RED DEAD REDEMPTION II

 RED DEAD REDEMPTION II:

Rockstar is one of the few studios that has always managed to excel with each installment, where each title is made with impressive mastery. If we thought Grand Theft Auto V was ambitious… We hadn't seen anything.

After 8 years of waiting since the launch of the original game, acclaimed by critics and gamers alike, Red Dead Redemption 2 had some pretty big shoes to fill, but after spending a considerable amount of time on it, I would venture to say that this title is the masterpiece of RockstarGames, clearly with some errors, but after all, they do not greatly affect the final product.

Red Dead Redemption 2 acts as a prequel to the first Red Dead Redemption. This time we will know everything the Van Der Linde gang went through before being hunted down by John Marston in 1911. After a botched robbery in Blackwater, the gang will begin their escape from the law. Where we will not only meet our protagonist, but also a diverse cast of characters that will “grow” with us, in addition to letting us see a little more of the enigmatic leader.

Instead of John Marston, the protagonist of RDR 2 will be Arthur Morgan. This character is not only one of the oldest members of the gang, but he is also one of Dutch and Hosea's henchmen. Over the course of almost 60 hours (maybe more), we will know much more about the whole band, in addition to little by little getting to know all the people who were before and who changed so much over time, such as Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella and Dutch Van Der Linde.

Without a doubt, at the narrative level, Red Dead Redemption 2 tells a completely different story than what I expected from Rockstar. 5 years ago in Grand Theft Auto V we saw how all the robberies that we planned could be executed in an ideal way and we could not fail. RDR 2 tells us something different and it could be considered a failure story.

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RDR2 constantly shows us that the characters that accompany us during the campaign in many cases are guided by desperation and their constant interest in being victorious, which will always turn out badly. In this game the saying "If the situation is bad, calm down ... It can always be worse" applies.

This is even more curious after GTA V, where thefts required planning and rarely did something go wrong. Surely this other point of view from Rockstar is not only interesting but also welcome.

On a narrative level, the game works very well in terms of how the characters feel not only more human but also more vulnerable. In the beginning, the whole band is presented to us as a mass and little by little they dissect them so that we know more about them and understand what motivates them to continue with the band.

In addition, this "prequel" manages to enrich the narrative of the first title, there are undoubtedly elements that one would think are missing within the RDR the story but in a good way Rockstar manages to tie all the dots properly, so that those gaps that some characters are not so notable, or their absence can easily be accommodated to the first title. But the star of the game is undoubtedly Arthur Morgan. Sure, Arthur is the protagonist of the game, he has to be an interesting character, but compared to what Rockstar had shown us previously, he is completely different from what is expected.

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In the trailers and even in the first chapters of the game, Arthur is the stereotype of a tough man who follows orders and who firmly believes in those orders since it are what has ruled him all his life, but little by little Rockstar is presenting us with a character that goes beyond the stereotype of John Wayne's cowboy, to a more natural person and all the change at the narrative level feels natural and plausible, within the universe that the game poses.

Comparing with the first Red Dead Redemption, characters like John Marston, Abigail Marston, Bill Williamson, Javier Escuella and Dutch Van der Linde return. In the case of the last 3, Rockstar had a great advantage and it was that the past of these characters was not as discussed in the previous title, which allowed the studio to adjust these elements to make the characters more interesting.

These are not as deep as Arthur or John, but in the case of Williamson, they changed my opinion about them and I found them much more interesting and fun in contrast to everything I saw in the first Redemption.

The new characters also manage to leave a mark. Not only because they show how the band worked on a structural level, but also who the referents were, for example, Hosea Matthews was one of the most interesting.

Hosea along with Dutch were the leaders of the band, this one more beaten by age is a constant source of wisdom and without a doubt a character who always makes us think about the decisions we make, even making Arthur wonder if the decisions we make have taken are correct.

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The cast of characters is much more varied if we compare it to the first, although the classic stereotype of characters are still seen, the cast is so diverse, and the way that Arthur shares with almost everyone, is a good way to hide these shortcomings at the construction level of characters, especially because despite being a long title, not all characters can be given the same priority.

The sound of Red Dead Redemption 2 is spectacular, especially with a good sound system or headphones, the level of detail reached by the studio is magnificent, the sound effects are impressive not only in the weapons but also in the way The music manages to enrich what we see on the screen. There are several missions where the music and the specific situation manages to give it that Western movie feeling, especially the last one where we feel all the energy that the game seeks to transmit with the music that works ideally with our objective and the location in which we find.

Visually RDR2 is one of the great titles of this generation and shows us that we are not only reaching the end of this cycle

The world is very detailed, not only in the number of objects we see on the screen but also in things like lighting the world and the way various NPCs that we find look. These details also show us the superiority of Rockstar when it comes to open-world since RDR2 is a fairly large game in size and yet the world never felt empty. There was always an NPC that greeted me, an animal to hunt that passed near me, or some unexpected situation that I had to quickly overcome.

The length of the chapters also affects the narrative rhythm of the game. Many times it feels like the story does not advance enough because some missions are less interesting than others or get involved in things that do not end up contributing enough to the plot and its characters. The gameplay while maintaining the same essence that Rockstar has used since the first Redemption, is not as welcoming to new players as its predecessor. Things like stamina or increased health do not quite fit into the product.

I understand the interest in bringing something new to the table, but even for Redemption fans, in part, it feels like a kick in the face these new elements that in certain cases can hinder the game experience, even mechanics such as cleaning weapons, they become a clumsy task and thoroughly do not add anything of value to the established gameplay. It also doesn't help Rockstar, the crunch situation that was revealed shortly before the game's launch.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is an impressive title, which manages to create an immersion like very few can currently be seen in the industry. Although it can be considered Rockstar's masterpiece, the game has elements that make it unfriendly and is the realization of a study at the expense of the "fun" of the player. It certainly shows us how far console technology can be pushed to create spectacular worlds, without neglecting a well-written story that exceeds studio standards. RDR2 is available now on PS4 and Xbox One.

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