Video Game Review: Red Dead Redemption 2

Last week I finally finished Red Dead Redemption 2 and so I thought I would provide a review of the game. It is a long one so plan to spend close to 100 hours if you want to finish it. I completed all of the story missions including the 3 epilogues. There are still a few side quests that I can go back and do but my son wanted to play the game and so it is time for me to move onto something else.

As I have stated in the past, I really enjoyed playing Red Dead Redemption on my PS3. I anxiously awaited the sequel when it was announced. Once it released I contacted one of my close friends who used to work at Rockstar Games and had him help me get a copy for $20. Then I patiently waited as it took an hour or so to copy all of the information from the 2 provided discs to my PlayStation 4. Fortunately I still have a PS3 on my boat and practiced guitar with Rocksmith 2014. Plan to have something else to do during the loading time or you will be bored.

The game started out well as I relearned all of the controls. Many people refer to the beginning of the game as a horse and snow simulator. I didn't mind it at all as I love the snow. Once I got familiar with the game, I sort of got frustrated as I felt forced to do tasks go against my style of play. If I was to give myself one piece of advice it would be to make your own choices and not feel like you owe anything to anyone else in the game. Once I figured that out, I started enjoying the game more.

Rockstar spent a lot of money creating the game and they did a phenomenal job. There are still areas that feel a lot more polished than others. The last few sections of the main part of the game really kept my attention and I wished that more of the game had the same level of finish.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is really 3 games in one. There is the main part of the game where you play as Arthur Morgan. In the Epilogues you change characters and play as John Marston who is the main character in the original Red Dead Redemption. That means RDR2 is a prequel to RDR. Then there is an online portion of the game where you create your own character and perform separate missions using the same map as RDR. All sections of the game combine to create high-value if you are looking for a video game set in the late 1800's.

I played the game knowing I would be doing a review and so I looked for a number of elements so I could comment on them. Firstly the game is rated "M" for Mature and says it includes violence, strong language, drug use, nudity, and sexual situations. I know that some parents are concerned about nudity and the only that I saw during the game was in paintings found in an art gallery. In other words, I wouldn't worry about it in this game. As for the rest of the content, yep, it is all there.

There is a lot of content for a $60 video game. Right now, that price has dropped to $35 and is well worth it at that price. If I didn't have a friend in the industry that got me the game at a nice discount, I would have gladly paid the original asking price. I highly recommend the game for young adults but would be a cautious parent getting this for a teen.