Red Dead Redemption 2 is my favorite game ever made. It’s one of three 10/10s I’ve given in my 6 years of reviewing games. It has so much to dig into through story, characters, game design, and of course, its rich world.
With the real world trying to comfortably adjust to a pandemic, many are turning to video games and movies to help with their boredom. Rockstar’s wild west is the perfect remedy for those who are sad they can’t go run free in the newly reigned in spring weather. With beautiful green plains that undomesticated animals roam free in, snow-covered peaks, and towns and trails bustling with life, it’s hard not to get tangled up in Rockstar’s lasso.
Red Dead Redemption 2’s setting places us at the turn of the century in 1899. America is in a transitional period where there are big thriving industrial cities such as the cobblestone-laid streets of Saint Denis but also breathtaking natural vistas still untouched by man. It allows for this great contrast that’s not allowed in something like Grand Theft Auto, Rockstar’s other open-world epic.
You get this claustrophobic feeling as you move amongst the crowds of Saint Denis and building loom largely above you. Everything is fortified by brick, steel, and strong foundations. You feel extremely out of place.
Its apparent French architecture and maze-like layout allow for something really unique within the context of Red Dead Redemption 2. You get diverse sections such as the slums which is largely populated with African-Americans, an Asian neighborhood with shopkeepers and Asian culture, and so forth. It feels like a city that would be the central location of any other game.
More importantly, you can appreciate the scope and scale of the city because of how the game makes you feel. You appreciate the world more because you can’t get on every rooftop via helicopter, you can’t speed through the streets in a sports car, you are meant to soak in the world. You are a human being but an ant in this overall world.
Then, once you go to somewhere like The Heartlands of New Hanover or the Great Plains of West Elizabeth, you get these massive open fields. In between are these small, thriving towns with mud-soaked streets and buildings built with nothing but wood and nails. It’s rich in contrast. The wind blows through the tall grass, birds flock to the picture-esque skies, and animals gracefully prance across the landscape. Rockstar paints this moving picture that’s so vivid, it activates the senses and life jumps off the screen.
I find myself going to Red Dead Redemption 2 now just to get lost. In a normal world, maybe I’d get in my car and drive around, get a milkshake, and listen to my Spotify playlist. Now, in a not-so-normal world, I saddle up on my virtual horse to see where the paths take me, stalk prey, go fishing, and take pictures. I come here to isolate, to feel alone in a place that still feels alive.
My mind is tricked by Red Dead Redemption 2’s lush visuals and believable world. Instead of feeling like I’m forced to be locked in my room like Harry Potter, I’m able to freely explore the wilderness. Red Dead’s world is by definition artificial but it doesn’t act as if it is. It’s an incredible illusion.
The game sells this illusion partly due to the fact that many of the game’s dynamic encounters feel truly organic. There’s rarely a clear way to trigger them, life simply happens.
I once had two dirty men walk up to my campfire and threaten me. They told me that I was on their land and I should watch where I set up shop. Of course, I didn’t take kindly to having a gun waved in my face. So, I got up from my seat, fanned the hammer on my revolver, and unloaded three rounds into their chests respectively.
There are dozens of other moments like this. Ambushes, people being eaten alive by animals, people getting kicked in the head by their trusty stead, and more. They’re random but purposeful.
These random encounters help elevate things that become routine. It makes it feel like anything can happen, even after hundreds of hours. These are the things that make me want to continue to return to the American Frontier.
There’s so much to find hidden in Red Dead Redemption 2’s world. Caves with weird statues that hide gold, serial killer hideouts, abandoned postal service carts filled with letters to read, and war torn fields that serve as remnants from the Civil War.
This feeling of discovery drives Red Dead Redemption 2. The idea that I haven’t seen everything it has to offer and that I’ll continue to be surprised by it.
The other key factor is the people themselves in Red Dead Redemption 2. They up the ante so much more than most games. Big crowds and civilians mean nothing if they’re just there to fill space and be fodder for the player. These otherwise nameless NPCs ground you in this bygone era.
If you shoot and kill someone in a town, an undertaker will come and take the body off the streets and build a coffin for them. If you ravage a town or rob a shop, your face will be forever etched into the minds of shopkeepers and they won’t fail to mention it every time you stroll through. When I play GTA, I walk past dozens of NPCs that shoutout the same lines of dialogue over and over again. They all feel the same.
In Red Dead Redemption 2, there is individualism. Everyone has some sort of unique, individual relationship to you. Maybe they don’t know you at all, maybe you saved their life a few days prior, maybe you whooped their ass in a brawl.
Even with people you don’t directly interact with, they’ll move around on their time. The world isn’t solely dictated by you. Most games have everything literally revolve around you but Red Dead Redemption 2 makes you revolve around its world. It operates independently of you. While you absolutely have the ability to influence many things, these characters of no significance have their own lives.
There’s a great YouTube video from DefendTheHouse that follows a few NPCs around, showing three entirely different lives. One is an alcoholic who goes to work, takes a drinking break, then a “lunch” break (at the bar), works some more, and then goes back to the bar at the end of the day. He doesn’t seem to actually have a home or at least one he likes to return to as he wakes up and passes out in the bar day by day.
You can follow all kinds of people and learn about them just by studying them for a day. Of course, don’t let them know you’re following them… they may get hostile and try to fight you.
Similarly, these people have an effect on the world. Many have pointed out the various homes and buildings that are built over the course of the game’s story. My favorite detail is a bit smaller.
If you go to the mining town of Annesburg, you’ll find that people have been dumping waste into the nearby bodies of water. It gives this shimmering, rainbow-y look similar to that of oil. If you manage to kill a fish and inspect it, you’ll notice it has been poisoned and even mutated. It’s quite grim when you think about it.
These are the details that ground you in this world.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is beautiful but it’s beautiful because it feels real and tangible. Amongst a story that’s powered by blood and bullets is a world that feels serene. It isn’t just pretty colors and animals that are put there simply to make money or craft things. It has life and ambiance.
Rockstar is known for making grand worlds that act as playgrounds as well as benchmarks for the industry. The problem with playgrounds is you grow tired of them. You go down the slides a few times, you climb the monkey bars, and you swing on the swings for a few minutes. But you ultimately exhaust the possibilities quickly. Red Dead Redemption 2’s isn’t just some playground. It’s a living, breathing ecosystem to escape to and marvel at that I’ll never grow tired of.
