Red Dead Redemption 2 still maintains its status as one of the best open worlds and stories in modern gaming. Rockstar is best known for its GTA series, but the Red Dead Redemption franchise showcases a deeper heart to the developer’s storytelling abilities. Red Dead Redemption 2 served as a prequel, telling a new chapter of the Van der Linde gang, and it marked a major change in gaming.
Through the years, game development has evolved rapidly, and Red Dead Redemption 2 is a showcase of just how alive a game’s world can truly feel. Protagonist Arthur Morgan illustrates the moral complexities of the Wild West, and alongside a beautifully crafted environment, Red Dead Redemption 2 has made a massive impact.
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Red Dead Redemption 2 Raised Expectations
A World Brimming With Life
One of the most impressive aspects of Red Dead Redemption 2 is the amount of detail featured throughout its world. Red Dead Redemption 2‘s map is absolutely massive. Sometimes, opting for a map that is so large can hinder the actual details of the environment. For some games, if a studio spends too much time on a world’s size, it can risk making features like NPCs and the various central locations feel lackluster. However, Red Dead Redemption 2 goes above and beyond when making every piece of its western setting feel as lifelike as possible.
Whether one goes toe-to-toe with a wild bear or a player follows an NPC around to discover that they have fully realized, detailed life, Rockstar’s attention to detail is astounding. Keeping Arthur alive in Red Dead Redemption 2 is no easy task, either, which only adds to the authenticity of the game’s setting.
Rockstar has yet to confirm Red Dead Redemption 3.
Examples of RDR2’s Impressive Details
- Arthur gains and loses weight based on his diet.
- Arthur’s beard grows over time.
- Pigs will eat dead bodies that are put in a pig pen.
- When using Deadeye in a field, one can detect the wind’s direction based on how the pollen is blowing.
A Moving Story That is Still Talked About
Games featuring open world environments usually put most of the focus on world-building. However, Rockstar has a history of blending both sprawling worlds and compelling, well-written stories into one experience. So far, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the strongest demonstration of this blend from the developer yet. This special combination of strong storytelling and an immersive world has continued to draw players to Red Dead Redemption 2 years later. Arthur’s heart-wrenching journey and climax showcase the toll of an outlaw lifestyle, providing an emotional gut punch.
He isn’t the only character arc that has helped push the industry’s storytelling forward, though. Whether it be John Marston, Dutch, Sadie Adler, or the no-good Micah Bell, each member of the Van der Linde gang featured in the story are incredibly well-realized characters. The central gang feels fully three-dimensional, adding an extra layer of life to an already rich story.
Bethesda’s Todd Howard has cited RDR2 as an inspiration for Starfield. Other games, like Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 and Tears of the Kingdom, have also been influenced by the Rockstar game.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s Legacy Lives On
Red Dead Redemption 2 has inspired a variety of games when it comes to world design and story writing, but Rockstar’s western epic still remains one of the best examples. Every corner of the game is filled with a detail that can take a player by surprise. Longtime players are still noticing jaw-dropping details even after many hours with Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar’s next venture, GTA 6, has high expectations to meet. With a fall release date planned, it will be thrilling to see just how much GTA 6 improves upon Red Dead Redemption 2‘s awe-inspiring world.
America, 1899. The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed. After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him. From the creators of Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age.
- Released
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October 26, 2018
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol