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Red Dead Redemption 2 Review: Is it Really A Game of the Year?
by Leefa C. artist, writer.Red Dead Redemption 2 - perhaps the most long-awaited game in 2018, and even the last couple of years. But did it meet all expectations?
Long before the release of the game, various information leaks told us what a wonderful and vibrant open world in RDR2. And the events are all non-linear and diverse, and even the physiology of animals responds to the climate, and the graphics are just fantastic. According to all preliminary data, the game simply had to become a hit and the main event of the decade in the gaming industry.
As for the open world, everything is as it was said. And the graphics also did not disappoint, as did the animation. But, as it seems to us, the game did not reach the hit of “all times and peoples”. However, I would like to start the review with positive points.
ADVANTAGES OF RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2
First of all, RDR2 is incredibly beautiful. But this beauty is not “plastic,” as often happens with Ubisoft. Each character of the game or animal is very likely to be animated - including, for various abnormal situations, such as a horse colliding with a stone, a fence, or another pet.
All random events in the game that will occur during the journey through the impressive open world are, in fact, just scripts. But unlike the same Ubisoft games, they are not repeated a hundred times. They do not repeat at all! In any case, we did not notice.
The fictional region of the Wild West USA lives its life here and does not try to entertain the main character, Arthur Morgan. How organically you “fit in” with this life depends only on you, unless you need to be prepared for long rides on a horse, during which nothing happens. That is, almost nothing: waterfalls are noisy, trees and grass sway in the wind, here and there, various animals run through, occasionally there are travelers (including those who do not want anything from you and do not try to get your attention). In general, a living open world or, as it is also called, “sandbox”.
In this world, you can find many activities. Fishing, hunting for animals - both large and small. They can be skinned and sold to the skin of a hunter, who then will make out of her clothes; and cook meat on the fire and later eat to restore health and stamina. You can also take various non-story tasks: steal and sell stagecoaches, knock out debts, find and eliminate dangerous criminals (which is ironic - after all, your hero is also a gangster). You can even search for treasure!
But the main thing is not what you can do, but how it is implemented. Everywhere the approach of "realism should be in moderation" is felt. That is, they didn’t overdo it with the naturalness of what is happening - this is still a video game, although, of course, the process of skinning animals could be made less obvious. In general, the “sandbox” is definitely a success here, with this parameter RDR2 really bypasses the vast majority of games.
However, any “sandbox” still needs a good basic game and an exciting plot. And here the problems begin.
GAME FAULTS
First of all, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the successor of all previous games from Rockstar, and in many respects, it, unfortunately, is not far from them. In Rockstar, they can make a living and big world, prescribe characters, dialogues, build a plot and a drama - you can't argue with that. However, the company is characterized by rather clumsy gunfights and very sample plot missions. For example, if at the end of GTA IV the game believes that you need to chase a long time before the main villain before entering the final battle, then everything will be so, even if you bring a grenade launcher in advance and showered the enemy with a hail of missiles.
In RDR2, everything is about the same - tremendous freedom, richness and “liveliness” of the game world turn out to be completely unnecessary and unused, once you take on another story mission. Most of these missions end in a banal exchange of fire with an incredible number of enemies. At these moments, the game no longer seems so “alive” - it behaves like a typical action movie from the 80-90s - kill a hundred “dummies” without particularly straining.
It is also worth noting that RDR2 is an exclusive for the consoles (https://www.bestadvisers.co.uk/video-game-consoles), many gamers preferring PCs were unhappy, this is what affected the sales of the game.
For example, in our walkthrough, the main character, Arthur Morgan, once rode a horse (90% of the time you passed the game, you would ride somewhere ...), moved over the bridge, and he was blocked by a hostile gang of 5-6 people on the stage. Our hero shot them all without even moving, continuing to sit high on a horse. Playing in some Uncharted, in the moments of massive skirmishes you really feel the dynamics of what is happening and feel the adrenaline rush. Here it is a very boring and sluggish process. However, it is quite easy to shoot 5-6 gangsters, in a typical mission there will be five times more of them.
Also, the plot tasks practically do not use various activities like the same hunt. That is, as soon as we complete the “tutorial”, all that remains for us to do according to the plot is to ride a horse for a long time (alone or with satellites) and kill the crowds of enemies. These events do not even depend on the mission strings. Heroes can agree to go fishing, and all will end with another boring firefight. Or we will go to look for a new place for the camp, and we will run into the next bandits. The main problem is not even in the number of shootings, but in the fact that it’s boring to shoot here and you don’t want to do it again. But, unfortunately, we have practically no choice.
Additionally, the game for some reason inserted the element of pumping. The more you, say, run, the higher the stamina. That's just why we need it, we did not understand. Well, at least there is no annoying “pumping tree” here. It would be completely superfluous.
TOTAL
Despite all the drawbacks, to call Red Dead Redemption 2 a bad game does not turn the language. This is definitely a good game, especially against the background of patterned stampings like the latest parts of Assassin’s Creed or Tomb Raider. However, Rockstar did not overcome its main problems - the shooting remained boring and clumsy, and the missions were of the same type and too linear for such a living and wonderful world. It would be great to play something else in the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 - at least in the same Zelda: Breath Of The Wild or The Witcher 3. That would definitely be a hit for all time.
- Graphics: 10/10
- Control: 7/10
- Gameplay: 8/10
- Overall rating: 8/10
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About Leefa C. 
artist, writer.
0 connections, 0 recommendations, 6 honor points.Joined APSense since, January 8th, 2019, From London, United Kingdom.
Created on Jan 8th 2019 07:17. Viewed 337 times.
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