.

    For example if you forget to get your rifle from your horse before dismounting during a mission it will often fail you for walking 5 meters back to get it, so your left with a crappy pistol for the whole thing.

    Your load-out constantly resets so you have to rummage through bags for 10 seconds to get everything you want before leaving your horse. main character doesn't seem to adapt based on your play style. game gets quite tiresome and i am glad its over.

    incredible amount of unique voice lines and unique interactions and a kinda good overall story bring the score up a bit.    … Expand
  87. Unto7
    Nov 2, 2018
    7
    Game is unplayable for me. Every text is too small my 60 inch Oled. And gamplay. It's like walking through tar. Not smooth at all..
  88. newloggins
    Nov 4, 2018
    7
    Good game not great.

    Controls are not that great. Wish R* would get w/ the times and update their control scheme.

    Sometimes more like a Camping Simulation than a game.
  89. Wolfinthefable
    Nov 6, 2018
    7
    This game is really overrated.
    The amazing environment is the only thing that really stands out if you ask me. Controls are bad and every interaction looks slow and clumsy. The menus are outdated. Missions lack variety: most of them consist of several tedious minutes of horse riding and some trivial gunfight... without the rides each mission would probably lasts 5 minutes or less. Game    This game is really overrated.
    The amazing environment is the only thing that really stands out if you ask me. Controls are bad and every interaction looks slow and clumsy. The menus are outdated. Missions lack variety: most of them consist of several tedious minutes of horse riding and some trivial gunfight... without the rides each mission would probably lasts 5 minutes or less. Game progression/difficulty WANTED.
    The plot becomes interesting halfway through while in the first chapters you have that "nothing important happened today" feeling. The second part of the story and the dialogues are nice.
    The soundtrack is ok, moving sometimes but only good as a whole.
    Details as growing hair, dirty clothes and other stuff like that are cool but Rockstar should have spend more time improving gameplay mechanics and controls.    … Expand
  90. MrBum
    Nov 6, 2018
    7
    They set the game in 1899, so I guess they wanted their control scheme out of the same era. The game controls like a drunk oxen trudging through cold molasses. The run and gun gameplay is some of the worst I've ever seen since the PS2 era. I had to constantly look up how to do things, nothing is ever explained, and i think i'm getting carpel tunnel syndrome from mashing x so damn manyThey set the game in 1899, so I guess they wanted their control scheme out of the same era. The game controls like a drunk oxen trudging through cold molasses. The run and gun gameplay is some of the worst I've ever seen since the PS2 era. I had to constantly look up how to do things, nothing is ever explained, and i think i'm getting carpel tunnel syndrome from mashing x so damn many times just to run (you know, the movement speed that should be default and has been in every decent game in the last two decades).

    Barring those gross --and in my opinion negligent-- deficiencies, what the game does well it does very well. The environmental design is top notch from lighting to art direction to sound design, all incredible and amazing. It's a shame we have to experience all of it through the absolutely inexcusably bad player interface.

    It's a shame, as this game would have easily been a 9, maybe even a 10 if Rock$tar wasn't stuck in the 19th century when it came to controls. As it stands now, I can barely manage to play a few hours at a time before walking away for a day or two in frustration.    … Expand
  91. Linx_13
    Nov 7, 2018
    7
    Clumsy controls, buggy gameplay and questionable mechanics keep Rockstar’s prequel to the excellent western Red Dead Redemption far from being a perfect game, but its characters and story still make up for a memorable experience.
  92. MisterLupus
    Nov 10, 2018
    7
    I'll start off by saying it's impossible to take game reviewers serious these days. Who are these people? A game rated at 97 should be so groundbreaking and awesome - so flawless and polished - whoever made it deserves to be deified. At that rating we're talking wonders of the world - something only the gods could do better - an event of historical proportions.

    And let's face it - Red    I'll start off by saying it's impossible to take game reviewers serious these days. Who are these people? A game rated at 97 should be so groundbreaking and awesome - so flawless and polished - whoever made it deserves to be deified. At that rating we're talking wonders of the world - something only the gods could do better - an event of historical proportions.

    And let's face it - Red Dead Redemption 2 does not deliver that quality. It's neither groundbraking, flawless or polished - and even though certain aspects of it does cross the border to what should be considered awesome others again falls miserably short of even seeing that border.

    Graphics are stunning, world is rich on content and the general atmosphere really sucked me in. Attention to details is almost unparalleled. The story is predictable and feels a bit forced - some turn of events simply doesn't make sense and the characters turn either dumb or genius according to what's convenient in furthering the storyline - and it's also quite quite static.

    All in all it's not very "organic" nor does it allow for the player to interact with it in any profound ways.

    But despite not being the pinnacle of penmanship nor deeply influenced by the player's decisions - it did entertain me and in addition to falling in love with the world itself I also ended up becoming invested in the characters and even sad to see some of them go.

    Rockstar is - as always - brilliant in creating the framework of a truly inspired game. Rockstar is also however - as always and unfortunately - mediocre at best when it comes to everything else.

    Gameplay suffers profoundly in this game. The controls are clumsy and bad - needlessly hard to navigate, often unresponsive - and both movement as well as combat are clunky to say the least and altso unimaginative. Something youd expect from a game made ten years ago - not a more recent AAA-Production.

    It lacks anything even resembling flow and also falls short in terms of user friendliness. Gunplay is pretty much autoaim and instant headshot - melee is simply mashing two buttons in accordance to animation and the mechanics for fishing actually made my hands go numb.

    And even though the story is good enough (though not as brilliant as many would argue) - the missions are unrewarding tours. In fact - the way they're played out - you hardly get to influence them at all as the game itself pushes you down certain paths and makes most decisions for you.

    They're so overly-scripted your actions and options constantly gets limited to a point where you might as well put the controller on the table and simply watch a movie. Most of the time you just follow character X through points A-Z then either click the objects he tells you to click or kill whomever he needs you to kill before being rewarded with a cutscene. It feels more like a tutorial that never ends than an actual game - and often it even dictates where you're allowed to move and at which pace or whether or not you're allowed to have your guns ready.

    Even your weapon setup is affected. Went through a lot of trouble choosing and prepping the desired weapons pre-mission? Tough luck as this game will revert your choices to what it wants you to use during the first cutscene (even though the weapons it forces upon you are of the same type as the ones you'd prefer).

    This to me was maybe my biggest nuisance - as I felt this game was treating me like an idiot. Some unwanted parasite in need of restraints. "Shut up and let me get on with my awesome story won't you? No ofc I won't let you influence it - I tell it best as it is - I am in charge this experience not you!!"

    As for fishing and hunting and doing bounties plus experiencing random world events - as well as crafting - they've actually done a good job. But like it always is with these things they do get repetitive after a while and starts to feel grindy. It doesn't help either that the world is so littered with animals you can almost aim the rifle randomly and still hit something nor that you'll catch a fish pretty much every time you throw your line in. It would have been better if wilderness encounters reaped higher rewards but were less frequent I feel - but it's nothing gamebreaking.

    All in all Red Dead Redemption 2 has all the ingredients to be the epic experience most reviewers make it out to be - but doesn't really come close in terms of execution. Gameplay is outdated and user-unfriendly - it lacks both polish and innovation - balance is a bit off here and there and the game fails miserably all across the line in terms of player interaction. The story and the missions are pretty much set in stone - and it refuses you to equip the chisel.

    Most of the time you're not really playing a game - merely watching events unfold the way the developers intended them to - practically sidelined and incapable of influencing anything at all.

    This game treats you more like a spectator than a participant.    … Expand
  93. Satansibles
    Nov 9, 2018
    7
    Beautiful game. Beautiful world, wonderful story I would have no issue rating this 1010 if it wasn't for the lackluster gameplay and clunky controls. If gameplay is your highest priority in a game don't get your hopes up. However if story and visuals are the main priority in a game for you I highly recommend 10/10.
  94. alisongardner
    Nov 14, 2018
    7
    One of the best games I've ever played. BUT the Hype for it is too much, at some point a lot of "things" start being repetitive to the point that removes some realism.
  95. Hk_Phil
    Nov 17, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Firstly, the review score is overhyped at a 10. I think this is around a 7. It’s good but not great. Yes there is attention to detail but it should be a fun game, not a simulator. Everything is muddy and drab and wet and depressing, with all NPCs living miserable lives. When the main character got terminal TB and started coughing up blood I quit. This downbeat town and the constant chores just wasn’t enough fun to keep me going.… Expand
  96. NuttyNutNut666
    Nov 20, 2018
    7
    i think the user score for this game is pretty accurate, it should be around a 7.5 - 8.0, let me explain:
    -The games story is padded and drawn out to hell and the prologue is one of the worst introductory sequences I have seen in a while, its just so boring .
    -The combat is not fun, there is no human way to play without aim assist because its like you are trying to guide a blind person    i think the user score for this game is pretty accurate, it should be around a 7.5 - 8.0, let me explain:
    -The games story is padded and drawn out to hell and the prologue is one of the worst introductory sequences I have seen in a while, its just so boring .
    -The combat is not fun, there is no human way to play without aim assist because its like you are trying to guide a blind person on rollerskates and at a certain point you just get bored of even aiming for the head and shooting a corridor of enemies
    -Walking in interiors and camp gripes me to no end, its the biggest sin of taking control AWAY from the player and its indicitive of modern game design, LET ME RUN!
    -No fast travelling, well there is but its pretty poop and for a game world this large why didn't they use the RDR1 system? It was perfect and made sense
    -RNG random encounters, we all know how these go, they are fun the first time but when you see the same encounter with the same dialogue, it gets stale, fast. Luckily some encounters are scripted, which is all this game seems to really do best at.
    -The UI is the worst I've ever seen in a while, lots of flicking through and lots of needless work, they could easily let the player assign items/weapons themselves, we don't need everything jammed into one menu
    -The crafting is...ugh! Just try and sit to make split point bullets, its like they didn't take into account this was a videogame
    -The amount of freedom you have during missions is very limited, your just playing how they want you to, now Rockstar have never been good at this, but they at least tried with bank heist missions in GTA5
    -Animations for every little thing, remember the worst aspect of RDR1 when you hunted something and had to wait 20 seconds for the animation to play, its all over the place here, there's animations for picking up individual items and its so slow!
    -Weapon variety is very stale, most are the same weapons as in RDR1, but at least the game has some unique weapons
    -The weapon upgrading isn't as good as it looks on the surface, you have a lot of customization but very little tangible benefit, I bet they will monetize this for online
    -The economy system is completely broken, the game will throw money at you constantly, taking out a large portion of the motivation to keep playing
    -Hunting is tedious and imo broken, animals don't always spawn and you better hope to god its a 3 star. Another thing that bugs me is the fact you now have to use specfic weapons on specific animals, but it makes no sense, if I shoot any animal IN THE HEAD with an arrow, how does it damage the pelt? It makes no sense to me.
    -The crime system is completely sensitive and punishing, you bump into somebody and the law will murder you, the game doesn't take things like self defence into account so if you kill somebody in self defence, you will be killed. Not to mention there is no way to get rid of bounties than paying. Also, is nobody is gonna mention how the bandana does ****
    In a game about being an outlaw its the most unfun outlaw game I've ever played.
    -Too many busy work elements that aren't shown to the player properly other than vague tutorials, I can't for the life of me keep my weight consistent, it would help if there was a bar or something, c'mon! SanAndreas already nailed this aspect years ago.
    -The game world is actually devoid of content, outside stranger missions and maybe 3 encounters like the incest couple, there is nothing to really do in this game other than the stuff R* laid out for you, they even made bounties entirely scripted for some reason, this game might as well not even be open world, I think it would work better for how much walking and talking there is.
    -The horse not being able to be called at a distance is such a stupid thing, nobody cares about realism, we play videogames to escape it and it actually gets in the way of enjoying your games

    I had to actively stop playing after the second chapter, the game was bogging me down and the plot honestly felt like it was going nowhere but me doing tedious busywork like tailing missions, I WANT to finish this game but its such a chore to play. Its obvious the Professional "Critics" likely rushed the main story and took notice of the attention to detail but ignored everything, not realising this is supposed to be a videogame, not a movie. I still spent 30 hours on this game and i appreciate the attempts Rockstar made, but shamefully its ruined by bad game design.    … Expand
  97. JasonSthuart
    Nov 20, 2018
    7
    RDR2 has one of the worst shooting mechanics I've ever seen in a game. It's THAT BAD. As a Rockstar fan since GTA 1 on PS1, its hard for me to believe how bad the shooting in this game is (considering how popular Rockstar is as a developer these days).

    Rockstar has a reputation for making bad shooting mechanics in its open word games, but I think the shooting in GTA 5 was very good. I    RDR2 has one of the worst shooting mechanics I've ever seen in a game. It's THAT BAD. As a Rockstar fan since GTA 1 on PS1, its hard for me to believe how bad the shooting in this game is (considering how popular Rockstar is as a developer these days).

    Rockstar has a reputation for making bad shooting mechanics in its open word games, but I think the shooting in GTA 5 was very good. I did 100% in RDR2. I got used to the controls, and even tho its shocking how the bad shooting is.

    Let's starts about the guns. For a western game, the feeling of the sidearms are terrible, they don't feel satisfying at all. The aiming is all nonsense. Sometimes your screen starts shaking like crazy, making aiming difficult. Even with lock on the aiming has issues. Not to mention the weapon sway. Trying to make it more realistic? This is not realistic. Especially when you have something like dead eye (to which you basically become a slave during the game)

    The world of RDR2 is incredible. Its a very detailed world, with one of the most incredible story and characters in videogames. But its just sad, at least for me, how disapointted the shooting mechanics are. It plays an extremely important part of the game, and it's so battered this way.

    Also it makes me think: the gaming media (for $ome rea$on) basically ignored all this fundamental issues. And not only that, what the Rockstar testers are doing there?

    The good news is: if this game is coming to pc, all this issues are gonna disappear, because I dont think rockstar cares about it too much. It will be all about RDR online from now.    … Expand
  98. bencrvr
    Dec 10, 2018
    7
    Beautiful world, bad interface. Definitely an amazing technical achievement. I enjoy riding the horse around and bonding with it and looking at the world. Hunting is pretty fun, I don't mind the animations there. But the animations get excessive and bog things down a lot and the controls often suck. The input lag sucks and the slow movement speed sucks. Deserves game of the year for theBeautiful world, bad interface. Definitely an amazing technical achievement. I enjoy riding the horse around and bonding with it and looking at the world. Hunting is pretty fun, I don't mind the animations there. But the animations get excessive and bog things down a lot and the controls often suck. The input lag sucks and the slow movement speed sucks. Deserves game of the year for the sheer scope and beauty of the world but it's often not fun to play. The story is stupid, I would have killed that Micah guy right away. Stopped playing the story when you break him out of jail and instead of blwing his brains out when he goes psycho, the game forces you to go along with him and protect him, which means killing an entire town. There's no sense of choice in the narrative until the end, which I'll never get to because **** Dutch and that gang, I'm a lone wolf. Would've left those stupid ****s behind right at the beginning. The narrative was too small in scope, I really don't give a **** about some gang, I want something a little wider in scope. The grandeur of the world felt sharply contrasted by the strict narrative. A choose your own adventure in this world would be sweet. Maybe that's what online is like, I'd better check it out.… Expand
  99. d2203282
    Nov 22, 2018
    7
    this game's open-world is awesome and graphics&audio are great. But gameplay is repetitve and boring. Gta5 is much better. The whole stroy and bunch of cutscenes is not ineresting. The entire gameplay is not improved.
  100. Thiccbanana17
    Dec 12, 2018
    7
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I'm gonna split this into two: the online and the story.
    Story: The story was absolutely perfect. Whoever wrote this game should get a reward, the dialogue is great, the characters are well written, the soundtrack is my favorite Rockstar soundtrack ever. Everything was perfect, but the game hits a low point after the Saint Denis bank heist gone wrong. Your ship somehow sinks, you somehow find every gang member on the ship together, and you somehow get caught up in a war. It just seems random. Games like five finger fillet, poker, or just sitting around a campfire at night with the gang is enjoyable. The free world is even better, the amount of detail Rockstar put in this game is incredible. One of the main problems of this game, though, is the shooting. Rockstar holds your hand and once you turn off aim assist, it's like Arthur is blind. The cover system is the worst too, and it's downright annoying. Overall, the story is a 4.5/5
    The online mode- Online is fun in the beginning, you get busted out and in the finale you get to suit up like ghetto iron Man, but from there it gets a bit slow and grindy. Game modes are fun to play, but the free-world is just so stripped of the story mode. They got rid of the side games like poker or five finger fillet, which would've been fun to play with friends. Fishing is the only game you have in online, but it's such a chore to have to rank up, get a bow, have to upgrade that bow. Overall, online in it's current state is lackluster, and a tad disappointing. 2.5/5
    Overall: 7/10    … Expand
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS4 Game of 2018
2
#2 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
2
#2 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
97

Universal acclaim - based on 99 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 99
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 99
  3. Negative: 0 out of 99
  1. CD-Action
    Nov 14, 2019
    95
    It’s an huge, outstanding piece of art – worth the hard-earned cash as well as countless hours that are needed to get to know at least some of the attractions of Rockstar’s rendition of Wild West. For those who put story first – the biggest virtue of Red Dead Redemption 2 is that it sets the stage for RDR 1 and does it wonderfully. [13/2018, p.40]
  2. LEVEL (Czech Republic)
    Dec 31, 2018
    100
    Amazing not only for Western lovers. No other game has probably offered so many options to express yourself in the open world, and at the same time did not have such an interesting, rough and moving story. A magnificent experience, with a slightly slower start. [Issue#291]
  3. TrueGaming
    Nov 30, 2018
    95
    The first new game from Rockstar for this generation of consoles doesn't disappoint, it is as impressive as you hoped it to be.
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