REVIEW : Red Dead Redemption 2 ( XBOX one X)
Outlaw life is full of struggle with an unending quest to acquire as much money as possible. You play as Arthur Morgan, member of Van der Linde gang. Red Dead Redemption 2 is all about keeping the gang together and ultimate survival.
The story is filled with feud with O’Driscoll family along with pursuits with bounty hunter and Pinkerton Agents. The story is deliberately slow paced and its for the better. Post chapter 3, things pick up and tend to get a little chaotic. Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are like slow paced tutorials to get you familiarized with everything Red Dead Redemption 2 has to offer and it offers quite a lot.
The story telling in RDR2 is exceptional and Arthur Morgan is one of the best protagonist Rockstar has ever created. As with all Rockstar games, it is the open world who is the real star here, features rich diversity in terrain type from grassy plains to snowy mountains. All this plus filled to the brim with details. The whole world is living and breathing and feels quite natural with how the player interacts with it. The Open World is graphically impressive too and playing it on XBOX one X is a treat to the eyes.
Along with the main story there is lot of side quests to do, which are very well crafted, think on the level of Witcher 3 Side Quests. Along with Side Quests there are challenges to do for side activities like hunting, poker, fighting etc.
An Open World so big and detailed as Red Dead Redemption 2 is bound to have bugs like AI allies running off towards the enemy and gang members disappearing from camps. Along with the bugs the game is just too meticulous about things. Cleaning guns before using them, cleaning and taking care of the horse and others which slow the pace way down to an already slow-paced game.
Arthur Morgan actions have consequences, just like the previous games, the Honor rating is back and this dictates how the NPCs react toward you and can impact the main story missions as well.
The main story lasts about 60 hours and there is still more content to explore, that can have you playing for 50 more hours. Red Dead Redemption is an amazing adventure that absorbs you in its world. The story is complimented by amazing sound track and great sound effects. Along with brilliant voice acting, the total package is a benchmark to which future games would be compared. John Marston also makes appearance with same voice over artist.
Overall gameplay mechanics are robust with slight auto aim helping you aim with the controller. The horse riding is on point and feels satisfying or you could use the train to traverse the vast map. If train is not available you can rely on stagecoach to take you the distance.
