Red Dead Redemption 2: First Impressions

I was going to wait for the Steam release of Red Dead Redemption 2, but when I discovered it would require the Rockstar launcher anyway, I figured I might as well purchase it through that platform and save an extra 15 quid. I also, coincidentally, had a week off work, so I had some free time to really get stuck into it.

I guess the first thing to address is the launcher itself and any technical issues I’ve had. The launcher is . . . basic, to say the least, but I’ve not had any problems with it. No crashes, no update issues. It works. That’s all it does, but I guess that’s all it really needs to do. As for the game itself, I’ve had a couple of crashes during my first 15 or so hours of play, but no other problems.

I’ve not encountered any bugs or had any issues with any quests. In terms of performance, I’m running on mostly High settings with a few cranked up to Ultra and I’m getting a fairly stable 60FPS, with the occasional dip into the 40-50 range depending upon the scene. But given the slow paced nature of RDR2 it’s not particularly noticeable.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a prequel to the original in which you play as Arthur Morgan, a member of the Van der Linde gang. If you’ve played the original then some of these characters will already be familiar to you and you’ll also know where their path will eventually lead. It certainly gives the game something of a bitter-sweet edge to its story. 

And the story and these characters are really at the heart of RDR2. The game revolves around you and your gang. They’re your family. A wild, dysfunctional family, perhaps, but a family nonetheless. The game opens with a fairly short initial chapter that not only serves to introduce you to the basic gameplay mechanics, but also to the people with whom you’ll embark upon this journey.

And these introductions continue into Chapter 2, which is when the game really begins to open up and let you explore its impressive open world. Each early mission serves a dual purpose – to unlock new weapons, tools or gameplay systems and to let you get to know another member of your gang. These missions also expand as you progress, pushing you further and further from your camp.

It’s a clever means of progression that not only ensures you get to know each gang member in turn, but also unlock new tools and systems at a steady rate, whilst also revealing more and more of the open world.

At the time of writing, I’ve just wrapped up Chapter 2 and my gang and I have relocated to a new location in a new part of the map. I don’t believe this will be the last relocation and it’s another clever way of continually pushing you across the map throughout the course of the game. And I have to say, I really love the gang camp.

The camp can be improved over time by investing in various upgrades, some of which may be purely cosmetic, but others which offer useful gameplay benefits – such as a fast travel map, or the ability to recall your horse to camp. You can restock food and ammo, catch some sleep, have a shave or change your clothes. But the camp is more than just a rest and resupply point – if the gang is your family, then the camp is your home.

One of the things I love most about RDR2 is the contextual conversations. You can speak with other gang members within the camp and whilst there are the expected ‘stock’ replies, there’s lots of situation specific dialogue. Some will be comments about current events, or recent missions you’ve undertaken, whereas others will refer to whatever activity your currently engaged in. The gang have their own routine. They talk, argue, drink and sing amongst themselves. They don’t just ignore you if you pass by or sit down with them, but actively engage with you.

And this contextual dialogue applies to the wider world, too. You can greet and converse with everyone you encounter. You can be rude, attempt to defuse a hostile situation with words, or perhaps trigger a conflict. And NPCs will sometimes refer to recent events that you were a part of. In one case, I was approached in a saloon by an NPC who wanted to talk about a bar fight I was in a few days before. In another, an NPC who I’d helped on the road arrived in town and offered me a free item of choice from the local gunsmith.

Sure, you can argue that these things are all just cleverly disguised scripted events, but the way they’re presented in the game feels very natural and spontaneous. There’s a real emphasis on immersion in RDR2, far more than any game I’ve played in recent memory. All of the expected gameplay systems are present, but they’re disguised in such as way as to make everything feel more ‘real’.

To give a more specific example – looting bodies. In say, The Division 2, loot dropped by enemies pops up in a little virtual box from which you can loot a specific item or everything at once. It’s a fast and efficient system, but hardly realistic. But in RDR2, Arthur has to physically search each and every body. It’s a short animation, no more than a few seconds, but like so many minor aspects of RDR2, it builds a sense of realism, carefully disguising the video game systems running beneath.

And I can totally see why some players would be irritated by this. Why they’d be annoyed by having to take their time to search every dead body, or why they don’t want to have to remember to retrieve their weapons from their horse every time they dismount. I can see why some players may find these little minor systems based upon realism to be tedious and unnecessary.

But RDR2 wants to immerse you in its world and isn’t afraid to slow things down and make the player take their time. And for me, it really does work. It’s not just one single thing, but a combination of design choices, each of which build an incredibly immersive and realistic world to explore.

RDR2 isn’t afraid to take things slow, to build to the action. And the game gives you plenty to keep you busy outside of the story based missions – hunting, fishing, bounty jobs, treasure maps, robberies, ‘stranger’ side missions and all manner of random encounters throughout the world as you explore.

Okay, I should probably wrap this up so I’ve got some material left for my review. That review may be some time away because once I complete the single player side of RDR2, I also want to get stuck into the Online mode. But at the moment, I’m thoroughly enjoying RDR2. It’s a very impressive game with amazing visuals and an incredible attention to detail. It’s immersive, fun and thoughtful. If it keeps this quality up, we’ll have another strong contender for my GOTY.