Game Review - Red Dead Redemption 2

I was in a dilemma for a very long time. I was a casual fan of the western genre of movies (and I mean that very loosely), with Sergio Leone's The Good, The Bad and The Ugly being the only one I had ever known and loved, and I was not sure how Red Dead Redemption 2 would resonate with me. I was in this same situation when the first one in the series was released a decade ago on XBOX 360 and hence, I gave it a pass. Now the PSN store had RDR 2 on sale and after two years of nothing but questions, I took a leap of faith. It turns out, RDR 2 is the game I never knew I loved!

Ironically, the story is not what captured me since I find myself indulging in all sorts of media properties for the wild, imaginative and the fantastical. In the case of RDR 2, it was the characters and the world. The story is good, I would say serviceable for the western genre, but the characters are extremely memorable. You take the reigns of Arthur Morgan, a bandit by fate but with a heart of gold who runs alongside his "father" Dutch with the "Van der Linde" gang. Arthur spends his time looting the rich with his friends and occasionally helps out strangers in need. Now, I am not going to summarize the story here since, frankly, I cannot lay a finger on it myself. But I thoroughly enjoyed the ride! Along your journey, you meet a wide, I mean a WIDE variety of characters with varying shades of colors. The beauty of this game is in its ability to distinguish each character from the other, be it the way they talk (voice-acting is ace), or their appearance, or their reason for existing in this world.

Speaking of the world, this game is a looker! I have the original PS4 that can only support up to 1080p, which is connected to my 4K TV. I cannot recall the last time I stopped mid-game to breathe in the beauty of a game's visuals and snap a picture using the PS capture tool. Each picture I took is worthy of being a wallpaper, if I do say so myself. Two years later, the game still holds its ground in the graphics department.

As with any artistic IPs, there are problems. Though most of them very minor, I had one BIG problem with this game - the controls. I have no other way of putting it, they simply suck! The aiming and shooting layout is fine for the most part, but the rest of the bindings are abysmal. The issue is that most of the buttons have been assigned multiple actions. This lead to Arthur doing what I totally didn't want him to do - say, shoot a person, instead of speak. Also, the game is slightly on the longer side when it didn't have to be. The writers tried to mesh the story into RDR 1 (which is chronologically a sequel) but it could have been done in other, more meaningful ways.

Regardless of its problems, for a game that had a story I cannot really explain, I give this title my whole-hearted approval. I have never finished a game by Rockstar since I find them to be too quirky for my liking. Red Dead Redemption 2 was the first one that pushed me to do it and that is saying something. I am unashamed to say I almost had a tear in my eye by the end of this journey.

Final Score - 8/10