Red Dead Redemption 2 Was Perfect - Review/Documentary | The People Vs. Red Dead 2

foreign [Music] pushing the boundaries of what's capable with interactive entertainment at the moment you know I think everything that we've done uh is to serve that goal and to try and really blur the lines between on Mission and off Mission and what's narrative and what's you know ambient open World experience and finding that balance between realism and believability and fun and playability is something that we are always trying to balance you hope that you've hit it as well as you can but don't know until people play it before there was Red Dead Redemption 2 before there was Red Dead Redemption there was 2004's Red Dead Revolver without the oversight and funding by Japanese publisher Capcom have at the time Angel Studios is Western the Red Dead franchise doesn't happen more specifically Japanese video game designer and at the time Capcom executive yoshiki okamoto is the individual to thank for the creation of this franchise it said that okamoto approached Angel Studios about working on an original Ip called SWAT this project was originally intended to be a single player third-person split screen game that allowed you to control four members of a SWAT team and switch between these members whenever you wanted to okamoto reportedly abandoned the idea in favor of a western after watching a somewhat obscure 1971 spaghetti western movie called Blind Man starring weirdly enough The Beatles Ringo Starr so while the initial vision of SWAT was dead the acronym remained as it was simply redefined as spaghetti western action title the project would eventually take on the name Red Dead revolver but even still this version which was first revealed by Capcom in early 2002 was very different than the one that was released a few years later from Rockstar Games red Harlow was originally named red hand and the game's story featured various fantasy elements with Capcom wanting red hand to die at the beginning of the game and come back to life as a vengeful ghost Red Dead revolver's gameplay was inspired by capcom's 1985 arcade Shoot Em Up Gunsmoke and again this original version was more arcade-like with some wacky wild and over-the-top gameplay elements there appear to be a flying Birdman enemies labeled as Wizards and one of the few Capcom developers who were sent over to assist in the game's development wanted a Frankenstein looking character who was wearing a dress the thinking was that this character would kill women and wear their dresses this was something that supposedly Capcom staff liked and thought was funny but Angel's Studio staff did not the cultural differences between the Japanese Capcom and American Angel Studios largely negatively affected the project one example of this having a positive impact though would be the eventual name of Red Dead Revolver it's said that a Capcom employee thought it'd be fun to play with the two rhyming words red and dead something Angel Studio staff didn't think made any sense at all and Angel's Studio's art director revealing that his first reaction to the name was what the [ __ ] does that mean but he did acknowledge it sounded cool Red Dead Revolver suffered a very Rocky development under Capcom with Angel Studios blaming this mostly on the cultural differences and different design philosophies that both companies retained the game had a lot of creative ideas but the issue was that much of these ideas had not been translated to actual in-game content with Angel Studio staff alleging Capcom would trash entire levels and large chunks of the game because of unclear reasons regardless by the end of 2002 it said Capcom began losing faith in the project as little progress was made on it during this nearly three-year development Angel's Studios kept busy on other projects teaming up with Rockstar Games on Midnight Club street racing and Smugglers Run said around 2002 Diego Angel the Angels Studios founder began Fielding offers for the acquisition of his company Activision Microsoft and Rockstar Games were interested and had discussions with Angel until eventually fresh off the success of Grand Theft Auto Vice City Rockstar Games completed a deal to acquire the company Angel Studios was soon after renamed to Rockstar San Diego and Rockstar leadership then reviewed the projects in development at the studio sorting out what was worth keeping fortunately Red Dead Revolver which was an unplayable mess of the time continued on Rockstar founder Sam and Dan Hauser were impressed by the project even in its troubled State and were committed to seeing it through Capcom though which remained as the publisher on the game eventually gave up on it canceling it in August of 2003 following yoshiki okamoto's departure from Capcom a few months later Rockstar would acquire the rights to Red Dead Revolver from Capcom allowing the San Diego Studio to continue its development in the rest is history as Red Dead Revolver finally released on consoles on May 4th 2004 and was met two mediocre reviews it's said by developers who worked on the game that they crunched hard near the end of development as Rockstar wanted the game finished so they could move on to their larger Ambitions with this IP they were happy to have the game under their belt but Rockstar leadership was more interested in the future of this franchise seeing the potential of bringing their open world expertise to the wild west setting Rockstar San Diego's quote-unquote old west project began development in 2005 of the teaser trailer Tech demo shown during Sony's E3 2005 press conference this was the first and last time this project would be publicly shown until February 3rd 2009 when the project was formally announced by Rockstar Games as Red Dead Redemption a few months later the first trailer would Premiere giving fans a tease at the game's Gunslinger protagonist John Marston and the vast Wild West open world that Rockstar had built from 2005 to 2009 the game had undergone a drastic transformation and a disastrous development one of the most expensive video games made at its time costing somewhere around 100 million dollars Rockstar heavily invested in improving the tech behind the game their very own proprietary game engine rage was upgraded with improvements made to its draw distance rendering capabilities the Euphoria character physics software also was upgraded with red dead redemption's Tech director Ted Carson telling GameSpot in an interview in 2010 instead of using canned animations key injury and death reactions can now be accomplished entirely within a physics simulation while staggering and falling characters will realistically collide with nearby props and Tumble down slopes we invested a great deal of effort into creating a natural looking stagger fall performance critical to dramatic and unique gunshot reactions in a classic Western environment instead of fighting to maintain upright balance like with characters in Grand Theft Auto 4 characters who get knocked over will ride the momentum of the impact like a real stuntman would when colliding with the environment the resulting reaction is not just physical but Performance Based for example glancing impacts with walls use true body mechanics to spin the character away flip over a railing fall down the stairs get dragged by a horse or whatever the environment calls for characters will react differently to gunshots to their gut back legs arms and torso characters who are suffering from a gut injury will physically crawl away from their attacker until they eventually bleed out you can shoot their legs as they crawl away and the legs will lose strength even horses have physical death behaviors and Red Dead Redemption to mimic stunt horses from western films when they fall they raise their heads to avoid the ground and a realistic tendon simulation keeps their hind legs and anatomically accurate poses a proprietary animation tools provide us with the ability to dynamically mix and match natural motion behaviors in tightly integrate natural motion behaviors with the game engine like never before instead of being hamstrung by what was created with Red Dead Revolver Rockstar decided to have Red Dead Redemption to be a spiritual successor Rockstar founder Dan Hauser said in a May 2009 interview with IGN that I think the way we came to see Red Dead Revolver as being about the kind of myths and iconic images of the old west the cowboy with the scar on his face the Indian or the iconic set pieces put together in a somewhat linking story but it was really about trying to show off these very iconic myths about the old west then what we wanted to do with Red Dead Redemption was to do something that felt more like the reality the old west story wise we felt there was no point linking them because it wouldn't make any sense Rockstar decided to maintain a few gameplay features such as Dead Eye from the first game but expanded them further and also enjoyed the freedom of incorporating many new things a big focus on the project was achieving realism with every feature in the game Dan Hauser said that the problem with revolver was that it didn't fundamentally play Like a Rockstar game so with Redemption they wanted it to have that notorious Rockstar design they wanted the game to be truly their own one of the most challenging aspects of Designing Redemption was figuring out its open world they knew they wanted to have a story with missions but adding enough enjoyable content in its rule environment was a big part of the design process having a beautiful countryside was simply not enough they needed interactivity throughout it so indeed they added hundreds and hundreds of possible encounters whether that be an NPC spontaneously robbing someone or mountain lion hunting a criminal Hauser said that they wanted to constantly surprise the player May make them interested in the world that they are traversing just the same as if it was a city-based game the technology behind Red Dead Redemption was Innovative for its time and clear evidence of how dedicated Rockstar was to pushing the envelope the company truly wanted to realize the potential power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles which at the time was the Next Generation hardware for the games industry still though these Ambitions came at a cost there was reportedly about 800 developers on the project with Rockstar San Diego leading development with much of the other Rockstar Studios assisting this extra Manpower did not stop the project from being an absolute mess in early 2010 an open letter allegedly written on behalf of wives of Rockstar San Diego employees claimed working conditions within the studio had become increasingly intolerable and they threatened legal action against the company the letter went on to allege that employees were expected to work 12-hour days including Saturdays or face disciplinary action this crunch resulted in employees suffering mental and physical health issues the letter additionally accused Rockstar management of lying to staff about deadlines in order to push them to the brink and unfairly reduced bonuses based on anything they could come up with various alleged Rockstar San Diego employees back to these accusations in the comments section of where this letter was posted in early 2010 in gadget published a story citing Rockstar sources that called the project a complete disaster because of mismanagement One Source said Red Dead Redemption has been in production for six years mainly because of horrible management lack of Direction due to fear of disrespecting Rockstar New York and it will never get the money back in sales it cost to create for those six years and lawsuit documents that were filed in 2016 it revealed private emails from October 2009 that Rockstar North president Leslie benzes had with Rockstar founder Sam Hauser about the chaotic development of Red Dead Redemption how is there an email exchanges called for the assistance of benzies and what Hauser referred to as a recurring nightmare of a project the ups and downs are very extreme we have to fix this quickly help I'm freaking and a few days later wrote this RDR is a recurring nightmare but one eye we need to get out of I have problems with the camera all over the place so much so that I can't be rational or specific about it the darkness please help me as get Red Dead Redemption into shape I am a jabbering wreck right now I need the bends Red Dead Redemption eventually did reach the Finish Line in 2010 but barely in 2016 on The Gaming website neogaf an apparent former Rockstar Games employee shared a detailed breakdown on the game's source code something they described as a complete mess and why the game was never ported to PC it's a miracle it even works on consoles it was slapped together and rushed around until things just made sense the game itself is a coded mess and it's a surprise it got stable on 360 PS3 if you look at the assets yourself you can even see things like audio and textures thrown in last minute not packed in the archives properly Red Dead Redemption was originally intended to release in Fall 2009 it was later pushed to April 27 2010 that release date was again changed about a month before launch when Rockstar announced another delay this one though was fairly short as the highly anticipated action-adventure title was only being moved by a few weeks as the team needed more time to polish and fine-tune the game on May 18 2010 Red Dead Redemption finally released and Rockstar truly blew everyone's expectations away the tragic story of Outlaw John Marston as he Journeys through the dying Wild West was meant to Universal Acclaim being one of the highest rated games ever on Metacritic reviewers called it a masterpiece praising The Story characters gameplay open world music and more the acting performance by Rob wiedoff of Gunslinger John Marston became legendary the diverse cast of character personalities were memorable and most of all interesting from the tough as Nails Bonnie McFarlane to the very bizarre Seth Breyers to the dumbest rocks Bill Williamson to the legendary Gunslinger vigilante Landon Ricketts to the hypocritical Rebel leader Abraham Reyes to the once beloved father figure here but now maniacal psychopath Dutch vanderland to everyone's favorite snake oil salesman Nigel West Dickens the mid-game introduction in New Mexico became iconic with arguably one of the greatest video game songs and moments of all time the narrative themes and commentary was smart and elegant with tons of exciting but devastating scenes perhaps the most notable of all is The Game's ending which still to this day might be one of the most tragic conclusions ever to a video game it's a tear-jerker moment that was perfectly established through foreshadowing The Narrative threads that we experienced and the themes that were at play Civilization was finally taking over the last of the wild west and with that that men Authority prevailing over Outlaws by any means necessary John Marston's goal throughout the game was the safety of his family something accomplished by paying the ultimate price something he knew at the very end was the only option left the ragdoll physics provided endless hours of gameplay enjoyment though much of it unintentional the Fantastic ambient soundtrack truly brought to life so much of the experience whether that be simply traveling by course to a new region of the map where intense gunfights in an abandoned town now controlled by Bandits for a game largely set in the desert this open world is one of the most beautiful and stunning environments ever created 12 years later and it still holds up extremely well from new Austin to Nuevo Paraiso to West Elizabeth Rockstar crafted unique regions that provided players with tons of surprises and interactivity gameplay mechanics such as the honor System allowed us to establish John Marston as a ruthless unforgiving killer or a trusted Gunslinger Savior and Duels allowed players to truly take on the role the badass western movie Gunslinger that we all at some point were infatuated by the multiplayer component while not the focus of the game was pretty darn fun and perhaps a bit underrated for its time so Red Dead Redemption was a certified Masterpiece a once in a generation game that success wasn't reserved to just critic and user reviews as it also translated a huge commercial success as the game sold around 8.5 million copies in its first year it said prior to Launch Rockstar internally had low expectations they needed to hit 4 million copies to recoup the extremely high development costs and didn't believe that would happen they were planning to lose money on the project and were more interested in proving the talent of Rockstar San Diego as of September 2021 Red Dead Redemption has shipped 23 million units becoming one of the best-selling video games ever Rockstar Games created one of the greatest pieces of entertainment ever it was a game that influenced TV shows such as Westworld it was the game that inspired other developers with what a single player story driven game could deliver it was a game that arguably revived the Western genre across a diverse range of mediums from video games to big budget Hollywood movies after the massive launch of Red Dead Redemption Rockstar continued the success story with a few years of support for the multiplayer component but more notably into late 2010 delivering one of the greatest single-player story expansions ever made Undead Nightmare it was a reimagining of the world of redemption set in an alternate zombie outbreak timeline line with much of the original cast returning Rockstar went all out with incorporating mythology and redesigning every aspect of the game to have a dark and spooky Vibe with inspiration coming from classic horror films Undead Nightmare was meant to critical a claim upon its release and as of August 2011 the Standalone retail version of the expansion had sold 2 million copies by the end of 2010 Red Dead Redemption had won game of the year and a number of other Awards cementing its Legacy as one of the greatest achievements in gaming history for Rockstar San Diego the success was just the beginning as they quickly turned attention to the future of this franchise figuring out what was next during redemption's development staff had already pitched many different ideas for a new installment one specific idea that Rockstar North Coast Studio head Rob Nelson described as too compelling to turn away was a narrative centered around a gang more specifically Rockstar wanted to visit the past life of John Marston as a gang member there was a lot of history set up in the last game about Marston's former gang and the the character of Dutch and what he was all about and so that was something that we really thought we could explore and juxtapose the idea of being this partially reformed Outlaw in the last game to being an active working Outlaw living with a gang in this game as soon as redemption's development had wrapped up discussions began to happen within Rockstar San Diego with the characters and style of this next game with preliminary work beginning in mid-2011 while there was active development on this next game by some much of the studio shifted their focus for the next few years to further supporting Red Dead redemption's multiplayer with the final update delivered in 2014 and they also assisted in the development of games such as 2011's LA Noire 2012's Max Payne 3 and 2013's Grand Theft Auto 5 but before long all Rockstar Studios began collaboratively working on the future of the Red Dead franchise Rockstar Games would commit every Studio of theirs into one massive cohesive team with over 1600 Developers for the next number of years working to create their biggest game yet in term content scope and cost the goal with this next Red Dead installment wasn't to just make a sequel it was to again take this gaming industry by storm with revolutionary and Innovative design Red Dead Revolver established the franchise Red Dead Redemption proved the talents of Rockstar San Diego but the next game Red Dead Redemption 2 was going to set a whole new standard with what's possible with a single player story driven experience throughout 2012 Rockstar Games began to establish The Narrative of Red Dead Redemption 2 with rough scripts of the game completed by the end of the year the first Redemption game heavily gave attention to John Marston's past gang Life as a member of Dutch's gang Redemption painted a picture of a family that had fallen apart with its leader Dutch vanderland losing his way John Marston's Outlaw days haunted over him throughout Red Dead redemption's events and ultimately led to his and the remaining former gang members downfall Rockstar's creative team wanted to explore this further and show what had exactly happened to cause the gang's collapse and turn John Marston into the man that we meet in Red Dead Redemption so with the narrative decided the next step was forming the development team and very early on it was decided that all of the Rockstar Games branches would be working together on this new installment the vision that Rockstar Games had for this prequel was Grand and one that required an enormous unprecedented amount of Manpower Red Dead Redemption was one of the most expensive games made for its time but Red Dead Redemption 2 would cost reportedly about half a billion dollars to make it was a huge investment made by Rockstar leadership but one that was viewed as necessary to bring to life the vision that they had it also helped that throughout the development of redemption to Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 multiplayer component Grand Theft Auto online started raking in millions of dollars in microtransaction Revenue daily which certainly played a factor in easing some of the Financial Risk with spending so much resources on this single player experience by 2013 production was fully underway on this prequel recording sessions had begun and would last a total of 2 200 days 1200 actors would contribute to the over 500 000 lines of dialogue in the game with Redemption 2 being centered around Dutch's gang Rockstar built off of what was established in the last game they wanted to expand the gang with a diverse cast of characters all of whom had their own individual stories past lives and reasons for remaining with the group Michael unsworth senior creative writer on Red Dead Redemption 2 told Variety in 2018 seen that a big cast of main characters was an advantage in many ways it gave us a broad and varied set of perspectives and personalities to draw from and helped create the story we wanted a gang on the run that functions as its own Society but it also created a lot of complexity we knew we needed a diverse and interesting mix of characters for Dutch's gang and the challenge with any big ensemble cast like this is making them all stand out in some way and feel distinct from one another without descending into stereotype while John Marston was the main protagonist of the last game and was set to return in his prequel along with the other previously established members of Dutch's gang Rockstar wanted a fresh perspective they didn't want to have multiple protagonists like they had done with Grand Theft Auto 5 because they wanted for the player to have a more personal connection with Red Dead Redemption 2's main protagonist Arthur Morgan Duchess gang size was planned to feature about two dozen main characters and all of them having a meaningful relationship with Arthur was a major challenge for Rockstar's creative team as Rob Nelson revealed in 2018 it's an evolution hopefully in terms of what we want to do with character development we wanted to stick with Arthur through the story and see how he changes from the start what made him the person he is today and the things he goes through and how those affect him in order to bring this Vision to life Rockstar applied lessons that they had learned from Grand Theft Auto 5 and which one the player switched to a different protagonist say choosing to assume control of Trevor after playing as Michael life wouldn't just come to a halt for Michael when you're not controlling him Rockstar made it that these three GTA 5 protagonists were all doing something meaningful while the player was away from them and when you would return to them you could get a sense of what had transpired so for Redemption 2 when Arthur Morgan wandered off away from the gang life would continue for everyone things would happen when Arthur was away and when he would return he'd notice it and unique interactions would occur these small details were important to create a heightened level of immersion and realism with the world but also adding some meaningful depth to the personalities of each member of Dutch's gang Rockstar understood that to build the family Dynamic of Dutch's gang and to create authentic relationships with the cast of characters it required extensive work they wanted for Arthur Morgan to really have the ability to grow close to each and every gang member having the choice to learn so much about them through conversation but also the scenes that happen when you're not directly interacting with them with Red Dead Redemption 2 being a prequel the team once again decided that the setting would show the fall of the American frontier with civilization creeping in on the last of the Wild West Redemption 1 was set in 1911. the prequel would be set in 1899. Rockstar North Art Director Aaron garbett told The Hollywood Reporter in 2018 that we've aimed to capture a wide slice of American Life in 1899 a rapidly industrializing nation that would soon have its sights on the world stage and would do whatever possible to modernize it's a brutal landscape with a sordid history but also one that's full of opportunity one of the most satisfying aspects of creating a world of such scope and scale is the ability to experience a whole range of stories and characters in your journey across the world the gang's journey in the game's epic scope makes room to touch on all aspects of turn of the century America in a meaningful substantial way garbet would continue adding we're trying to make a world that's both expansive and deep at the same time we've always tried to create worlds that feel like places as much as games and we've been able to use the latest technology to push that idea forward in ways we have never before Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's first game built from the ground up for the Xbox one and PlayStation 4 consoles this Advanced Hardware power allowed Rockstar to do things that they have never been able to the company's release of Grand Theft Auto 5's next-gen versions in 2014 gave the team a little bit of an idea on what was possible with this new hardware Rockstar technical director Alex hajaj revealing in 2018 to VG 24 7 that it highlighted the areas we needed to focus on for the next big step things like a global lighting solution atmospheric effects or post-processing and presentation the differences between the technology needed to bring to life the world of Grand Theft Auto 5 vs Red Dead Redemption 2 were vast Rockstar engineering director Claus shielstra also revealing in 2018 to vg247 that RDR is slower paced than GTA but it's also deeply textured and extremely detailed that comes through in the graphics in general as Alex said but also in the detail of what the scenes contain for GTA we needed a crowd to walk through the streets for RDR we had to have a populated town of recognizable individuals and each character in that town needs to be believable and seem to be doing something meaningful it's possible to recognize the beginnings of this and the technology for GTA 5 but at the same time every one of our systems has evolved beyond recognition to make rdr2 possible Rob Nelson speaking to Entertainment Weekly in 2018 further revealed that with the additional memory we really exploded on this game besides the graphics and engine enhancements was memory for animation and so we ended up being able to have 10 times the amount of animations in this game versus GTA 5 which means that the world around you it's going to look and feel much more alive and varied because you're not seeing as much repeating Loops in this resulted in Rockstar being able to really flesh out the open world with unique interactions an example of this would be the implementation of over 200 species of animals all with unique behaviors every one of them capable of interacting with each other and you each region of the open world had its own ecosystem so the player would only find animals in their natural habitats each spread out into their correct social groups and behaving as the species would in the real world hell the Rockstar team was so committed to realism with this aspect of the World building that they even made it that when a male horse encounters cold weather their balls shrink up furthermore Nelson explained in 2018 to the BBC even more details that they added to players most trusty companion for things to mean something they need to cost something so in the last game we had you know if your horse would die or you lose your horse you whistle for it and a new horse would appear very convenient for the player that's a nice thing about games is they you know they're not like reality but it meant that the horses were somewhat disposable so we decided the horses aren't going to be disposed if you go too far from your horse it's not going to come magically you're going to have to go back to it but if you spend more time with this horse you're going to bond with it and then it will come to you from a greater distance it might be less afraid to go into the swamp where there's alligators or it will stay with you under duress you know things like that this is all just incredible attention to detail yes even the horse balls all this was possible thanks to the new console Hardware but it did require Rockstar to spend an enormous amount of time upgrading their own technology Rockstar North technology director Phil hooker told VG 24 7 in 2018 that we use Euphoria specifically to enhance the physic-based reactions of both humans and animals and have really evolved it on Red Dead Redemption 2. however Euphoria is just part of how we simulate and animate characters and outside of it we have radically overhauled our entire animation system to create more accurate human-like and animal-like behaviors across the board speaking to GQ in 2018 Dan Hauser revealed that over 300 000 character animations were in the game and the company had overhauled its AI system properly for the first time in 17 years all of these technological advances allowed Rockstar to truly bring to life their vision for Red Dead Redemption 2. the team at Rockstar heavily relied on motion capture and this too is yet another technological challenge for a variety of reasons one had to do with simply the fact that Dutch vanderland actor Benjamin Byron Davis was six and a half feet tall but the character of Dutch was only six feet tall in late 2019 Davis explained that Comic-Con Honolulu the behind the scenes discussions that were had to fix this issue when we did the first one I was more in line with his size and shade the scene turned into the sort of the scene when Dutch first meets uh Cornwall in Valentine that was two and a half years into the shoot they'd had me sort of standing at the bar and so the bars built and they haven't built a table and I say why why aren't they building a table I want to sit at the table and the director rod says why do you why do you want to be sitting table bin and I said because I think it'd be cool when he comes in if I stand up and show them how big I am and Rod says you're not you're not that big and I said what do you mean he says Dutch is six feet tall and I'm six and a half feet tall once I knew that things like this came up like I'd go reach for a bottle of moonshine in a in a uh in the back of a wagon say there was a mission with that happen and I could go and I'd reach it and then I'd stop and I'd ask the animator can I reach that far and the animator would say oh no that's a good point you can't so they'd put it closer because for six foot person so I'm not a six foot six person sorry for about five years the massive cast of Redemption 2 whereas Benjamin Davis describes it in skin tight spandex covered with ping pong balls with helmets on our head this wasn't simply voice acting it was tons of performance motion capture work Davis and the many other actors that were involved in the game's development have spoken over the years about the importance of the animators at Rockstar and how they were involved with every single shoot they'd bring along rough mock-ups of how each scene would look in the Finnish game to help the actors and camera crew the animators also instructed the actors on how to properly respond to the environment around them this meant every single movement as simple as shivering in the cold was carefully choreographed by the animators besides the human cast horses and dogs were also motion captured but even this came with some other rather interesting challenges Arthur Morgan actor Roger clerk speaking to bafta Guru an early 2020 explained but I do remember working with dogs and I remember it was a problem because the they need to ball they need the the ball kept falling off on his tail because he was wagging it so much they had to really get I I don't know how they did it in the end but there was this dog running around in mocap suits it was hilarious Roger clerk in the same interview touched on how the cast would constantly keep in touch with each other when they were outside the studio discussing different scenes and other aspects of the project they were limited with who they could communicate with about the game due to strict ndas that they had to sign that meant not telling most family or friends what they were even working on I should even say that but my wife knew I was just telling people I'm working on a video game and it got to the point where like three four five years then I think people were starting to think I was bullshitting them it's like you're still working on that video game Raj you know it's okay if you can't find work as an actor we still like you you're still our friend you don't need to so with that said throughout the game's development Rockstar inactive its usual policy of complete secrecy but November 2015 the existence of Red Dead Redemption 2 or rdr2 was blasted to the world in a Reddit AMA by former Rockstar employee Danny Ross when asked if he could provide a hint for what the company was working on next he responded in code saying really dumbass really too which translates to rdr2 or more specifically Red Dead Redemption 2. at the time there was confusion with this name as some expected the next installment to be named something like Red Dead retribution or Red Dead Revolution the thinking was that red dead R was the constant variable but fans would later discover that it was actually in fact Red Dead Redemption fast forward to April 2016 Red Dead Redemption 2 would suffer an even bigger leak this being part of the game's map however this leak did come with a lot of people questioning its authenticity even after Outlet tech radar verified it as the real deal the mention of a major city being called new Bordeaux is viewed as a red flag as that was the setting of Mafia 3 but little did fans know at the time it was actually just a placeholder Rockstar Games and Hangar 13 the developers behind Mafia 3 are both sister Studios both companies under Take 2 interactive and it's believed Rockstar simply did this because they hadn't settled on a name yet but the city was familiar in many ways to the setting of Mafia 3. for the next number of months fans of the franchise debated if the leak was real or not While others believed a reveal was imminent and that day did finally arrive with a brief tease on October 16 2016. the marketing campaign for Redemption 2 began with Rockstar updating their social media logos to a grunge red the next day the company shared the first artwork of the game showing silhouettes of seven mysterious characters the day after that Red Dead Redemption 2 was officially announced with a release window set for fall of 2017 and the game's first trailer announced as well for October 20th 2016. as is the case for many of Rockstar's game reveal trailers the one for RDA er2 didn't offer much other than showcasing beautiful and stunning environments a glimpse into the Fantastic Woody Jackson produced soundtrack a tease at Dutch's gang and the main protagonist Arthur Morgan after this reveal Rockstar would again for the next number of months enter into complete silence but the leaks would continue to happen perhaps the most substantial one to hit the game was a Reddit post coming from a Reddit user going by the name Red Dead Insider and they accurately leaked much of the key aspects of the game this included gameplay mechanics story details the main protagonist's name character information the epilogue and the actual state of the game's development at the time interestingly it was said by the anonymous poster that the last I heard which was a few months ago the game was kind of stuck in development hell of sorts the team kept remaking a vertical slice demo for the leaders of Rockstar and they are not impressed they didn't find it different enough or Innovative enough hopefully they get out of that rut I've also heard that since Grand Theft Auto 5 morale at Rockstar San Diego has been bad long timers are quitting lots of turnover lots of frustration the leak was on the money it shared many key details about the game but also highlighted a serious problem within Rockstar and that was the massive ambition and Innovation similar to Red Dead redemption's development came at a cost in late 2018 Kotaku published an expose on the development of this prequel with Rockstar San Diego staff revealing that between 2011 and 2016 overtime was not optional it was mandatory with developers expected to work at least 80 hours a week like with Redemption 1 this crunch culture caused numerous developers to suffer mental and physical health issues developers from other Rockstar Studios stated that Crunch and Redemption 2 really intensified around 2016 and 2017 and the biggest issue with the work environment was the culture of fear however many did claim that things were different now versus then a point that Rockstar's head of publishing Jennifer Colby hit on saying to Kotaku we certainly looked at Red Dead Redemption and what came out of that and we knew we did not want to have a situation like that again and I think naturally as the team has grown and its working practices together we have made improvements in how the teams are run even with these systemic problems that Rockstar has faced heavy scrutiny for all developers interviewed spoke positively about the project itself calling it creatively satisfying and unlike anything anyone has played before from late 2016 to early 2017 Redemption 2 fans began to speculate over the actor that was portraying Arthur Morgan with one specific individual identified as a clear favorite that being Roger Clark in March 2017 it was all but confirmed when Clark unknowingly publicly liked a Red Dead Redemption 2 video from YouTuber Legacy Killa HD Clark would later reveal that he found Legacy killer HD stuff to be the most informative and passionate of all the Red Dead speculation content online most importantly it was able to better understand the expectations and hopes of the fans as we were working it helped put my work in context Rockstar's Dan Hauser would say in 2018 about Clark's performance as the lead protagonist in this equal the dude says twenty thousand or thirty thousand lines of dialogue in the game and there is not one where he drops it he got so little wrong what he gives to it is fantastic it's not really like people have seen in our games before the first major setback to hit Red Dead Redemption 2 came on May 22nd 2017 when it was announced by Rockstar Games that the game was being moved from Fall 2017 to Spring 2018 and a statement on their website they explained that some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans with this delay announcement they also provided a new batch of in-game screenshots and a few months later the second trailer for the game premiered giving fans a more proper introduction to Red Dead Redemption 2's narrative and Lead protagonist Arthur Morgan What followed was again a long period of Silence until eventually on February 1st 2018 was announced Again by Rockstar Games that the game was being delayed as they needed extra time for Polish the game was being moved from Spring 2018 to fall of 2018. but the difference this time was that an actual release date was given Red Dead Redemption 2 was set to launch on October 26 2018 and again like with the last delay rockster provided a new batch of in-game screenshots the commitment to an actual date was viewed as encouraging by fans but these two lengthy delays while disappointing were hardly surprising considering Rockstar's reputation the company has always had development trouble and were well known for delays additionally the massive scope and ambition that Rockstar was undertaking with this prequel made fans confident that the weight would be worth it in the end although based on some of the leaks that had emerged over the years there was definitely some concern fortunately though there would be no more bumps in the road as Rockstar began going all out with marketing a few months later the third trailer for this prequel would go live in May 2018 once again providing further insight into the settings Story characters and world of rdr2 pre-orders would soon after go live along with special editions of the game being announced towards the end of summer and beginning of fall Rockstar's marketing campaign went into overdrive various gaming Outlets published Hands-On gameplay previews new interviews with Rockstar staff was published Billboards of the game emerged all over the world two gameplay videos were published by Rockstar breaking down the many new and expanded features and the company would publish articles giving players a deep dive into every member of Dutch's gang as well as revealing in-depth details on the wildlife towns and weaponry of Red Dead Redemption 2. finally one day before a launch reviews for this highly anticipated prequel would go live and Red Dead Redemption 2 was a certified Masterpiece on Metacritic the PlayStation 4 version had a score of 97 out of 100 based on 72 reviews and the Xbox One version had a score of 98 out of 100 based on 25 reviews rdr2 was being awarded some of the best reviews for a game we've ever seen more specifically it would become the highest rated reviewed PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game on Metacritic alongside Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto 5 and is the fifth highest rated game overall critics would praise the character's narrative gameplay combat open World design acting and music cry online in their 10 out of 10 reviews said if only I could give Red Dead Redemption to a higher score than 10 I would this is by far the best open world game that has ever graced the face of Earth no other sandbox can even dream of holding a candle to Rockstar's newest gun blazing incredibly detailed Western epic Digital Trends in their 10 out of 10 reviews said Red Dead Redemption 2 is a magnificent open world game and one of the greatest games of all time the digital fixed in their 10 out of 10 review said Red Dead Redemption 2 takes everything that made the first so spectacular and elevates it to a new level it boasts an enthralling story coupled with Rock Solid gameplay and is perhaps one of the best games ever made IGN Italy in its 10 out of 10 review saying one of the best open world games ever with the single best story ever written for a video game stevar writing in their 10 out of 10 review Rockstar Games continues to prove that when it comes to creating games it's the master at pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved on October 26 2018 Red Dead redempt function 2 had finally released to the world setting a new precedent of what's possible with a video game the hype was extreme before launch and somehow some way Rockstar truly delivered on creating something far better than any of their previous games it took years of development years of hard work years of patience but the wait was over Red Dead Redemption 2 is a remarkable Beast of a game it shows the power of Storytelling in this medium not necessarily in regards to just rioting and the actor's performance but also the environment and music that all comes together to create something we have never seen this is a game that truly sucked me in and brought me to tears numerous times it's an emotional often devastating 60-hour ride we assume the role of Arthur Morgan a trusted enforcer in Dutch's gang the game sort of throws a curveball with how the player can change Arthur into the badass Outlaw we want him to be I've never had the heart to turn him into a dishonorable merciless killer that steals from Beggars and steals from children but that option is most definitely available your actions in Red Dead Redemption were more or less not that impactful sure you could kidnap a nun Tire up and throw on train tracks for a good laugh but John Marston was always going to be very indifferent where I suppose stoic to much of the chaos that happens in that game's story that was by Design but in this prequel especially from a story point of view the things you choose to do matter even being a badass Outlaw with your gun aimed at passengers on a train as you rob them there's a way in which you're supposed to conduct yourself smack them upside their face to get a few extra dollars and there is a consequence still though shaping who Arthur Morgan is isn't equal to the Clean Slate you'll make on your 10th playthrough of Skyrim he very much starts off as an intimidating force that can use brute strength and his ruthless attitude to get his way that's who he has been much of his life until Karma hit him like a freight train throughout the game's main story inside Adventures it's up to the player to decide if that's who you want Arthur Morgan to remain as if so various scenes play out with a darker tone there's a very clear choice of Good and Evil here and not much more than that Rockstar certainly isn't going all out with incorporating RPG elements but they do take advantage of quite a few of them in this game but yes a good Arthur will see visions of a bright light shining down on a buck along a very calm and uplifting musical beat while bad Arthur will see visions of a menacing coyote with darker lighting and a more dramatic musical bead these scenes were surprisingly very powerful with their effectiveness progressively getting more and more impactful as the story went on indeed though the Arthur Morgan that I embraced in every single playthrough I've had of the game is the good-natured gun blazing Outlaw that eventually feels true regret for how he's gone about life he understands he is not a good person but by the end he evolves into a much different character than the one that we meet at the beginning of the journey a flawed man who is fears fears that are realized once he discovers that his time is nearing the end it's not just about emotional scenes with Arthur reflecting on his failures in life for the relationships that he abandoned but the choices he can make in the present to set others on the right path his Redemption Arc the character development of this one individual is both tragic and beautiful Roger Clark's performance is a big reason for why this works so well early on Arthur is extremely aggressive in his demeanor taking no [ __ ] from anyone but by the end he has evolved into a different man one that is vulnerable realizing the errors of his way and also that of his father figure Dutch Rockstar Games did The Impossible here with crafting Elite antagonist even more likable than Red Dead redemption's lead man John Marston something that nobody before launch viewed as a possibility but this praise isn't just extended to the character of Arthur Morgan as the entirety of Dutch's gang is full of fleshed out interesting and diverse personalities all contributing to make a one-of-a-kind experience the issue with many games with huge ensembles is the fact that not enough characters are given the proper amount of time to be developed it tends to lead to a lot of one-dimensional characters that are there solely to push the player to where they need to go that in my opinion is boring and lazy but easy which is why I personally think so many video games struggle with crafting narratives that feel authentic and real in this regard though Rockstar was creative with how they directly and indirectly had Arthur Morgan building a relationship and bond with each gang member whether that by Exposition dumps as you ride from one location to another story missions in which conflict happens sometimes it was as simple as walking into the gang's camp and seeing how the characters interacted with each other all these moments better established the many different unique and evolving personalities within Dutch's gang Miss Grimshaw would keep the camp in order acting like a mother figure in many ways uncle was the lazy degenerate he was in the last game Reverend Swanson an often broken unreliable drunk eventually changes his way for the better Charles the calculated and reserved new recruit sticks out like a sore thumb as in many respects he's the most honorable of the bunch Strauss the cold and serious bookkeeper had his loyalty questioned often but was loyal to the very end Lenny's smart and confident is considered one of the best and most fun of the gang Mary Beth perhaps enjoying her romance novels as much as the gang life is both a gentle soul and capable Thief John Marston The Family Man from the last game is more distant here but over time grows to understand what he needs to do to be a better man Sadie Adler traumatized Widow that turns into a vengeful Force Micah the most unpredictable and unlikable the bunch proves to be manipulative and selfish Hosea Matthews a father figure to the gang as well as Dutch's closest friend and right-hand man he's a smart witty swindler and most importantly respected by everyone in the gang his long-lasting relationship with Dutch plays a big factor in why the gang is held together for so long you could argue that Hosea was the heart of the gang and when he passes on things are just never the same then there's Dutch vanderlund the idealistic leader who had his best cared for his people and wanted to fight against government tyranny as he views the technological and Industrial advances as a means of control at his words though Dutch slowly descends into madness losing his way and essentially forgetting what he was fighting for in the first place Benjamin Byron Davis who betrays the character does a phenomenal job with making you understand why so many believe in him Dutch initially comes off as charismatic and inspiring you can feel the confidence in his voice as he commands the gang as if they're preparing for war in turn this strong leadership allows the gang to flourish grow and overcome the obstacles in their way throughout the game that man ceases to exist and 12 years later in Red Dead Redemption we meet a man who is a violent Maniac who in the end admits regret and accepts civilization taking over the last of the old west he's aware that his fight is a losing one one that does not even have purpose anymore yet he couldn't stop and wouldn't no matter the damage he created in the monster he turned into the evolution to this specific character is yet another example of the Brilliance of Rockstar's narrative team the story of Red Dead Redemption 2 is very much about the decline of Dutch vanderland and how that impacts everyone sure you have your typical bad guys Como Driscoll agent Milton Leviticus Cornwall Angelo Bronte and all of their henchmen that the gang is constantly having back and forths with but this game is about Dutch of course the rat that was squealing in his ear plays a role in the gang's destruction but there was clear indication long before that betrayal that things would head in a downward spiral and very much is like a sinking ship with a small crack getting bigger and bigger over time with the only solution available being a roll of duct tape that's been sitting around in the cabin for the last decade or two sure it'll hold together for some time but each wave is bringing that ship closer and closer to its end destination which is the bottom of the ocean even in the opening of the game we get a taste of Dutch already kind of losing his way taking the Reckless advice of a newcomer aka the rat over what he considers his family the gang fails at a robbery on a ferry in the town of Blackwater which leaves multiple members of the gang dead or injured and forces the surviving members to escape into hiding with their substantial stash of money left behind following this failure the gang is facing extremely low morale but good Old Dutch has a plan he's able to convince everyone to push on it gives them purpose and reasons to feel optimistic about the future he's sort of like a preacher just instead of leading his people to safety and prosperity he leads them to chaos Dutch's unrealistic promises become a running theme he constantly reminds everyone of the goal of gaining enough money to leave behind Society in favor of paradise it's always one more Heist that's needed to be done at first this is something everyone believes in but over time after one increasingly erratic plan after another after numerous casual T's after each escape from one place to another it becomes evident to much of the Gang That Dutch's promises were nothing but words it's like telling your kids you're gonna take them to see a baseball game every time they ask you tell them later and eventually they stop believing it'll ever happen with the loss of someone as close to him as Hosea was as well as the pressure created from the authorities being hot on their Trail Dutch's personality changes for the worse as he becomes more and more selfish narcissistic and unpredictable valuing the opinions of those that align with his own interests and disowning anyone that questions him this leads him to trusting the rat over someone he considered his son even in his dying breaths Arthur tries to get Dutch to see the light but ultimately this too fails this is an example of a moment that brought me to tears I'm sure I've said it a thousand times but this is a very emotional game the entirety of Arthur's Last Ride is an emotional wreck for myself Arthur saying his goodbyes after rescuing Abigail assadi his last thank you to his horse his passing of his iconic hat to John and his final scene with Dutch Rockstar outdid themselves the building for these moments now of course there are a few variations to how the main story concludes but again I only considered one of them Canon or the right ending to the Arthur Morgan I played as now while especially in the later stages it's very Bleak and again emotional that isn't the case for the entirety of the game throughout the experience there's various moments of just being a crazy happy gunsling and cowboy what do I mean by that well having a party at camp with everyone dancing drinking and listening to music or going fishing with Hosea and Dutch as all of them reminisce or when Arthur and Lenny visit the Valentine bar there's truly nothing that comes close in terms of comedy with a drunken mess that mission becomes and much of that is thanks to Woody Jackson's fantastic score a constant throughout the game the music delivers with whatever tone needed to be said it's what brings key scenes to life drawing emotional responses even today with whenever I hear a specific song from The Game's soundtrack may I stand unshaken is the perfect example of this it's just such a beautiful song that has a few variation that are played once in a similar fashion to Red Dead redemptions far away and then right when the game ends in which a low or high honor version plays other original tracks such as Daniel lenois's that's the way it is Willie Nelson's Cruel Cruel World Rihanna and Gideons and Daniel lenois's Mountain hymn are additional standouts this isn't even mentioning the many memorable ambient tracks that enhance combat in the other gameplay situations that we find ourselves in music was a major highlight in the last game but I honestly think it reaches New Heights in this one woody Jackson is a goddamn goat at what he does and truly deserves more recognition of his talents the work he did in Red Dead Redemption 2 were honestly oscar-worthy a big emphasis prior to launch was on the realism of the open world hearing that there's hundreds of animals a working ecosystem tons of Random Encounters it all sounds good on paper but how it plays is what matters fortunately the evolution of this formula that was used in the previous game works to wonderful effect here all the environments in this game from the snowy mountains of amberina to the muddy Bayou that surrounds sandini to the dry desert of new Austin to the plateaus that dominate New Hanover combined it creates a stunning visual representation of the time period not to mention the downright beautiful nighttime Skies Stars rain from above as the Moonlight shines down producing luscious scenery for us to Traverse through the graphics here are miles ahead of the competition and it's all further enhanced with the interactivity animations and physics that are involved it's as simple as seeing Arthur walk through the town of Valentine in the morning the atmosphere feels Lively as you see a man from a nearby Camp chopping wood a kid selling and advertising a newspaper and the air being filled with smoke from the chimney of the drugstore it's a mostly sunny and windy day with the vegetation that surrounds the town swinging ever so slightly as rain appears to be in the Horizon in the distance he heard dogs barking horses neighing and pigs squealing the local blacksmith loudly hammers away on metal and the town's church bell starts ringing townspeople greet you as you walk past them with mud splashing about workers can be seen putting the Finish touches on a new building with a help wanted sign already listed outside much of the town's men though just loiter about as they smoke their problems away suddenly though glass breaks as the man comes crashing through the saloon window and a brawl ensues Arthur is offered an opportunity to intervene or not choosing to be a buying standard you hear the reason for the fight as it's a tale of supposed infidelity unfortunately for the husband he gets a brutal knockout punch to the face and the other man walks back inside but not before delivering one less snarky remark as a standard event of the town the locals show no interest in the ordeal but an approaching Stagecoach of Outsiders comment on the man lying lifelessly on the ground this one brief moment hopefully establishes the Mastery at play here this is not a one-trick pony this is the entire game Arthur can climb on his horse and the vegetation in front of him reacts he'll Flinch as tree branches hit him in the face and everything about the interaction is centered around realism when you're in the snowy mountains you can have a cold windy fog disturbing your view a lantern of your is only lighting the immediate path in front you can see Arthur's cold breath as he physically is fighting to push through feet of snow leaving behind a trail of footsteps stand in the freezing temperatures too long Arthur will begin to shiver after a torrential downpour and say Valentine the roads will be full of mud mud that sticks to your clothing making you look like a dirty mess something that will Garner reactions Arthur when hunting May strike an arrow into a deer but if it's not a kill shot the deer will resist they'll tumble around screaming in pain as they race to survive until an eventual collapse happens with blood pouring out from the wound that you inflicted traveling by horse you might see an eagle swoop down into a river to collect its next meal while a pack of wolves battle a grizzly bear over a deer's carcass this all may come off as very minuscule in the grand scheme of things but it adds up it's the immersion Factor cutscenes flawlessly transitioning into gameplay the natural shadows and lighting the expanded draw distance which creates beautiful Vistas the authentic sound design of each and every environment the inner Innovative volumetric clouds the impressive texture and image quality the giant sandbox so you can freely explore well mostly because for some odd reason Arthur Morgan can't go too far east or an invisible Sharp Shooting Bounty Hunter will kill him Red Dead Redemption 2 does have this constant struggle of striking the right balance of what's realistic and what's fun when you get ready for a mission you need to properly select your Loadout at your horse's cargo Arthur doesn't have an unlimited amount of weapons that he can carry unlike how it was in the last game when you hunt and skin an animal it's a relatively quick animation as nobody needs to or wants to sit around for 20 minutes watching Arthur slowly carve up the Camp's dinner but with this animal's carcass leave it around too long it'll begin to rot with flies buzzing around it and eventually it will Decay this is an example of having impressive detail but understanding that the player's time is precious and valuable but there are moments in rdr2 where things don't work well even to this day I'm constantly being yeeded off my horse every few minutes after a quick glance away from the screen for a second not realizing that there's a giant rock in front an NPC approaching or a tree branch sticking out with my name on it for some this may be viewed as a consequence of aiming for such a revolutionary Fidelity to others it may be the need for the video game to be more like a video game this isn't even necessarily a point that is reserved to the open world incorporating survival Elements which has Arthur needing to feed and clean his horse and do the same for himself Works to a moderate degree I suppose after a few hundred hours of playing wearing the cool looking thick jacket and the warm climate of Roads is something I don't mind as the consequences my health bar decreasing a bit which can be offset with drinking a health cure the game's UI constantly reminding me of not wearing their correct clothing and the gang member is also saying as much Red Dead Redemption 2 presents many different systems that give you the player choice you don't necessarily have to always interact with them but if you want to have a good time you probably will this varies to buying a newer and faster horse taking care of it and bonding with it which rewards you with gameplay advantages to the means of transportation helping to save or ignore the info fortunate adventurer who gets bit by a venomous snake or the screaming Damsel in Distress being driven away or the prisoner that firmly maintains he's been wrongly taken into custody this serves to influence whether you're honorable or dishonorable there's also discovering purchasing and upgrading your Weaponry customizing your outfits with better designed and sometimes expensive clothes Scavenging for money food and gear after you eliminate a rival Outpost donating to your gang's Camp by purchasing upgrades and turn making things look better and unlocking some nice additions such as fast travel all of this can be neglected but this is part of the immersion part of living as a gunslinger during a destructive period of time in American history not to mention hunting down perfect pelts to then have a Trapper crafted into an extremely beneficial saddle is the way I chose to go the amount of customization options should be applauded especially with the single player not having any microtransactions but many gameplay activities to unlock some really cool and unique pieces of gear whether that be for yourself or your horse dual wielding a pair of revolvers decked out and gold medal with stylish Engravings is indeed that much better if you are going to be a menace to society you might as well look good doing it now a very big new addition to this franchise is the way that you can interact with NPCs there are now dialogue options you can be a piece of [ __ ] and depending on who you're messing with they might just pull out a revolver and try to challenge you to the trigger you also can be a kind-hearted Cowboy that greets everyone you see to the annoyance to some into others a pleasant surprise although it defeats the alternative option I suppose which is skipping the talk and robbing anyone and everyone the choices you are presented with aren't as expansive or detailed as the typical obsidian RPG but there is enough here to express the personality of your Arthur Morgan especially when you commit a crime dialogue can present an interesting dynamic in which you can intimidate any Witnesses into silence even then there's a human component here in which you have to trust that your intimidation worked or you'd take the easy dishonorable option of giving them some lead the hundreds of actors hired in hundreds of thousands of dialogue lines recorded when into building this aspect of the experience this isn't even limited to just the random NPCs that you may or may not encounter but also that of your gang throughout your time in Camp you can greet and antagonize sometimes they'll approach you with conversation sometimes you'll approach them you can piss everyone off they'll tell you to stop and eventually you get what you deserve a knockout punch from one of the gang members when you awake these characters will remark on your previous attitude it's again not as substantial or narrative defining as some RPGs but it does more than enough with adding extra layers to interactivity and making the world feel alive a very interesting decision made by Rockstar was to ditch the more arcade-like fast-paced Gunplay of Red Dead Redemption in favor of you guessed it's something more realistic fortunately the shooting mechanics here are a blast first or third person it's fun importantly the enemy Ai and behavior most of the time feels competent the movement of Arthur especially when clearing out more than a few enemies can take some adjusting as he truly feels like he's carrying a good 40 pounds of equipment on his back along with the introduction of kill camps to the franchise combat encounters feel satisfying when you aim down sights squeeze the trigger one shot your opponent and they collapse to the ground nothing beats watching in slow motion your double barrel shotgun ripping an enemy to shreds as their body or body parts are sent a good 10 years through the air every single weapon has carefully crafted animations the weapons have to be maintained the performance will drop the more you use a specific weapon the more familiar you become with it which increases all of its stats such as its range reload speed and accuracy the first few hours using something like the Cattleman revolver can be a bit of a pain in the ass but once you get access to and familiar with something like the lamat revolver it truly is like a kid walking into a candy shop in terms of the joy you get with wreaking havoc on the unfortunate O'Driscoll Souls that end up in your way ultimately Red Dead Redemption 2 in almost every single way is a genre defining experience brutal devastating and impressive the music AI open world sound combat side quest customization characters visual fidelity story and overall gameplay all comes together to make a game that is truly Unforgettable because of time and Technical challenges you rarely see outside development teams even attempting to do things such as designing it that NPCs actually construct and complete railroad tracks dozens of NPCs with a full campsite building something that a lot of players may never see hell there's even houses and other structures being built from the ground up from start to finish all this construction is fully animated you could sit back and see it gradually form over time and is yet another example of Rockstar's successful commitment to designing an evolving world that truly feels alive kill a random NPC for whatever reason a unique interaction could pop up such as this a widow in distress unleashing her anger on you for what you have done she drops to her knees devastated in tears pondering out loud how she'll support her family Arthur can give her money but she still hates his guts and makes sure he knows it interactions like this play into Arthur's morality and really made me question each and every a decision I was making this is the design philosophy of Rockstar and what sets them apart from the rest of this industry the amount of endless nights of scripting for the developers had to be extensive to make events like this happen and again this is just Random Encounters that most players may never come upon but it is very much important for building towards the ultimate goal of immersion in this vast open world something that was greatly accomplished you've heard me mention a lot about Rockstar's focus on realism but they also do take some creative Liberties Deadeye is once again back allowing you to quickly eliminate groups of enemies in Eagle Eye a new hunting skill allows you to slow down time and follow animal Trails besides these features there's also the inclusion of what I would call Undead Nightmare s content it's clear that the development team understood that players enjoy mystery the supernatural especially in a rural landscape dominated by opportunities to do some weird and wacky things the ghost train that you can stumble upon was one of the most bizarre wtfs I experienced in the game when I accidentally only came upon it the strange man from Red Dead Redemption makes a return in frightening fashion there's a goddamn vampire that can be found an actual freaking UFO that stalks the nighttime Skies the night folk clan that take on the appearance of zombies and aggressively play with their targets most scary I suppose is the ghost girl that haunts the Bayou telling a very disturbing and tragic tale of herself these are points of interest in the game and there's also a lot of discoveries to be made much of which Arthur makes note of in his journal the truth is that Red Dead Redemption 2 is such a massive game that I feel even today I'm seeing things that I never experienced when I first played a couple years ago this goes back to the Mastery of Rockstar's design and the years of hard work that went into every feature of the game now obviously while I've spoken glowingly about a lot not everything works no game is perfect and above criticism the Survival Systems are a bit lackluster and can honestly be a nuisance more than anything else the overall mission design is far too restrictive with players having almost zero freedom to finish a quest in a unique way it's Rockstar's wear the highway the game will even sometimes make you feel that there's different routes that you can take but unfortunately if you divert from Rockstar's design you're almost always met to a you failed screen I didn't mention the Apple log in regards to the story for a reason this is let's just be honest it's pure fan service eight hours of connecting Red Dead Redemption 2's events to Red Dead Redemption it does give a nice conclusion to many characters and a true proper ending to The Game's main story we also gain access to playing as Jim Milton but it's still about eight hours of content that feels like it drags on for too long as someone who loves this universe I enjoyed seeing how these characters evolved from 1899 to 1907 but even I recognize that it doesn't work as good as it should that might honestly just be because Arthur Morgan is a far more interesting lead protagonist and not playing as him just feels a bit off the entire time it also could be that this content doesn't really offer much in pushing the narrative themes forward in the satisfying way also somewhat of an issue with the guarma chapter of the main story still though the Apple log offers some absolute Beautiful Moments especially when Jon revisits the old campsites years later you can hear the old voices of the gang you remember the good and the bad when everyone was together What's Left Behind now are these empty abandoned locations in which many memories for John Marston and the player were made it's the attention to detail that hits hard emotionally the feeling of loss The Lonesome Atmosphere Red Dead Redemption 2 was a game I eagerly awaited for years very rarely can a project like this exceed the already high expectations that I had but Red Dead Redemption to accomplish that the moment-to-moment gameplay is engaging and intense the tale of Arthur Morgan is one for the ages and the technology behind this game will likely fuel even further innovation in the industry for years to come Rockstar set out with the tough objective of topping an all-time great experience and they did it creating the new gold standard in many respects Red Dead Redemption 2 is a Triumph in achievement like we have never seen before Red Dead Redemption 2 solidified the franchise's status as one of the biggest in gaming the previous game was a massive success but RDR 2 took it up a notch estimates prior to launch were in the ballpark of 15 million copies sold in its first quarter following the overwhelmingly positive critic and user reviews the game would go on to ship 17 million copies in its first two weeks exceeding the lifetime sales of the prior entry at the time Red Dead Redemption 2 additionally had the largest opening weekend in the history of entertainment at the time making over 725 million dollars in Revenue in three days as of March 2022 it has shipped over 44 million units becoming one of the best selling video games of all time Rockstar would follow up the single-player adventure of Arthur Morgan with a multiplayer add-on component similar to that of GTA online called Red Dead online about a month after RDR 2's launch it would remain in beta for the next number of months before getting a proper full release in May of 2019 to say this online experience was a massive disappointment would be an understatement the single player fantastic the multiplayer not so much Rockstar's design of Red Dead online heavily Incorporated narrative content narrative content that is simply not good at all it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and a bit of sadness that these resources couldn't have been spent elsewhere like on a single player story expansion Sadie Adler Adventure Nuevo Paraiso Charles Smith in Canada Undead Nightmare 2 all things that fans hoped for but we live in a post GTA online landscape which means that in the eyes of Rockstar Games single player DLC isn't worth the time and effort which is truly unfortunate Rockstar Games would be showered in awards for what they created with Red Dead Redemption 2. remember the single player winning Game of the Year from the Australian game awards Brazil game awards Italian Video Game Awards as well as from Outlets that include Gamespot complex Edge Magazine Game reactor the guardian many more at the game awards 2018 rdr2 received eight nominations and went on to win four Awards best audio design best narrative best score slash music and best performance for Roger Clark as Arthur Morgan on November 5th 2019 Red Dead Redemption 2 would finally make its way to PC being the first game in the franchise to make its way to the platform and a follow-up to their damning report about Red Dead Redemption 2's development Kotaku in April 2020 confirmed citing their own sources that Rockstar Games had underwent drastic cultural changes changes that many employees applauded one Rockstar developer saying it does seem like a healthier culture overall during the covet pandemic another Rockstar developer said about management they keep emphasizing that it's normal not to be productive and our focus should be on our health and taking care of our families since the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar Games replace Studio heads at its San Diego and Lincoln offices the company also booted directors and managers who were said to contribute to cultural issues Rockstar leadership further committed to easing Crunch and stress on their next projects by improving their technology pipelines and planning out more of the game's beats in advance many Rockstar developers felt optimistic by the improvements already made but there still was some skepticism as work remained with transforming the company's culture something that would take years still though Rockstar developers had been making exit plans but were now feeling good about staying with the company for the Long Haul after Red Dead Redemption 2's launch while the company was internally changing much of the attention in terms of game development switched from supporting the single player component to bolstering up Red Dead online with new content and updates although that did change officially in July 2022 when the company confirmed that they were slowing down support for Red Dead online as they shifted Focus to their next big single player action-adventure game Grand Theft Auto 6. Red Dead online never was able to reach the heights that GTA online achieved now it's almost over well Rockstar only recently publicly announced it being essentially abandoned the online experience has not received significant content in over a year the writing has been on the wall for a while now Rockstar Games reportedly considered remastering 2010's Red Dead Redemption but abandoned the idea after the poor reception they received with 2021's GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition Rockstar Games for the next number of years are all in unsupporting Grand Theft Auto which likely will leave little time and resources for the many other properties that Rockstar has under their belt PlayStation 5 and Xbox series X versions of Red Dead Redemption 2 are another example of projects impacted with this change in Direction reportedly these next-gen versions of the game are still potentially happening but have since been put on the back burner until the next GTA installment is complete it truly is all hands on deck with GTA 6's development with that said Red Dead Redemption is a franchise that will again of course be Revisited though the question is when something the Red Dead Redemption 2 cast of said as much as they endlessly get asked about future installments by fans something that they have no input or idea about before Rockstar founder Dan Hauser left the company in early 2020 he had floated the idea of doing another game for the franchise speaking to vulture in 2018 Hauser said Rockstar might do another Red Dead game if this one does well enough and we think we have other interesting things to say with Hauser's departure it's uncertain what this means for the future as he played a significant creative role in rdr2's development what is certain though is that Rockstar Games has produced two truly Innovative Red Dead titles that took the games industry by storm if or when a third game comes about the expectation will be of Rockstar creating something that is nothing less than special the Red Dead franchise played a significant role in the rise of this channel I can't put into words what it meant to revisit all of this but I do want to thank each and every one of you for your support over the years especially to those who were along for the Red Dead Journey from 2016-2018 on the channel hopefully one day there'll be another Red Dead game to get excited for but for now we are left to ponder and enjoy the exceptional games that already exist by no means is Red Dead Redemption 2 a perfect game but it's the closest a game has gotten to it in my eyes anyway what are your opinions on the Red Dead franchise do you have a hot take or a line with the majority let me know down in the comment section below but thank you for watching make sure to leave a like if you did enjoy this video or if you found any informative value make sure to follow my other social media accounts for updates on new videos links are always down in the description below I'm most active on Twitter giving opinions on news that I do not always get into video form so do make sure to follow me over there also check out my Discord for all sorts of discussion on games and again thank you for joining consider subscribing for more videos like this and outlaws to the end [Music]

Channel: LegacyKillaHD

Views: 448,127

Keywords: Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games, GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto 6, RDR2, RDR2 Online, Red Dead Redemption 3, RDR3

Id: U_uH19rtSCk

Length: 72min 32sec (4352 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 21 2022