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. peedeezee
    Dec 1, 2018
    0
    I've never felt more scammed by a game before. All of the critics were going nuts for this game, calling it a masterpiece, and giving it flawless 10/10 scores. Reminded of recent games to get similar praise (BoTW, GoW, Odyssey), I pre-ordered digital...

    Red Dead Redemption 2 is overrated to the point that I think Rockstar forced critics to give good scores in exchange for early access.    I've never felt more scammed by a game before. All of the critics were going nuts for this game, calling it a masterpiece, and giving it flawless 10/10 scores. Reminded of recent games to get similar praise (BoTW, GoW, Odyssey), I pre-ordered digital...

    Red Dead Redemption 2 is overrated to the point that I think Rockstar forced critics to give good scores in exchange for early access. This game is undoubtedly a technical achievement in open world gaming, but IT HAS GLARING FLAWS that make it undeserving of the labels of perfection that are being thrown around.    … Expand
  2. Liukin
    Oct 31, 2018
    5
    Good game but PC version cost 400$(PS4+game). Thanx again Rockstar ;)
    #RDR2neverforGOTY
  3. Block5299
    Nov 12, 2018
    3
    Extremely overrated.

    80% of your time is spent traveling, long drawn out animations to inspect or collect loot, and excessive dialog. The other time is spent handling the delayed and buggy controls to operate Arthur which is incredibly frustrating. If you want to craft at a campfire, you have to manually create items one by one. You cannot craft x amount of items at once like any other    Extremely overrated.

    80% of your time is spent traveling, long drawn out animations to inspect or collect loot, and excessive dialog. The other time is spent handling the delayed and buggy controls to operate Arthur which is incredibly frustrating. If you want to craft at a campfire, you have to manually create items one by one. You cannot craft x amount of items at once like any other game. The only positive is that the world is interesting, graphics and physics are great but everything else kills this game.    … Expand
  4. SmashGames
    Nov 13, 2018
    1
    Look I'm going, to be honest, and not hop on the bandwagon, the game is simply boring. The graphics and voice acting are good but the story is so boring. The game forces you to grind way too much, like why do I need to brush my damn horse.
  5. sirbuff
    Nov 17, 2018
    1
    There's no doubt that its a gorgeous game that pushes all sorts of technical boundaries. but what's fun about a game thats nothing more than a series of chores. cut your hair, eat food, set up camp, maintain camp, cook food, feed the horse, brush and clean the horse, buy supplies, oil your gun, and on and on. I literally feel like I have a bunch of work to do. And god forbid your horseThere's no doubt that its a gorgeous game that pushes all sorts of technical boundaries. but what's fun about a game thats nothing more than a series of chores. cut your hair, eat food, set up camp, maintain camp, cook food, feed the horse, brush and clean the horse, buy supplies, oil your gun, and on and on. I literally feel like I have a bunch of work to do. And god forbid your horse dies (extremely easy) in the wild. You have (not kidding) a 45 minute walk to get back to town. It's slow and mundane game play... but it is gorgeous and impressive at what rockstar has achieved... if only they focused more on fun.… Expand
  6. backInBone
    Nov 6, 2018
    8
    Looks great but plays not so great.
    Good: graphics, story, dialogue, voice acting, attention to details, content volume, etc..
    Bad: control, gameplay, game mechanics, quest design, etc..
    It takes a lot of time to finish and it can get tiresome at times. But the main story along with the side quests in Chapter 6 got me emotional so overall it was worth it.
  7. 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
  8. PROfanboy
    Nov 14, 2018
    1
    Moim zdaniem ta gra nie zasluguje na ocene 10/10.
    Widac, ze Ci, ktorzy oceniali zbyt wczesnie oceniali za wysoko.
    Ostatnie recenzje nie ciepia juz 10. Redaktorzy stowrzyli przez swoja wlasna glupote twora, ktorego ciezko bedzie kiedykolwiek przebic. A uwazam, ze na taka wysoka ocene nie zasluguje. 9/10 byloby ok, ale nie ze prawie kazda ocena to 10/10. To samo tyczy sie oceny graczy.    Moim zdaniem ta gra nie zasluguje na ocene 10/10.
    Widac, ze Ci, ktorzy oceniali zbyt wczesnie oceniali za wysoko.
    Ostatnie recenzje nie ciepia juz 10.
    Redaktorzy stowrzyli przez swoja wlasna glupote twora, ktorego ciezko bedzie kiedykolwiek przebic.
    A uwazam, ze na taka wysoka ocene nie zasluguje.
    9/10 byloby ok, ale nie ze prawie kazda ocena to 10/10.
    To samo tyczy sie oceny graczy.
    To co teraz kazda fajna gra ma miec ocene 10/10
    Glupota.
    Czy ta gra jest idealana ???
    Sami sobie odpowiedzicie na to pytanie    … Expand
  9. proneisntsupine
    Nov 17, 2018
    4
    This game reminds me a lot of Morrowind. Not in the sense that it has a rich lore and limitless replayability, but in the sense that it feels like it was made in 2002. The movement is clunky and cumbersome. The interaction controls are painstakingly terrible. The loading screens are long and the framerate choppy. The crime and bounty system makes North Korea look like a benevolent,This game reminds me a lot of Morrowind. Not in the sense that it has a rich lore and limitless replayability, but in the sense that it feels like it was made in 2002. The movement is clunky and cumbersome. The interaction controls are painstakingly terrible. The loading screens are long and the framerate choppy. The crime and bounty system makes North Korea look like a benevolent, forgiving regime. And the honor system completely kneecaps the best (and sometimes only good) part of Rockstar games; Going on a rampage.

    I should start by saying that I haven't finished the game (and probably won't). I got to chapter 4 (compendium says I'm 45% done with the story) in the story before completely losing interest. The story so far has been uninspiring and bland, with every 'twist' being cliche and stale. The story missions feel like extended quick time events, where you fail instantly for trying to do anything but strictly follow the script. Arthur Morgan, the player character, is an absolute moron that acts like a bipolar maniac in cutscenes, with little to no consistent characterization. Dutch, the gang leader, is a complete idiot, but keeps dragging Arthur and everyone else into his hairbained schemes and messing everything up. There are multiple points in the story so far where there is no choice but to get a bounty that you have to pay yourself, which feels needlessly restrictive and kills the RPG aspect of the game.

    Crime and punishment is another glaring problem. If an NPC so much as bumps into your horse in Saint Denis, you'll instantly get charged with unarmed assault and dozens of policemen will charge, guns blazing, to their deaths over your $5 bounty. Meanwhile, you can be shot at and run over by a carriage while the police sit there twiddling there thumbs. On top of that, bounties don't go away unless you pay them. This wouldn't be a problem, if having a bounty didn't open you up to constant attacks by magical teleporting bounty hunters and effectively prohibit you from doing any sort of missions in town. On top of the bounty system, there is also the honor system. The honor system disproportionately rewards you for acting as a good Samaritan, and punishes you for acting like an outlaw. It also penalizes you for shooting back when under fire, and then again for looting the corpse of your former assailant. The biggest problem with the honor system, however, is that it gives you a long term punishment for going on a crime spree, which has historically been the best part of Rockstar games.

    The biggest problem by far, however, is the utter lack of quality of life features present in RDR2. Apparently, at some point, somebody at Rockstar decided that immersion meant utter lack of QOL features. Movement is slow, and requires stamina that must be refilled manually through eating and sleeping (there are also long term debuffs for not regularly eating). The same applies to your horse, with the added annoyance that galloping requires you to tap X, thus seriously hampering the players ability to control the camera. When in buildings or your camp, you cannot run, and are instead required to walk at a geriatric pace until you cross the area threshold and can return to your still slow but not as slow running speed. There is no map-accessed fast travel, with the only ways to fast travel being from town to town with trains and coaches, or via your a map in your camp. Getting back to the camp is often a chore, in which you are in a constant battle with your horse to not plow head long into a nearby tree. The slow movement is made worse by the sheer amount of open space to cover in the world. Further QOL issues include only being able to hunt one large animal at a time, your weapons automatically unequipping when you get on your horse, and your ammo automatically reverting to standard.

    Now for the positives. Although the world has a lot of empty space, it is very expansive, with a wide variety of environments and a lot of NPCs, flavorless as the may be. The level of detail is incredible, with your clothes carrying over dirt and blood until you bathe or rest at camp. If you interact with NPCs at a homestead, you can return later and see actual impacts of what you did to them (if you shoot someone in the leg and come back, they may have a crutch).

    Overall, there's some really great potential in this game that is handicapped by some terrible gameplay design decisions, a poor story with bad characters, and technical limitations of the Playstation    … Expand
  10. king-flames
    Nov 26, 2018
    7
    good environment ... but lack the depth in the story and slow events ... boring play style with literally nothing to do in the game and it doesn't deserve the best game
  11. Blackmeat
    Nov 29, 2018
    1
    Classic case of having incredible graphics but terrible gameplay, slow and boring horse riding sim.
  12. portmanteau
    Oct 28, 2018
    4
    I really hope they update with an option to forgo all the slow clunky stuff and experience the narrative on its own. I genuinely want to see the story, but have no interest in grinding slogs and grooming mechanics. It's like watching a thriller and they say "sir, we know where the terrorists are" and then proceed to make you sit through a realtime 40 min car journey and a stop at theI really hope they update with an option to forgo all the slow clunky stuff and experience the narrative on its own. I genuinely want to see the story, but have no interest in grinding slogs and grooming mechanics. It's like watching a thriller and they say "sir, we know where the terrorists are" and then proceed to make you sit through a realtime 40 min car journey and a stop at the petrol station. before you get there. Just because there's 60hrs of story doesn't make it good. if for most of that you're riding a horse for half an hour at a time.… Expand
  13. RustSucks
    Nov 1, 2018
    3
    I found it boring and simply didn't find anything fun about it. I've put about 10 hours in and the whole thing felt like a chore. Long transit times. Slow animations to do mundane things like search through a drawer or skin an animal or make coffee. Uninspired and repetitive game play. Outdated covershooter mechanics and environments. I'd rather be at work.

    It's super polished and    I found it boring and simply didn't find anything fun about it. I've put about 10 hours in and the whole thing felt like a chore. Long transit times. Slow animations to do mundane things like search through a drawer or skin an animal or make coffee. Uninspired and repetitive game play. Outdated covershooter mechanics and environments. I'd rather be at work.

    It's super polished and detailed and has a big open world. Whoever made this knows how to make games well. Just not how to make them fun.    … Expand
  14. MrMT
    Oct 27, 2018
    8
    It’s a beautiful story driven game, but it’s also slow and clunky. The first hours move at glacial pace, and it’s easy to make simple UI mistakes which make them even longer. Looting is slooooow. Searching cabinets is sloooow. Changing weapons is sloooow. Getting from a to b is sloooow. I may amend this over time, but so far I’d say it’s best in class as a living world with interestingIt’s a beautiful story driven game, but it’s also slow and clunky. The first hours move at glacial pace, and it’s easy to make simple UI mistakes which make them even longer. Looting is slooooow. Searching cabinets is sloooow. Changing weapons is sloooow. Getting from a to b is sloooow. I may amend this over time, but so far I’d say it’s best in class as a living world with interesting events and scenarios, but functionality is flawed.… Expand
  15. Mikeb86
    Oct 27, 2018
    8
    Playing on a standard ps4 and I have to say the game looks amazing, however there’s no denying the gameplay is slow and has a clunky feel to it but I’ve had no major issues with anything so far, no crashes, not noticed any major dips in fps, I however don’t agree with the majority of reviews, yes the open world looks great but it is nowhere near the best open world, it’s quite empty to bePlaying on a standard ps4 and I have to say the game looks amazing, however there’s no denying the gameplay is slow and has a clunky feel to it but I’ve had no major issues with anything so far, no crashes, not noticed any major dips in fps, I however don’t agree with the majority of reviews, yes the open world looks great but it is nowhere near the best open world, it’s quite empty to be honest, yes there’s lots of animals, plants etc, but I prefer locations, hidden places in open world games and on that part games like Skyrim, fallout, witcher 3 have way better and fleshed out environments to explore, this is still a great game by all means just don’t fall for the hype that this is game changing, I’m hoping it doesn’t follow the typical rockstar formula where the majority of the game is repeating the same style quest over and over, but ten hours in, so far so good, I’m impressed. Also don’t be put off by some of the reviews, there seems to be some very bitter people out there, pc players mainly, it’s kind of sad to be fair… Expand
  16. kylejung
    Dec 1, 2018
    0
    Trash. Story mode is boring. Stupid targeting system. Online is sucks also. Do you want to see the feast of psychos? Play red dead redemption online.
  17. amsterdream
    Nov 16, 2018
    0
    Huge aim lag / input lag. Terrible auto-aim. Playing is so uncomfortable. Rockstar hello, this is 2018 year, none 1998. When you fix this?
  18. Spartan91
    Dec 27, 2018
    0
    Entirely overrated game. Good on the surface, but if you play for a bit you start to notice how lazy and bad most of the gameplay actually is. They should change the name to Riding simulation Beta. Although it once again shows that critics care far more about the hype and how the game looks than how good it actually is.
    If this was an Indie game it would be fine, but as a AAA title from a    Entirely overrated game. Good on the surface, but if you play for a bit you start to notice how lazy and bad most of the gameplay actually is. They should change the name to Riding simulation Beta. Although it once again shows that critics care far more about the hype and how the game looks than how good it actually is.
    If this was an Indie game it would be fine, but as a AAA title from a big developer a game where neither movement nor any other controls can be called working is a joke. If i didn't know better i wouldn't think that this was released in 2018. The whole experience is somewhere between boredom, and frustration over the broken mechanics, barely working controls and movement that shouldn't be from this decade. The only thing this game has going for it is the scale and beauty of the map. So if that's enough for you go for it, but considering how bad the riding mechanics in this game are the enjoyment is usually accompanied by a fair bit of frustration.
    The game might deserve 2 or 3 as a score but the way they sold and hyped it makes what you actually got just plain insulting. Don't waste your money on this pile of ...    … Expand
  19. FelippeLemos
    Oct 26, 2018
    10
    the best game of generation, epic graphics, soundtrack, history, rockstar games is the best
  20. AreYouSerious
    Nov 10, 2018
    2
    This might sound harsh, but at least I finished it, so I can give you an honest overall opinion. I'm also going to try and avoid open spoilers, so it may sound a bit convoluted if you haven't finished the game.

    I, like most it seems, struggled with the pace and controls at the beginning, but once Chapter 2 came along I "got into the groove" of the game. By then, I was still hot and cold    This might sound harsh, but at least I finished it, so I can give you an honest overall opinion. I'm also going to try and avoid open spoilers, so it may sound a bit convoluted if you haven't finished the game.

    I, like most it seems, struggled with the pace and controls at the beginning, but once Chapter 2 came along I "got into the groove" of the game. By then, I was still hot and cold on it - probably sitting around a 5/10. Then at some point I actually started to enjoy it, and I would have been 7.5-8/10. But then Chapter 5 happened - and from that moment forth, any enjoyment dwindled to the point of hatred by the time I'd finished it. At the end of Chapter 6 I was so pissed off, I really had to force myself to get through the excruciating Epilogue chapters (if I want RDR 1, I'd play it - I'm here to play number 2). I know it ties in, but I wanted to keep playing the "path" I was on.

    Pros:
    World - graphically amazing. Some parts (ironically Chapter 5) look jaw-dropping on a 4K set-up.
    Voice acting - absolutely top-notch.

    Cons:
    Everything else...
    Story - what story??? "Just one more job and we're going to leave." Job goes wrong... rinse and repeat for the entire game. I've never in my life heard the same lines repeated so many times, over and over again. Stupid writing, stupid unlikable (most of them, not all) characters.

    Mechanics - I got "used" to them, but never liked them.

    Gameplay - sorry, but the "realism" is BS, and ultimately boring. Feeding/maintaining yourself and the horse gets real thin by the half way point. And the "realism" card so many blind sheep seem to be pulling, is diminished by some really stupid writing (again, Chapter 5, particularly the very beginning).

    There is ZERO progression. The guns never get any better, the fights never get any harder, you don't learn or acquire anything new - there is absolutely no sense of achievement whatsoever. Again, rinse and repeat everything to the point of nausea.

    Side "incidents" started to repeat themselves by the end.

    You'd go into missions with your preferred guns, and the game would swap them out and force you to use what it wanted you to.

    Guns would disappear out of your inventory, and you'd have to buy them again.

    I could go on and on, but there's just too many issues to put down.

    The only mission I cared about was in Chapter 6 concerning the Native Americans, and they even managed to **** that up to with some really stupid story and gameplay-mechanic decisions.

    How this has been getting 10/10's from critics is totally beyond comprehension - unless Rockstar paid for them. Same with users, but some people can't see beyond their adoration for all things Rockstar.

    I expected so much more after GTA5 and RDR (1), so to say this was a disappointment would be a (sad) understatement.    … Expand
  21. Skptkit
    Oct 28, 2018
    4
    Not bad, but overhyped. Feels like a chore at some points. Graphically breathtaking. Game punishes you for not wanting to morally align as good. Gameplay...not so much. Big hat and no cattle.
  22. Aiden_Pearce
    Oct 28, 2018
    3
    a lot of frustration with the controls; but, more with saving in general. I guess i'm experiencing a glitch in that I'll save, turn off the ps4, return to the game and be several missions behind where I left off.. if I select dual wielding weapons, get on my horse, then pull because it defaults back to one weapon; it defaults and changes quite a bit. if you attempt to rob a train, alla lot of frustration with the controls; but, more with saving in general. I guess i'm experiencing a glitch in that I'll save, turn off the ps4, return to the game and be several missions behind where I left off.. if I select dual wielding weapons, get on my horse, then pull because it defaults back to one weapon; it defaults and changes quite a bit. if you attempt to rob a train, all hell breaks lose in a matter of seconds, and it's not at all realistic where handfuls of guys on horseback begin spawning; it goes GTA on you. it's an open world, yes, BUT it's very linear as far as missions and main story. the ragdoll crashes are absurd and you think there's no way your horse can't make it over this small rock (or around) and suddenly you're both on deaths door and react like you got hit by a bus. imo, the music is underwhelming. movement in general is weird in that i am unable to just slowly jog; or, i haven't figured it out.. it's like he walks very slow, or sprints. I had to switch to free aiming early on bc the auto aiming can be frustrating, if someone is closer to you and you pull your gun the auto-aim might have you auto target the guy that's further away; it's been very weird and has been easily a detriment more than an ''assist.'' One scenario I was leading someone to Strawberry and went to pull my bow on an animal, instead it auto-targeted the pedestrian I was helping, and he ran away screaming, I holstered the weapon instantly and tried to calm him down, but there was no such option and he just continued to run; i couldn't risk re-loading an earlier point bc i didn't know how much i'd have to re-play. Also, i don't like how ''poor'' the conditions of the animal pelts are; it seems like a lot of trouble for very little money; and after 25 hours of playing the game 99% of the time they've been in bad condition and ''poor.'' So far, i've sadly enjoyed playing poker the best.

    Playing as John Marston (and, that story) was far better, imo; so far. This is a nice world to ride around in for a while; and, i'll keep playing.

    This makes me just miss the first game.    … Expand
  23. morningland
    Oct 27, 2018
    4
    This game simply has terrible, clunky controls that seriously drag down the whole experience. Moving Arthur through the world feels like walking through a swimming pool. Why, in God's name, did they need to program him to walk at a snails pace constantly? And the gun play is clunky with a poor cover system that is NOT FUN. This is a serious issue in a western game. The clear issueThis game simply has terrible, clunky controls that seriously drag down the whole experience. Moving Arthur through the world feels like walking through a swimming pool. Why, in God's name, did they need to program him to walk at a snails pace constantly? And the gun play is clunky with a poor cover system that is NOT FUN. This is a serious issue in a western game. The clear issue here is that Rockstar focused more on how the world looked rather than how it PLAYED! There are so many plain stupid decisions in the game design here. Why did they program drawing your weapon and talking to someone on the SAME BUTTON! Why? Now if you meant to simply talk to someone you end up drawing your gun and starting a fight. They were so fixated on the realism of needing to eat and brush your horse that they failed to realize that drawing your weapon on someone should represents a massive decision in the game world and should therefore be programmed in a way that it almost impossible to do by accident. With games like God of War and Spiderman delivering amazing graphics, incredibly stories AND intuitive and fun game play, this simply isn't acceptable.

    I'm going back to playing Spiderman DLC in the hopes that they patch this game up and fix it's problems    … Expand
  24. GrumblyFun
    Nov 3, 2018
    4
    This is my first video game review on Metacritic so I apologize if what I say isn't consistent with the expected tone. After 30 hours of play-through, I can safely say Red Dead 2 is a perfect example of an over-developed game. The hair-splitting attention to detail is indeed unprecedented in modern video games and I commend the development team for their hard-work.

    But let's be honest,    This is my first video game review on Metacritic so I apologize if what I say isn't consistent with the expected tone. After 30 hours of play-through, I can safely say Red Dead 2 is a perfect example of an over-developed game. The hair-splitting attention to detail is indeed unprecedented in modern video games and I commend the development team for their hard-work.

    But let's be honest, video games aren't paintings to gaze and admire with deep-thought. Video games are about gameplay and player interaction, and Rockstar seriously dropped the ball there.

    Rockstar advertised Red Dead 2 as a successor both in spirit and narrative to the original Red Dead Redemption. Official trailers showed nail-biting train robberies, intense shoot-outs, and dynamic player environments in a seemingly limitless world to explore and engage.

    Except, the game is none of these things. Yes, the game is beautiful. Yes, the voice-acting and narrative is Oscar-worthy. But the gameplay? Sloppy. Unbalanced. Broken. Simply, not fun.

    In spite of being offered an inconceivably open-world to explore, Rockstar forces players to engage an environment ruled by a police state not unlike North Korea. Look at someone too long in Valentine? Bounty. Bump into someone? Bounty. Someone tries to rob you and you defend yourself? Bounty. Fart? Bounty.

    These bounties make it near impossible to complete missions and continue the story-line. Once killing a lawman, you can no longer surrender and are essentially banned from entering the most important and interesting areas of the game.

    Kill a few NPC and rob a horse and you'll have to spend 4-10 hours grinding away to find enough cash to pay off the bounty and play the game.

    This can't be a design flaw. After 250 million dollars in development costs, no doubt Rockstar intended the player environment to be exactly as it is.

    If you anticipate the game to play like a sequel to the first one, lower your expectations. This game plays like a job rather than something fun and interesting. Hard pass.    … Expand
  25. 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
  26. SmithROrus
    Nov 17, 2018
    6
    TL;DR: BORING! The game has flawless attention to detail, awesome visuals, great open-world... but it's BORING to play.

    My first 8-10 hours were like "Wow! Oh my god! This is awesome! Yeah, let's go and do that! I love this game!". Another 8-10 hours were more like "Yeah, ok... whatever... i'll go on that mission to see what's next". But after 16+ hours i had to force myself to    TL;DR: BORING! The game has flawless attention to detail, awesome visuals, great open-world... but it's BORING to play.

    My first 8-10 hours were like "Wow! Oh my god! This is awesome! Yeah, let's go and do that! I love this game!". Another 8-10 hours were more like "Yeah, ok... whatever... i'll go on that mission to see what's next". But after 16+ hours i had to force myself to continue. I didn't like the story anymore (we're a gang, we're robbin, some guy got caught, we're bailing him out yadda yadda yadda), i didn't find the characters that much interesting. The world is empty, the side-activities are not engaging unless you're an achievement hunter (yeah yeah, hunt all epic animals, fight all gunslingers, collect all dinosaur bones, collect all cigarette pictures, *yaaaawn*). The missions are pretty much the same gameplay-wise (save for some exceptions): you ride a horse for 10 mins to start a mission, you ride a horse for 5 minutes listening to random stuff, you shoot 10 guys, you ride a horse for 5 minutes. Most of the time the world doesn't even react to the fact the you just shot tons of people (unlike when you punch someone by mistake).
    I just can't continue playing this, this is too boring.    … 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. 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
  29. CyrusDrake25
    Nov 27, 2018
    2
    Beautiful. Gorgeous. Very well scripted and voice acted. For that it gets more than a zero. For everything else, the hours of frustration and time wasting... this game is more boring than sleep.

    Don't believe the hype.
  30. Phoenix123
    Jan 7, 2022
    10
    This game is simply beautiful. Everything about the game is near perfection. The story is amazing, the environment is incredible, the characters are unforgettable. Rockstar absolutely knocked this out of the park. One of the best games I've ever played.
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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

All reviews »
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.
    Read full review
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