Red Dead Redemption 2 Review — Once Upon a Time in the West

Max Payne is a name familiar to gamers everywhere. The series follows the main character Max Payne, a former DEA agent, on his revenge mission against drug dealers who murdered his wife and child. It wasn’t until the third instalment in the series that Rockstar fully took over its publication, with our hero now working in the private security sector. They took Max over to Brazil to battle against the gangs of São Paolo in a bid to rescue his boss’ wife. Don’t marry in this universe, it doesn’t seem to end w

Red Dead Redemption 2 will release for PS4 and Xbox One on October 26th, 2018. If you have yet to pick up a copy of the game, you can do that right now over on Amazon before it releases later this month.

The most controversial games created by Rockstar have to be their Manhunt series. The first Manhunt was released in 2003 and seemed destined for damnation from the beginning. A stealth based horror game, Manhunt requires you to play as the main character James Earl Cash, a death row inmate. In order to progress through the game, you had to murder gang members, with the method of murder becoming quite graphic and obscene, in ways never seen before on any platform. It included things like suffocating people with plastic bags to the use of blunt force trauma. Manhunt created many problems for Rockstar due to its graphic nature. There were reports of a split in the company, with many people worried about how dark the game was. However, Rockstar was no stranger to controversy at the time, receiving a lot of attention over their previous GTA releases. However, Manhunt was even worse. The game was it was banned in New Zealand and confiscated in Germany. It received even more negative press when it was implicated in a UK murder, although the game was eventually absolved of all involvement. Although it received many positive reviews, was all the negativity really worth

In the buildup to Red Dead Redemption 2 's release later this month, those looking for some inspiration to satisfy their craving for Western-themed experiences won’t need to look further than our picks for the Western films you should watch before playing Rockstar’s own Western epic, given the numerous cinematic references that the studio has drawn from in their previous titles.

Customization is also greatly expanded upon in Red Dead Redemption 2 with just as much (if not more) detail as in the rest of the Open world games Updates, in everything from altering Arthur’s hair style and facial hair length, to the features and styling of his weapons, and even down to his clothing and whether his shirt sleeves are rolled up or down, or if his pants are tucked in or out of his boots. The weapon customization in particular is incredibly extensive; while each weapon can be upgraded with better rifling, sights, and more, the layers of customization that players can put into how the weapons look — from the colors of their steel to the engravings and decoration on each part of the weapon — add that much more to the experience of letting the player fill Arthur’s shoes in the way that they see fit. You can see for yourself with a few of the weapons and gear that I’ve customized along the way:

Both Red Harlow/John Marston fit the narrative perfectly; both were men born of the west and knew only a certain way of life. This solidified their stories even more. While Red Harlow sought to seek out the killers of his parents, John sought out closure for a life he had perpetuated on to himself. These stories have western tale written all over them and succeed by showcasing these separate tales in realistic ways, while still playing in to the western tropes people know and love. While there were some bigger set pieces show casing these tropes, i.e. certain shoot outs, they kept the west relatively tame. Especially Red Dead Redemption.

That also goes for the band of characters that you’ll interact with throughout the story, from both the familiar faces and the new characters that you’ll encounter while roaming through the West with the Van der Linde gang. While there’s the sheer novelty of getting to be reacquainted with characters like John Marston and Dutch Van der Linde for fans of the previous game, many of the new faces in Red Dead Redemption 2 prove to be just as memorable and engaging to interact with, such as the fierce and determined widow Sadie Adler, and the unpredictable hitman Micah Bell, who Arthur has a bit of a complicated relationship with. Over time and through your interactions with the rest of the Van der Linde gang, there is a clear sense of the gang’s camaraderie and why Arthur is so fiercely protective of them, and getting to explore and deepen these relationships with the other gang members is easily one of the highlights of Red Dead Redemption 2 's narrative thanks to its impeccable writing and strong performances.

We all know that GTA V 's online multiplayer community is one of the largest and most complex communities to ever exist, containing a grand number of players all vying to be the biggest, baddest and richest. Between online missions and heists, building yourself up from the ground in-game can be a daunting and lengthy experience. Starting out with nothing up against people who have everything, you begin to ask yourself: how? How can these people have so much when you have been grinding away just to buy yourself a crappy little garage on the bad side of town. Two words: Shark Cards. A common theme in multiplayer games these days is the ability to buy in game add-ons to give yourself an advantage against opponents. GTA V is no stranger to this tactic, making purchasable Shark Cards available to boost your in-game cash for real life tender. Although many people may think this is fair game, a large number of players who aren’t willing to part with their hard earned cash have voiced their distaste for the use of the Shark Cards, as it means they are not able to compete with those who use t