While both the storytelling and gameplay bring Red Dead Redemption 2 's Western world to life, the visuals and soundtrack truly stand out and make Rockstar’s newest open-world striking and beautiful. The game’s Western environments come to life in vivid detail and color, and I don’t think it will be hard at all for players to find themselves stopping to simply appreciate the little details and moments that truly bring a sense of place to this world, especially with the game’s vast ecosystem and variety of wildlife.
The newest trailer for _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ was released yesterday by Rockstar Games. You can bet that excitement is only continuing to grow as the long-awaited sequel races to its release date of October 26th for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox
First and foremost, let’s take a look at Rockstar Games’ track record with single-player titles. Rockstar has not delivered a new title since 2013’s _ Grand Theft Auto V _ , which is ultimately a reflection of the success of _ Grand Theft Auto Online _ . In fact, Rockstar has only released two other games since the original _ Red Dead Redemption _ and _ Undead Nightmare _ expansion in 2010: _ L.A. Noire _ and _ Max Payne 3 _ . Hopefully, the _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ team at Rockstar was fully-devoted to the title and the wait will be worth it, but a five-year hiatus from releasing any single-player title is enough to make us a bit w
Red Dead Redemption was not only one of 2010’s best selling games , it was one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year . The compelling story, detailed game mechanics, and the vast swathes of dangerous wilderness kept players invested for years after its release. The sandbox world of the wild West gave players their own version of Westworld to explore, free to capture bounties holed up in the mountains or aid revolutions south of the border to their heart’s desire. The random encounters riddled across the map kept players on their toes while making the world feel more real and chaotic. And that was all only in the single player version of g
Perhaps the most defining characteristic of the Wild West is the vast amounts of wildlife that call it home. Red Dead Redemption did a great job of introducing this by giving players the opportunity to hunt (or get hunted by) animals like bears, coyotes, and wild boars. It would be amazing to see Rockstar expand upon this feature. Imagine the player not only being to able to bait a falcon, but then be able to train it and help the player hunt and explore. Maybe the player could also break in unorthodox animals to ride, like a moose or buffalo. Or instead of just coming across a black bear or two, get to see a large sloth of them moving across a meadow knowing full well if they sense you, you’re d
The hardcore mode in Red Dead Redemption left a lot to be desired. Instead of shifting the gameplay focus to survivalist activities, (hunting, finding shelter) it mostly just made it harder to kill enemies . A mode that would force a player to stock up his saddle with food or be prepared to hunt or steal for a long journey across the map would make for the ultimate Western experience. Simply trying to stay alive for a couple of days should be a challenge as plays fend themselves off from bandits, starvation, bobcats, and the weather. It would also make beating the game in Hardcore mode that much more rewarding. While it may come off a bit too „simulator” to some, it would offer versatile game play and better replay va
As a prequel, Red Dead Redemption 2 is set well over a decade before the events of Red Dead Redemption , which takes players into the thick of the Van der Linde gang’s story at the peak of their infamy in the great American West. Where Red Dead Redemption followed John Marston’s search for vengeance many years after the gang’s disbanding, Red Dead Redemption 2 instead follows Arthur Morgan, the right-hand man of Dutch Van der Linde, as he fights to protect the rest of the gang in their journey to stay one step ahead of the law, and the imminent demise of their outlaw life by modern society.
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
From the beginning of the game when you enter the bustling Western town of Valentine, to the city streets and electric glow of Saint Denis, every detail, environment, Pronghorn Ranch debate and setting is meticulously crafted and offers a ton for the player to explore and interact with. By holding the L2 button (as we played on PS4) to focus on a specific person, object, or animal, Arthur has a range of options to interact with them, whether it’s to greet a traveler on the road, robbing a store clerk, picking up an object to observe it in greater detail, and yes, even down to petting a dog or brushing your horse’s coat. These types of interactions aren’t just limited to characters that are integral to the story; you can engage with pretty much any other person or animal that you find out in the world, and having that possibility to engage with NPCs in such a way adds so much to how far Rockstar has gone to make Red Dead Redemption 2 's world feel deep and tangible.