Three Years On, Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Still The Most Impressive Game Ever

TheGamer writes: As Red Dead Redemption 2 turns three, its legacy remains untouched.

[spicelicka]

It really is, but they need to release a 60 fps patch on next gen. I bet they'll charge for it though.

[LoveSpuds]

Agreed, I am holding out hope for a full on remaster type update for PS5 though 🙏

[PhillyDillyDee]

They absolutely will. They wouldve done it already otherwise.

[ElvisHuxley]

I never got into it. Seemed like the story had the groundwork to be great, but I couldn't get past all the busy work. It was as if their top priority was to make the game feel realistic, to the point of absurdity. The graphics were great, the gunplay seemed solid as well, but the open world gameplay mechanics weren't for me. One of these days I'm sure I'll go back to it, on PC this time, now that I finally snagged a 3000 series GPU. Hopefully the pretty graphics will make up for the things that annoyed me last time around.

[phoenixwing]

Pretty graphics don't change the fact it's more a simulator than action

[Darkborn]

Open world games are more of a chore for me too. I'm one of those guys that has to explore everything possible before moving on, even in linear games. So I'm always back tracking and doing side quests and trying not miss a single thing. In the end its my demise because stuff like assassins creed turns into 40 hours in the starting areas for me. So I truly get it. I couldn't finish this game either and stopped somewhere midway in act 2 or 3.

[ElvisHuxley]

I get it, which is why I finish very few open world games. If it has a good story, I'll play longer, but eventually all of the busywork and fluff wear me out. There are a few exceptions, Horizon Zero Dawn springs to mind, I think that had more to do with me being hooked on the gameplay than anything else though. The story itself was okay, it had a good premise, but the delivery and "twist" were just okay IMO. Characters were rather forgettable too if I'm being honest. Another example would be Witcher 3, but in the opposite direction. Gameplay was just okay, but the story, characters, and even side quests were all fantastic, while the gameplay was mostly just serviceable. There is one more, but I won't mention it as it's rather controversial, lol.

[Snakeeater25]

Yeah it’s like death stranding. Nice visual but very boring to play

[ElvisHuxley]

I disagree. It's a bit of a mind!@#$, but there is a great story in there. Plus they did something I've never seen done in a game before, they incorporate the gameplay into the narrative, heavily. I am a sucker for creativity.

[Traecy]

No comparison to Death Stranding.

[MadLad]

Death Stranding... just couldn't get into it. I appreciate doing something different in terms of gameplay. Experimentation.
But the game is just too long for me. It became monotonous.
Give me a 3 - 10 hour experience, and it feels like a perfect fit if executed well. Start, middle, finish.

10 hours in, the game just got way too monotonous and annoying; knowing I had so much of the game left, I just quit then and there.

[neutralgamer1992]

ElvisHuxley

Agreed. I started and after few hours I just wasn't have fun. Game is real, it's beautiful and real piece of art

But:

Long animations

Instead of automatically picking up ammo and money from dead enemies you have to go through 3 to 5 second of animation each and every time to loot a body

It has a broken fast travel system and the only reason it was never fixed is so they can say the game is X number of hours because if they're allowed fast travel most people would just use that and the game would be half of the length

Instead of making the travel interesting like the first game it is just like old GTA games on PlayStation 2 generation where you had to go point A to get the mission, point B go do the missions and travel back to point A to finish the mission. Now if it had a legit fast travel system it would not be an issue because you could travel back to areas he had already visited but no you have to ride back each and every time

And when you give up and tell yourself I'm just going to use cheat codes you will realize that you can use them but you cannot save your progress so there's no way to use them and finish the game unless you leave your system on for days at a time

And I know fun is subjective each person may feel differently. Some people love the simulation aspect of RDR2. In my opinion GTA trilogy on PS2 were the best games because they were more about fun and less about realism. GTA 4/5 is more realistic and 5 we as a lot more fun than 4. But saints row 2/3 were more fun than GTA 4/5(once again my opinion) I really liked GTA 4 finished it twice and GTA 5 same and in my opinion GTA 5 was a lot more fun than GTA 4 and made major improvements but the story in 4 was more focused while with 3 characters the story was sort of all over the place in 5. Many will read this comment and think I'm bashing GTA is one of my favorite series and I am in no way saying it is not fun it's just the games in the original trilogy we were a lot more fun and about doing crazy stuff

But I feel like in today's gaming industry especially the one thing missing in a lot of games is fun and a lot of reviewers don't even talk about fun aspect in their views they talk about everything else that's what realism

[fitofficial]

Agreed. They focused so much on realism that the game was rarely fun. It was a chore to control too.

[SoulWarrior]

I found it to be typical rockstar clunk controls and mechanics wise, it also went way overboard with the realism, not fun at all imo.

[Dandizzle]

That explains why it sold so poorly and so many people hate it

[phoenixwing]

It sold so well because ppl are graphics whores and rdr 1 is good. The sequel plays way more realistic and I regret buying into the hype

[Germaximus]

Dandizzel, people are sheep. Your argument is nonsnese.

[SoulWarrior]

Not saying it's a bad game by any means, I simply find the actual gameplay and mechanics not fun, it's just super clunky, why do I have to tap a button to run? Why is the gunplay so awkward to other third person games?

[fitofficial]

People can have different opinions than you. A lot of us had major complaints with the game and wanted less realism with more fun. If a game's popularity is what matters Fortnite's thataway.

[MadLad]

I'm playing it for the first time as we speak. I won't say I don't find it fun. I'm having a good time.
But it's already pretty tedious in places.

[Outlawzz]

If graphics and realism impress you then sure, I think it's a good contender.

Impressive is really just too vague of a description.

[BehindTheRows]

Nah. It’s impressive, but not the most impressive I’ve seen/played.

[Jin_Sakai]

Then what is? Don’t leave us hanging.

[gamer9]

Any game with fast travel at launch ha ha. The whole trucking back to camp got old fast. Should've been pull up map, fast travel, like every other open world game. The shooting was rather weak per rockstar. The game world was amazing and immersive.

[BehindTheRows]

Don’t leave “us” hanging? I don’t see where you listed any games. 😉

[Germaximus]

Some of the worst gameplay in any game ever created.

[Traecy]

Subjective.

[taurul]

And it will be for generations to come! It's in my top 5 all time games. It's one of the most complete games I've played and the most complex one in terms of scale.

1. Gothic
2. Half Life 2
3. Metal Gear Solid 3/4
4. RDR 2
5. Witcher 3
etc...

[JEECE]

Obviously this can be subjective, but if we were to agree on objective criteria for a game to be "inpressive," this game certainly has a strong case. I don't mean like "fun," because that is subjective, I mean things like the number of systems in the game, the level of detail, the ability to interact with the world, amount of unique dialog, etc. Even a lot of the critics of the game recognize it is complex in these areas.

[fitofficial]

Clunky controls, generic missions, same Rockstar experience we've gotten since GTA IV, nearly infinite fetch quests and checklists...

If you haven't played many games it might be the most impressive game ever. From where I sit it was an overblown, over-hyped slog that focused everything on realism and forgot about fun.

...but hey, the horses pissed constantly and some of the side missions were entertaining, so not a total bust.

[jukins]

Just couldnt get into it like the first one.

[B_Rian89]

I've beaten the game 4 times so far, which is unheard of for me these days, since I rarely go back to games once I've completed them once. He only other games I've completed multiple times last gen was God of War and Naughty Dog's games. I'm holding out for a RDR2 PS5 update before I jump in again.

[UNCHARTED2FANATIC]

As someone who absolutely loved RDR 2010, RDR2 was probably the most disappointing game ever for me. Mostly from a gameplay perspective just a complete slow borefest

[whitbyfox]

Just playing this on PS5 for the first time. Amazing game.
Got Red Dead 1 lined up to play next.

[GhostScholar]

The last 20 minutes or so of that game is so incredibly compelling. I cried like a baby. I'm not a GTA fan, but red dead 2 is possibly the best game ever made.

[repsahj]

...I've plat the first one on ps3, but don't know I didn't bother to buy or even barrowed 1 from my friend.

[gammaray13]

hahahaha this would have to the biggest joke on the internet

[PeaSFor]

Felt boring to me, was almost like a chore to finish.