Red Dead Redemption 2 (PC) review: One of the best stories in gaming comes to PC

It took them a year to do it, but Rockstar Games has finally brought Red Dead Redemption 2 to PC. I’ve played it on the PlayStation 4 a year ago, and now again on PC - and honestly, I like it even better the second time around. On a purely visual level, the PC port of Red Dead Redemption 2 is mind-bogglingly gorgeous and deeply immersive - especially if you have a souped up PC with the latest NVIDIA RTX cards.

On the story, what could I say that hasn’t been said already? Red Dead Redemption 2 spins a web of crime, betrayal and tragedy with its narrative, with one of the most memorable protagonists in gaming history. What weighs this wonderful game down is its repetitive and often outdated mission structure, along with a couple technical issues on PC. 

Civilisation has arrived in 1899, and outlaws are a dying breed

Red Dead Redemption 2’s open world is alive in a way other open world games tend to struggle with. Just watching Arthur travel down a long road is such a treat - and that’s not just because environments are practically photorealistic on PC, but because of how much care has been taken in crafting this world. 

This is 1899, so you still see deer, rabbits, squirrels and all sorts bounding towards the forest. Look to your left, and you might see a rabbit running alongside your horse. To your right, you might see a passing stranger on a caravan. Why not say hello? Look up, and you can see how brilliant the lighting is - cutting through trees and fog in such a lifelike way. 

Still, the game isn’t just about riding around on your horse - though you’ll be doing a lot of that anyway. There are random world events placed strategically around the map that you’ll likely cross paths with many times over. In-game challenges, sidequests, easter eggs and generally excellent world design will constantly pull you off the beaten path, so you have plenty to do when not pursuing the main story. 

Launch day was an absolute disaster

From a graphical standpoint - this is by far the best version of the game you could choose to play. It’s a treat to play through the story and witness how much better this game looks now. Even the most minor of cosmetic makeovers highlights just how stunning the overall package was in the first place. There wasn’t a lot of room for improvement here, but the faster load times, higher frame rate and graphical fidelity should still be extremely tempting for players, old and new. And I have to emphasis again - the game is absolutely gorgeous if you've invested in a 4K HDR gaming monitor and an NVIDIA RTX 2080 Ti beast.

Unfortunately, Red Dead Redemption 2’s PC port was ruined at launch by an irritating amount of technical problems. I couldn’t even get the game running at launch - opening it led to multiple crashes, until Rockstar released a patch that got it working again. Even then, all it took was a quick trip on Google to see many others suffering from worse technical problems. 

Some had their games crash during the prologue, other couldn’t start the game at all. Until a recent update, one of the causes for getting a crashed game was just using the game’s controls! Players were still plagued by crashes for five days post-release. Imagine buying the game, and having to wait a week to actually play it because of how poorly optimised it was. That isn’t acceptable - and no PC review for this game can be complete without at least a mention of how badly Rockstar screwed up its launch.

Side note: It’s getting really irritating how often games just don’t work upon release anymore. 

Hi ho Silver, awaaaay!

It’s hard to not make Westworld references when talking about Red Dead Redemption 2’s online mode, because that’s exactly what it is: you and your friends, pretending to be cowboys. I’m not a huge fan of this game’s online mode, but even at its very worst, it’s just more of a good thing. 

Red Dead Online begins with some basic character customisation - whatever you make will always look like Frankenstein’s other monster, so dress it up in some cool cowboy duds when you’re able. You can play through a handful of story missions and quests, with more being added to the game all the time. You’ll see some familiar faces from the first Red Dead Redemption, which is definitely nice. 

You can also participate in several of the game’s many multiplayer modes, including deathmatches and horse racing. There’s plenty to do in Red Dead Online, that’s for sure. If you ask me, the best way to experience Online is right after the main story - when you’re not quite ready to hang up that cowboy hat.

Arthur Morgan and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day

The story and writing of Red Dead Redemption 2 is undeniably its greatest strength. You play as Arthur Morgan, Dutch Van Der Linde’s right hand man in his gang of outlaws. The gang has just come off a robbery in Blackwater gone horribly wrong - leaving numerous deaths in their wake and a large bounty on their heads. 

In the beginning, you might be more than a little overwhelmed by just how many characters are introduced to you at once - the Van Der Linde gang isn’t a small one after all, and its members come from diverse backgrounds and walks of life. Fortunately, some really great writing will make you warm up to all these characters pretty quickly. You’ll walk out of this remembering each and every one of their names, and the time you spent together, as short-lived as it can sometimes be. 

The story’s not perfect - it can drag on at times, particularly in one lengthy segment that I won’t spoil. Missions can get pretty repetitive - with most of them devolving into shootout after shootout. Rockstar also has a tedious habit of making you play missions their way.

For example, during a one-on-one duel, I tried to shoot a gun out of someone’s hands - something you can very much do to every other enemy. I didn’t want to kill him, but take him alive for a bounty instead. Unfortunately, the game had decided for me that this man would die here and now, and shooting his hand led to his immediate death. 

It might sound like I’m being a little picky - but you’ll realise quickly that the freedom this game gives you in its open world does not extend to its story missions, and that’s a real shame. It’s a glaring flaw in Rockstar’s game design, and really takes away from the game’s replayability. Missions are always played the same way, and any creativity is punished. 

Verdict

Red Dead Redemption 2 has some flaws. Its PC port was borderline unplayable for a week, and not all of its issues have been fixed just yet. However, the sheer beauty of its touched up graphics and lighting system definitely puts this port a step up over the game’s console versions. Rockstar’s mission structure also feels a little rusty, especially considering how masterfully this game is put together in almost every other regard. 

Fortunately, the writing and overarching story on display here still ties the game together beautifully. This is a game about endings, putting you in the shoes of a desperate group of outlaws quickly losing their place in the world. When confronted by the end of all things, Arthur and Dutch both find themselves becoming very different people than who they used to be. 

“We’re thieves, in a world that don’t want us no more,” Arthur says tightly - and he has no idea just how right he is. 

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