Red Dead Redemption 2 Forces You to Slow Down and It’s For the Better

<br>When you think of Rockstar Games, Grand Theft Auto is no doubt the first thing that pops into mind. They’ve built a multi-billionaire dollar franchise that has become a household name, but they’re a multi-studio company that has many properties in their catalogue. Midnight Club, Smuggler’s Run, Max Payne, State of Emergency, Bully and so many more, Rockstar is far more than just Grand Theft Auto. With that said, their third-person action adventure formula has worked for them in the past and so they’ve been implementing it into other titles, one for example would be Red Dead Redemption. Released over eight years ago, we dove into the Wild West like we’ve never done so before, with an open world ripe for feybreak Island exploration, a compelling story with a loveable cast of characters and a cleverly-designed shooting mechanic. Here we are again, as Rockstar has created a more colossal and immersive game that puts it in a familiar territory, all while making feel like its own identity.<br><br> <br>The most controversial games created by Rockstar have to be their Manhunt series. The first Manhunt was released in 2003 and seemed destined for damnation from the beginning. A stealth based horror game, Manhunt requires you to play as the main character James Earl Cash, a death row inmate. In order to progress through the game, you had to murder gang members, with the method of murder becoming quite graphic and obscene, in ways never seen before on any platform. It included things like suffocating people with plastic bags to the use of blunt force trauma. Manhunt created many problems for Rockstar due to its graphic nature. There were reports of a split in the company, with many people worried about how dark the game was. However, Rockstar was no stranger to controversy at the time, receiving a lot of attention over their previous GTA releases. However, Manhunt was even worse. The game was it was banned in New Zealand and confiscated in Germany. It received even more negative press when it was implicated in a UK murder, although the game was eventually absolved of all involvement. Although it received many positive reviews, was all the negativity really worth<br><br>Nintendo and Bandai Namco shook the world of Pokemon in 2014 with the announcement of Pokken Tournament, a brand new fighting game. Obviously there was a lot of excitement over this cross-over, until we found out that it was going to be Japan-only. Even worse, it would only be released in arcades. We’re hoping that Nintendo and Bandai Namco announce this game for the Wii U, and that will launch in North America and Europe.<br><br>Red Dead Redemption 2 is a long game and there’s a lot to do in it. The main campaign alone, along with a good number of Stranger missions, took us just under fifty hours to complete, which is exponentially longer than its predecessor. That’s barely even participating in the various other activities, such as hunting, gambling, bounty hunting and more. The Stranger missions are one of the bigger draws as they are once again whacky, over-the-top scenarios that fill out the world. Arthur may not have the sarcastic, comical timing of John Marston, but he still lends to each situation with his confusion. Sadly, I never saw a damsel tied up on a railroad track that needed saving. Speaking of Stranger missions, you’re also able to make choices that may affect scenes in the main story. For example, I met one woman earlier in the campaign and she appeared as a prostitute later on, which lead to a bounty immediately put on my head. Another was a surprisingly lengthy scene with a nun who I randomly bumped into once, and Arthur opened up to her. Your choices through the campaign do hold some weight as they can affect where specific people end up in the future and might even expand upon Arthur’s character more.<br><br> <br>First and foremost, let’s take a look at Rockstar Games’ track record with single-player titles. Rockstar has not delivered a new title since 2013’s _ Grand Theft Auto V _ , which is ultimately a reflection of the success of _ Grand Theft Auto Online _ . In fact, Rockstar has only released two other games since the original _ Red Dead Redemption _ and _ Undead Nightmare _ expansion in 2010: _ L.A. Noire _ and _ Max Payne 3 _ . Hopefully, the _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ team at Rockstar was fully-devoted to the title and the wait will be worth it, but a five-year hiatus from releasing any single-player title is enough to make us a bit w<br><br>As for the main story, it’s entertaining but far from revolutionary. It has its highs and lows, the lows being the lack of development outside anyone who’s within the Van der Linde gang. You get to meet a plethora of characters through Arthur’s journey and yet most of them only appear in one or two missions, outside of a couple of exceptions. Red Dead Redemptions 2 moves at an incredible pace to the point that most people in the world are disposable and sometimes unnecessary, making me wish there was more of a focus on specific story beats as it’s spread too thin in spots. With that said, outside of the phenomenal core cast, what Rockstar does right is create exciting scenarios. This is something the company is known for, crafting well-designed and often comical heists that are sure to go awry. Whether it’s robbing a train or a stagecoach, or simply walking through town, each chapter has a handful of standout missions that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Granted, the other missions are mostly broken up into your standard affairs, but at least they’re kept lively thanks to Arthur generally being assisted by another member of the gang.<br>