Red Dead Redemption 2

 PlayStation 4
Metascore
97

Universal acclaim - based on 99 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 98 out of 99
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 99
  3. Negative: 0 out of 99
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  1. Slant Magazine
    Oct 25, 2018
    70
    Red Dead Redemption 2's evocative, often beautiful sense of place exists insofar as it is still convenient to the player, which harms some of the desperation and hardship the game means to convey.
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  1. Ars Technica
    Oct 25, 2018
    Red Dead Redemption II is a technical marvel, attempting to encapsulate one man’s story in the West. It succeeds in crafting an enrapturing world but not without some uncomfortable compromises. Buy it.
  2. British GQ
    Oct 26, 2018
    This is a generation-defining release...It's a landmark moment for the open world genre, and for the medium as a whole.
  3. CNET
    Oct 25, 2018
    Red Dead 2 feels like a game that you can play for months and months. It's a world that is extremely easy to get lost in, wherein a masterful collection of details are all working together to trigger your senses into believing everything you see. There's no shortage of original, compelling gameplay to take part in and it goes without saying that no two playthroughs will look alike.
  5. Eurogamer
    Oct 25, 2018
    An astounding open world unlikely to be rivalled until well into the next gen, saddled by a throughline from the last. [Eurogamer Recommended]
  6. Kotaku
    Oct 25, 2018
    But there is a pulse pumping through this techno-artistic marvel. This game has heart; the kind of heart that is difficult to pin down but impossible to deny. It is a wonderful story about terrible people, and a vivacious, tremendously sad tribute to nature itself. There is so much beauty and joy in this expensive, exhausting thing. Somehow that makes it even more perfect—a breathtaking eulogy for a ruined world, created by, about, and for a society that ruined it.
  7. Mashable
    Oct 25, 2018
    This sequel makes both the first game and John Marston's overall story better and more meaningful. Red Dead Redemption 2 is at once a startling evolution of the Rockstar Games formula and everything a fan could hope for from a Red Dead Redemption sequel.
  8. The A.V. Club
    Oct 25, 2018
    The game takes its time coming into focus, but when it does, it’s a remarkably sober, stately experience, telling a large story through measured interactions and a handful of rich but clearly defined systems.
  9. The Jimquisition
    Oct 25, 2018
    As a game, Red Dead Redemption 2 is inspired and brilliant, as the product of a 60+ hour work week should be at bare minimum. As an overly detailed cowboy simulator, not so much. Fortunately, Red Dead is big enough for everybody, no matter their tastes or levels of patience. [Jimpressions]
  10. The Verge
    Oct 25, 2018
    The most convincing open-world game ever made.
  11. VG247
    Oct 25, 2018
    Red Dead Redemption 2 is a brave prequel that isn’t afraid of taking risks. It is innovative, surprising, stunning, dramatic, and generous - a highlight of this generation and a benchmark for other open world games to aspire to.
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best PS4 Game of 2018
2
#2 Most Discussed PS4 Game of 2018
2
#2 Most Shared PS4 Game of 2018

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Generally favorable reviews- based on 20343 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 17,220 out of 20343
  2. Mixed: 1,223 out of 20343
  3. Negative: 1,900 out of 20343
  1. OVLange
    Oct 26, 2018
    10
    You know if a game goes as far as detail to make you brew coffee via campfire before drinking it, or getting your weapons from a horse'sYou know if a game goes as far as detail to make you brew coffee via campfire before drinking it, or getting your weapons from a horse's satchel, or literally watching it's testicles shrink in cold weather, that this is game of the decade material.… Full Review »
  2. MisterLupus
    Nov 10, 2018
    7
    I'll start off by saying it's impossible to take game reviewers serious these days. Who are these people? A game rated at 97 should be soI'll start off by saying it's impossible to take game reviewers serious these days. Who are these people? A game rated at 97 should be so groundbreaking and awesome - so flawless and polished - whoever made it deserves to be deified. At that rating we're talking wonders of the world - something only the gods could do better - an event of historical proportions.

    And let's face it - Red Dead Redemption 2 does not deliver that quality. It's neither groundbraking, flawless or polished - and even though certain aspects of it does cross the border to what should be considered awesome others again falls miserably short of even seeing that border.

    Graphics are stunning, world is rich on content and the general atmosphere really sucked me in. Attention to details is almost unparalleled. The story is predictable and feels a bit forced - some turn of events simply doesn't make sense and the characters turn either dumb or genius according to what's convenient in furthering the storyline - and it's also quite quite static.

    All in all it's not very "organic" nor does it allow for the player to interact with it in any profound ways.

    But despite not being the pinnacle of penmanship nor deeply influenced by the player's decisions - it did entertain me and in addition to falling in love with the world itself I also ended up becoming invested in the characters and even sad to see some of them go.

    Rockstar is - as always - brilliant in creating the framework of a truly inspired game. Rockstar is also however - as always and unfortunately - mediocre at best when it comes to everything else.

    Gameplay suffers profoundly in this game. The controls are clumsy and bad - needlessly hard to navigate, often unresponsive - and both movement as well as combat are clunky to say the least and altso unimaginative. Something youd expect from a game made ten years ago - not a more recent AAA-Production.

    It lacks anything even resembling flow and also falls short in terms of user friendliness. Gunplay is pretty much autoaim and instant headshot - melee is simply mashing two buttons in accordance to animation and the mechanics for fishing actually made my hands go numb.

    And even though the story is good enough (though not as brilliant as many would argue) - the missions are unrewarding tours. In fact - the way they're played out - you hardly get to influence them at all as the game itself pushes you down certain paths and makes most decisions for you.

    They're so overly-scripted your actions and options constantly gets limited to a point where you might as well put the controller on the table and simply watch a movie. Most of the time you just follow character X through points A-Z then either click the objects he tells you to click or kill whomever he needs you to kill before being rewarded with a cutscene. It feels more like a tutorial that never ends than an actual game - and often it even dictates where you're allowed to move and at which pace or whether or not you're allowed to have your guns ready.

    Even your weapon setup is affected. Went through a lot of trouble choosing and prepping the desired weapons pre-mission? Tough luck as this game will revert your choices to what it wants you to use during the first cutscene (even though the weapons it forces upon you are of the same type as the ones you'd prefer).

    This to me was maybe my biggest nuisance - as I felt this game was treating me like an idiot. Some unwanted parasite in need of restraints. "Shut up and let me get on with my awesome story won't you? No ofc I won't let you influence it - I tell it best as it is - I am in charge this experience not you!!"

    As for fishing and hunting and doing bounties plus experiencing random world events - as well as crafting - they've actually done a good job. But like it always is with these things they do get repetitive after a while and starts to feel grindy. It doesn't help either that the world is so littered with animals you can almost aim the rifle randomly and still hit something nor that you'll catch a fish pretty much every time you throw your line in. It would have been better if wilderness encounters reaped higher rewards but were less frequent I feel - but it's nothing gamebreaking.

    All in all Red Dead Redemption 2 has all the ingredients to be the epic experience most reviewers make it out to be - but doesn't really come close in terms of execution. Gameplay is outdated and user-unfriendly - it lacks both polish and innovation - balance is a bit off here and there and the game fails miserably all across the line in terms of player interaction. The story and the missions are pretty much set in stone - and it refuses you to equip the chisel.

    Most of the time you're not really playing a game - merely watching events unfold the way the developers intended them to - practically sidelined and incapable of influencing anything at all.

    This game treats you more like a spectator than a participant.    … Full Review »
  3. jj350
    Oct 27, 2018
    5
    This game is a good example of why "professional" video game critics cannot be trusted in 2018. Here they are trying to sell this game asThis game is a good example of why "professional" video game critics cannot be trusted in 2018. Here they are trying to sell this game as perfection and it is a flawed gem at best. Does it look great? Yes. Does it do a good job of presenting it's story and characters? Definitely. Is it fun to play? Not really. Is the gameplay perfect? Very far from it.

    What we have here is a beautifully presented example of how overrated and overhyped a video game can be. No matter how good looking a game is, and no matter how well they present the story and characters, if the gameplay isn't fun the game just isn't fun. That is the problem here, a distinct lack of fun. There are way too many chores, way too much time is spent on tedious and drawn out actions, and the controls are just a complete mess. I honestly find it amazing how a game can get so highly rated with controls this awful. Everything feels slow to react and sloppy, the movement, the gunplay, the interaction, everything. It is also ridiculously frustrating to interact with the world as you seem to do unintended actions with incredible ease and due to the lack of easy access to manual saves you will find yourself getting in situations where you are facing unintended consequences making it unnecessarily difficult to play the game as anything besides a notorious bad-guy.

    Simply put I am having a hard time enjoying this game and I am very disappointed with the results.    … Full Review »
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