The Wild West era is coming to an end and law enforcement is hunting down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who resist or surrender are killed. After a failed robbery in the city of Blackwater, Arthur Morgen, and the Van der Linden gang must flee. With federal agents and the country's top bounty hunters on their heels, the gang must rob, steal, and fight their way through the merciless heart of America in order to survive. When increasing internal conflicts threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must choose between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang he once grew up with.
With a script consisting of thousands of pages and a main storyline that includes 65 hours of gameplay, Red Dead Redemption 2's game world spans the many facets of historic America from icy mountains to growing cities and swamplands. Ride across one of the most breathtaking landscapes, cross snowstorms, and go hunting for deer with bow and arrow. As part of a gang, you amuse yourself in brothels, take part in cinematic shootings, or search through treasures by horse.
Chat up every passer-by to either engage in conversation to find out possibly valuable information, or to provoke and threaten them. Everything you do is largely communicated through the environment and through an interface that switches on contextually. If you shoot down a civilian or threaten a barmaid, you get a bad reputation. If a witness spots you, she might even tell on you at the nearest federal agent - if you don't intimidate, bribe, or kill her beforehand. Your characters values are constantly expanded as you interact with other people, the same way you slowly build up trust with your horse - your most important companion. If you exhaust your strength during long missions, you can eat food just like in other roleplaying games.
Once you immerse yourself into the world of Red Dead Redemption 2, you inevitably become aware of the enormous effort that Rockstar Games has put into the development and simulation of this western world. It is incredible, how meticulously the developers have thought about supposed subtleties and not only the cinematic staging and absolute grandeur, but also the subtle depths make the game feel so real.
JasonCrank
16 May 2021
10/10