I'll start this off by saying I've played Red Dead Redemption 2 before, way back in 2020. So... I did what people tell others what not to do, playing the much more advanced newer game before trying out the classic first part of the story. It was amazing, a perfect story, an incredible game world, and one of the (if not THE) saddest tales in gaming. I couldn't enjoy the first one anymore, could I? Well, I could, and I did!
Fast-forward to this month, and I finally decides to play the first game. Being a late 90s and early 2000s gamer, no warnings of "dated graphics and controls" could keep me from trying it. Hell, to me, 7th gen is still the best. And so I went on to play RDR. And I'm glad I did. The game is a goddamn masterpiece, no less.
I'll start with the story, and I'll refrain from any spoilers, but John's tale is as sad as Arthur's, and even more tragic. Having played the 2nd one first, I knew the background of those characters and what John went through to get out of the old life. It made the whole effort through the story even more meaningful. Mind you, I knew from the start what would happen (I had it spoiled for me many years ago, a reason why I didn't play it until now), but still, I fought my hardest thinking "I can make it different". That's some magic writing in there, to make me feel that way even when I knew the end.
As for graphics, looking at it through 2010 lenses, it's fantastic. Characters, foliage, animals, sky boxes... everything looks amazing and lends a very cohesive look to the world. I literally have no complaints, it's all top notch.
Then, controls and gameplay. Honestly? I liked this game even better than RDR2. I didn't find it to be dated, to feel any bad or to have any issues. It's all tight and every control, from shooting to traversing, minigames, work perfectly. The game is older, has less to it, less collecting, less mechanics (like no food for John or the horse), and sometimes, less is more. The fact that it isn't as complex as the 2nd game made me enjoy it even more. It left me more time to enjoy what I like the most, the exploring and shooting around (Spaghetti Western - all about conflicts and cowboy badassery), and made completing the game (most of it, I'm at 86% now) a LOT more viable.
Quick mention for the soundtrack and voice work: literally flawless. The exception leaves no room for any criticism.
All in all, this timeless masterpiece remains an absolute perfect fictional tale of the old west, and a must-play for everyone who likes the genre even as of 2025!
Red Dead Redemption is one of my favourites, though I never could get into RDR2 for some reason. It's definitely a game that I will need to set aside time for and experience the story.
Red Dead Redemption was probably my first " Adult " story as I was in my early teens, and the gut punch at the end was so unexpected by my adolescent brain lol, I can remember turning the game off after it happened and just going to sleep in distraught.
I feel the 360 era of games in general just had the right balance of fun gameplay and a good story, whereas as we got my advanced, the focus tends to shift to realism, which creates an immersive experience, but sometimes it gets in the way of the actual playing of the game.
I had to give RDR2 a few tries to get into it.
When I finally did, I honestly just got irritated with the languid pace of the gameplay. There's a detailed world there. I can see why people want to live in it and spend tons of time with it. I don't. It just felt like a huge pain in the ass at many points. That said, I eventually started just bee-lining the main story, and I really enjoyed that part of the game. But whereas I 100%ed RDR1 when it came out and loved hunting online in free roam and all that... RDR2, I just didn't want to spend more time with it than I needed to.
I might revisit it someday if it ever gets a current-gen update.
Yea I just felt so overwhelmed with it.
I only played it about 6 months ago, but because of its age, i decided to go full on mod crazy from the start, and stick about 10 mods on, from improving textures and other visuals to QOL controls, fast travel made less slow, auto riding, and can't remember what else. And i was surprised how up to date it all felt, so it might be worth a replay of you haven't tried mods yet
RDR is just a better game imo. RDR2 is a perfect example of more isn't always better. Incredible writing and world building, but so sluggish, absolutely terrible combat and despite looking beautiful it felt outdated on release.
Whatever engine Rockstar used was not fit for the AAA status of the game and i found the minutiae of it all a bit overbearing.
The controls didn't improve either. I punched my horse so many times by accident.
What didn't you like about the combat?
Agreed. I liked RDR more. The 2nd one felt so slow and overwhelming that it felt like a chore sometimes.
I vehemently disagree with everything here but you are entitled to your opinion.
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Same with me, I remember rushing to the store when Undead Nightmare came out just to see an alternative version of what happens with John
360 was peak for me. Fallout 3, Mass Effect Trilogy, Orange Box, RDR, GTA IV, Bioshock, Arkham Asylum, Dead Space... it's amazing how quickly xbox fell after that.
I couldn’t get into 2 either. I hated that I was trying to be this friendly cowboy, riding through town, playing cards in the bars, and waving/saying hi to fucking everyone. Then I’d hit the wrong button and aim at someone, or worse, have to shoot up the whole town to break out your dipshit asshole “comrade”.
Then I tried it a couple years later and really liked it. Realized that I don’t have to be perfect and that I can just pay off my bounties. That I can just ride around and don’t have to explore every inch of the map and can just go with the flow. Learning how to set up a camp for the night, cook food, etc, so I don’t have to make it back to base, or try to bring an entire deer carcass home just to get ambushed at a bridge and lose everything in the process. The story is great, the gameplay is fun, and while there’s a lot of extra things you have to do like eat, sleep, fix cam, shave, and brush your horse, you don’t have to take it thaaat seriously
I did end up quitting before the end because I knew what was happening and was kind of in a rough patch in my own life that I didn’t wanna see it through, but it was well worth it to get to where I got
I'll add I had a load of fun with the zombie expansion back in the day and the online was a lot of fun too.
I didn't like the Undead Nightmare DLC nearly as much as the main game. It was a fun theme, but I felt like the settlement/town defense mechanic was pretty boring when too long. The one in Las Hermanas was a torture.
I mean that's fair. I haven't played any of it since release but I do remember really enjoying it all 😁
I'm about halfway through and almost gave up on it, but did the thing: I decided I'm not in a rush to complete it. I'll play and enjoy it an hour or so at a time. One mission and then I'm done for the day. It's got me to go back and play a lot of games I have that I was being impatient about and really love the story.
Another game that I gave up on but went back to and completed is Sleeping Dogs.
Bro I just finished sleeping dogs for the first time a few days ago. Amazing game
So glad to hear! I finished the base game and am ready to tackle the DLC. Year of the Snake and Nightmare in North Point.
I also picked it up recently, I never played it in the 360 era. I like the world they crafted, but lots of missions seem like an unrelated set of self contained stories. Doing a race vs other cowboys, herding horses for that lady on the ranch, performing tricks for a potion seller etc. The way Marston suddenly finds himself doing these requests, only the jobs he needs to do for the ranch lady seem natural.
Every once in a while I pick it up and do a few missions and I like the overall vibe.. but in between the shootout at the fort in the early stages of the game and after arriving in Mexico, most of the stuff in between those two points is forgettable. Now that I am in Mexico it's getting interesting again.
Just got it. Any tips for an enjoyable time?
Take your time. Don't rush through the story. Appreciate all the details the game has to offer.
How about game play, anything that you were doing that you realized made it harder or less enjoyable, (e.g. walking instead of riding a horse)?
And vice versa? Made it more enjoyable.
I read that if you brush and feed your horse, it performs better. Any other secrets?
Just play the game man. The game's gonna teach you all of its mechanics when the time comes.
Let yourself be surprised.
Don't waste your time brushing and feeding a horse
You're going to be trading up horses for better ones
As the other guy said, take your time, no need to rush anything. Looting bodies and keeping your eye peeled in camps for chests containing money will set you up financially. Also, taking bounties and night watch jobs also help you at the start (bounties are good up to the end, as they increase in value). Use Dead Eye as much as you can, especially when surrounded by a lot of enemies. When hunting animals and looting their pelts, keep your eyes and ears sharp on your surroundings, as predators may be lurking around just waiting for a shot at you.
You're in for a treat, bud!
Don't forget to use Dead Eye on an enemy whilst holding a Molotov Cocktail
Perhaps the overall story arc is as sad as RDR2, but at least RDR1 for the most part feels more lighthearted and easy going, whereas in RDR2 I always felt circling the drain. I also prefer the setting of RDR1.
Having said that, RDR2 has more replay value simply because the world feels so rich and detailed - IMHO the best open world game.
Its the first game to ever make me cry lol
I'm playing this now too! Despite its age, I was surprised at how fast this game pulled me in. I normally have a really short attention with games lately for some reason. It takes a lot for me to want to keep playing for more than an hour, but since Christmas eve, I played for about 20 hours already.
I kind of like how the scope of the game isn't as vast and overwhelming as other sandbox open-world game as I had been playing AC: Origins before this. While I'm sure land-wise, it's as big or bigger than GTA IV, which came out a couple years prior to this game, but it just feels smaller because of the vast unpopulated terrain. I loved GTA IV though, so I didn't mind this game having similar graphics.
You're right. The music is fantastic. It reminds me of the soundtrack from Sergio Leone's spaghetti westerns, featuring the music of the legendary Ennio Morricone, who also worked on Tarentino's Kill Bill.
I had regretted not playing this on my Xbox 360 even though I had bought the game. but I just didn't play it very much for some reason. Maybe I wasn't in the mood for the slower-paced gamestyle of this game as compared to the GTA series. By the time Red Dead Redemption 2 came out on the PC many years later, I just to wait decided for the PC port of the first game before I played any games from the series. I didn't think I would have to wait this long, but playing it on PC in 4k resolution makes the wait worth it for me.
Can't wait to try RD2 next (although I might finally try to tackled Kingdom Come Deliverance 1 first).
Damn I played this game this year, and had the exact opposite reaction. It felt extremely dated, empty, and I felt the absolute wear of walking into an area and trivially shooting enemies in this one. I can easily imagine RDR being great for the time, I still think John Marston is that guy, but timeless isn't the word I'd personally use for this one.
Same.
The “travel through barren spaces to get into a location and shoot some people there” concept felt very dated to me.
Though I guess the barren-ness of it might be the point due to the era setting. But yeah just feels like very padded
Yeah 100% agree. Just can’t honestly say that riding through the Wild West is in any way better than the sequel tbh.
Man when it comes to art you really have to keep perspective of the time it was made. For a 2010 open world game it was pretty great. Won game of the year for a reason
“can easily imagine being great for the time”, “timeless isn’t the word I’d use for this one”
Mafia 2 should have won it. It’s one of the most detailed game ever made.
This and the repetitive mission loop made me bounce off more times than I can count.
Did you play the classic or remaster?
I enjoy the horse handling a lot more in the first game, in general it just feels snappier imo.
I remember thinking it was my fault. I got it wrong. I tred to make it right several times, but I realised this is just how the story goes. John doesn't get a happy ending, he just gets fucked up with a vengeance, and it's not fair. And only after he decided to make things right, or at least as right as possible.
I can't remember a lot of video game moments that slapped me in the face as hard as that.
I'm an even older gamer. Hell, I'm older than videogames. To me, the best visuals that the early 2010s had to offer are still good enough. Diminishing returns ever since. RDR had me completely immersed for a long time. I remember showing it to my brother, as an example of how the look of games had become so good.
I'm a believer that 2015's Star Wars Battlefront was the peak of video game graphics and will continue to be until devs figure out how to actually make modern tech look good. Because the tech is there and, by all means, games should look better than ever. But they don't. They look, and run, like junk.
Amen! System requirements have exploded to get iterative improvements. And then the devs all got hooked on UE5 with the promise of having it do all the hard technical work for them. Of course, it can't. Technical competence is still needed. So performance took a nosedive, and issues multiplied. What we get is too often not worth the price of admission.
Yeah, 7th gen hit a ceiling we're struggling to surpass. Late games like Halo 4, Killzone 3, Uncharted 3, Gears 3, Crysis 3, Battlefield 4 and other crossgen titles like MGS V and Rise of The Tomb Raider all still look phenomenal on those 20 year old consoles. 8th gen got us better resolution and antialising, PBR and more polygons, but all in all, every new gen (meaning consoles) brings less and less to the table.
7th gen is the sweet spot for graphics to me. Good enough to make me impressed to this day, but not so good that my mind doesn't have to fill in some blanks (I like that, makes the experience more unique to each person, like reading a book).
Revolver was such a favorite of mine to the point I remember rewatching the teaser of Red Dead Redemption ad naeseam before it had released
https://youtu.be/aqk5DN_DO_o?si=9YLaEUX5-RRN3-Od
RDR naturally has kind of less variety compared to 2, but how could that not be. But it's still a brilliant wild west GTA-esque game, imo. I like both games and like you said, the 'lack' of certain things that were in 2 doesn't hurt 1 at all.
I must be the only person who didn't give a crap about the story. As a game it was excellent, they created an amazing world and mechanics to explore it. Except that whole dead eye thing. That was an awful bullshit copout of a mechanic. I played the game without using it and I think it was a better experience for it.
The story was just a western pastiche though. I've seen all the same movies the writers did. There was nothing there that held my interest. It fell into the same traps as the GTA games. The story moves along in fits and starts. The pacing of the beginning is lost and never recovers. It made me wish Rockstar dropped all their movie studio pretentions and just made immersive sandbox games.
THANK YOU! I thought I was the only one who didn’t like the story lol
I need to give Red Dead Redemption a replay. It's the last Rockstar game I really enjoyed. it's a fun western sandbox with all sorts of adventures and side stories and really works. I probably will never play the sequel because it always sounds way, way too awkward and slow.
Great game!
And yeah it just shows what a masterpiece RDR 2 truly is. That game just expands on the existing RDR world and mechanics so much, absolutely great
I played it for the first time a few years ago, and loved it — except for the ending. Any time a game takes control away from the player to force a scripted outcome is complete trash in my book.
Necessary for the narrative to conclude