Red Dead Redemption 2 is a popular, high-quality, wild west themed video game set in 1898 and produced by Rockstar games. Priced at $19.99, the game is certainly worth the money. 

Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on October 16th, 2018, as a prequel to 2010’s Red Dead Redemption (RDR). Since January 2023, almost 70,000 players have taken interest in the game. RDR offers highly developed graphics, detail, and writing. 

The role taken by the player is of an outlaw who is running from authorities while battling an untreated disease. The game follows the main character, Arthur Morgan, and his exploits.
The story begins with the Dutch van der Linde gang fleeing to the mountains after a failed attempt at robbery. Arthur Morgan can seek refuge in a temporary shelter in an old, abandoned mining camp. A fellow member, John Marston, separated at the scene of the crime, is found, and rescued. The story continues, following Arthur and his adventurous life in the wild. 

The game is filled with mysteries, quests, details, exploration, realism, and graphics. Red Dead Redemption 2 is set in the US over multiple different states and some fictional cities. 

RDR’s attention to detail is unbelievable. For example, snow will fall off trees when you walk through them; the longer you ride your horse, the more they get dirty. You can rinse them and yourself off in bodies of water. If an NPC is killed or dies, they never respawn. They are removed from the story. Dead animals follow a realistic rotting process. If you sit idle on your horse for too long, the horse shows visible boredom and exhaustion. Light pollution in highly populated areas prevents you from seeing the stars; once you’ve moved out into a poorly lit area, you can see them more clearly. Dead animals attract scavengers; carrying dead animals leaves blood stains on your shoulder and NPC’s can hold grudges. There’s all this and much more in the world of RDR. 

While RDR is loved by many, there are some drawbacks. The character of Micah is strongly disliked and plays an antagonistic role, constantly annoying Arthur. General gameplay can be laggy on some devices and the game itself takes up a lot of storage space because of its detail.  

While investigating some of the pros of this game, Ryan Young, a WSHS senior, said, “You can own a horse.” This makes RDR very appealing for this user and horses are one of the greatest transportation devices. Mr. Glover, the WSHS Journalism teacher, noted, “The game is flawless.” With its high-quality detail and graphics, this game offers near-perfect play. Overall, I would rate Red Dead Redemption 2 a 9/10.