4.5/5 ★ – Oliver_Gamer's review of Red Dead Redemption II.

An immersive and engaging world but a flawed masterpiece of a game. The visuals are nearly unmatched and apart from some of the NPC faces the game is visually nearly flawless and the plains, swamps, mountains, lakes, and rivers are all brought to life in beautiful detail and lighting to make for a very immersive and engaging visual experience. The sound design is also fantastic and simple things like riding a horse or pulling the hammer back on a revolver have a realistic sound design. The voice acting is unparalleled to nearly any game and every voice from the main cast is phenomenal down to the common NPCs you find in the world. The music is also one of the best parts of this game and the battle music is bombastic and exhilarating and the music while exploring is appropriately subdued and mellow. All of the tracks are distinct and memorable and even worth listening to outside of the game. The characters are all fully realized and are given plenty of time to be fleshed out in such a long and expansive game. The narrative is ever expanding and engages you to every single character and their struggles. It’s a story that has a lot of world building and takes time to get into but it will make you laugh and you’ll grow to become quite invested in the characters. The story missions are amazing for this reason but unfortunately the level design is quite restrictive in its approach and far to linear for an open world game. Each one seems to end in another shoot out and it becomes quite predictable. The gunplay is very outdated and uses a generic lock on system and it feels like it plays itself out sometimes, but the details from the bullet trails and gun sounds make the shoot outs still feel satisfying. Outside of the main story there are a lot of other things to do and the open world is quite unpredictable but still feels real and one of the most alive and engaging open environments to explore. Towns offer a lot to do like customizing Arthur’s look and taking up bounties. The side missions offer a ton of variety in gameplay and often better than the main story missions. There’s a lot to do like mini-games, stage coach robberies, fishing, hunting, bounties, and even some secrets and Easter eggs hidden within the world. The game also offers a ton of customization in your camp and for Arthur but also allows you to upgrade your weapons and playing the game allows you to unlock new Dead eye abilities and increase your stamina or you bond with your horse. There’s also a great connection with your impact on the world. For example if you find a rivalry gang camping out somewhere and take them out and loot their bodies, you can later sell it at Emerald Ranch and sell it to the NPC there and they’ll even mention where you found these items. Also when you cause mayhem in a town and become wanted they’ll shoot you on site and bounty hunters can come after you. The controls however can feel a little clunky at times and cover isn’t very reliable but the gameplay all around is quite engaging and immersive. The beginning can also be quite slow and the first chapter overall is dragged out but if you can get past that speed bump the rest of the 60 hours are amazing. Overall it’s an incredible game and one of my favorites with a few things holding it back.