Due to all of this, it is of no surprise that Red Dead Redemption 2 is gearing up to be one of 2017’s most hotly anticipated games of the year. Despite Rockstar’s pristine record of releasing great quality games, they’ve set quite a high bar for themselves in attempting to outdo the lightening in a bottle they caught with RDR . However, if they stay true to the atmosphere and tone of the first game, and follow this advice, they’ll be releasing an even more legendary game than its predeces
But… we’ve been here before, haven’t we? It’s a recently-scribed tale as old as time: A sophisticated, wondrous looking trailer drops for an upcoming big-name title. Gamers then drop some serious coin on pre-orders for the game, only to be delivered a half-finished, buggy game that fails to meet expectations. This was notoriously the case for both _ No Man’s Sky _ and _ Sea of Thieves
What adds to the wariness is the fact that Rockstar – a Take-Two Interactive subsidiary – had originally intended on releasing DLC for _ GTA V’s _ story mode, which never actually came to fruition. Then, when asked about the planned release of the DLC during a 2015 earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that story-based DLC was never discussed. In 2017, Rockstar finally shed some light on the lack of story-mode DLC, when Director of Design, Imran Sarwar, stated that, “it was not really a conscious decision, it’s just what happened.” Sarwar went on to state, “At Rockstar, we will always have bandwidth issues because we are perfectionists and to make huge complex games takes a lot of time and resources. Not everything is always possible, but we still love single-player open-world games more than anything.” The latter sentence gives some hope that _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ will receive the attention and treatment that it rightfully deserves, but while any game is in development, the mention of studio “bandwidth issues” is sure to send shivers down gamers’ spi
While the map has yet to be released for Red Dead Redemption 2 , one can assume that there will be many bodies of water featured, much like in the previous game. Unfortunately, the bodies of water that were featured, mainly the San Luis River, were pretty static and Palworld Advanced Bow mostly just served as barriers to parts of the map yet to be unlocked. The truth is, during the time of Frontier’s men, boats were an essential mode of transportation. Getting to paddle down river in a canoe as a giant casino ferry boat passes by would make for a much more fun and immersive experience. Getting to then hijack and send that giant casino ferry boat over a waterfall would just be the violent cherry up
Compared to the themes of revenge and justice that drove John Marston (and the player) throughout the story of Red Dead Redemption , the shift that Rockstar puts on to the Van der Linde gang as a whole places Red Dead Redemption 2 ‘s storytelling in a very different context, but one that is just as compelling and engaging as John’s hunt for the members of his former gang. Despite the fact that the game is a prequel, which gives players some sense of awareness as to the fates of certain characters such as John Marston, Dutch Van der Linde, Javier Escuela, Bill Williamson, and more, the story in Red Dead Redemption 2 — without getting too thick into the weeds of spoilers — takes so many twists, turns, and surprises that it holds its own in crafting an engaging tale with so many exceptional moments to enjoy.
That last point, in particular, is one of the most significant driving forces behind the story in Red Dead Redemption 2 , as the Van der Linde gang’s outlaw way of life quickly comes to a head against the advances of modern life and civilization. Taking place in 1899, the turn of the century and growing government intervention into the West has Dutch, Arthur, and the rest of the gang embark on a journey to seek refuge from the forces that are seeking to eradicate them entirely.
Throughout this review, I may have seemed a little hard on Red Dead Redemption 2, but the overall package is nothing short of spectacular. It has its share of issues involving controls, but the vast majority of the experience is unforgettable. Rockstar has created the single most immersive Wild West game yet, with an intelligently-written story, a compelling core cast of characters, highly-engaging scenarios and a diverse open world to explore. The visuals are also truly stunning, with a substantial amount of detail put into each environment and character model, not to mention the extraordinary lighting techniques. The world is just ripe for exploration; it may not be the densest place out there, and I do wish there was a larger emphasis on hunting, but there’s still a ton to see and do. With around fifty hours to complete the main campaign, and even more if you do all of the other side activities, a game such as Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t come around this often. All I can say is wow.