The original Red Dead Redemption was released May 18, 2010, for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. As of February 2017, the game has shipped more than 15 million units. The first game received a 95% critic review on Metacritic. The long-awaited prequel that takes place before the first game and was released on October 26, 2018, has already sold 15 million and is expected to sell 20 million by the end of this year.  On Metacritic, it has received a 97% critic score.  

The scenery for Red Dead Redemption 2 seems to be based on old landscape paintings and consists of very western themes for Texas. It shows resemblance to 19th-century paintings due to the fog levels and color choice. There are also accurate models of trains, horses, and just about everything “western” with great attention to detail. The graphics are not usually what makes games great to many, but they are worth noting here. Freshman Luke Culver says that that is his favorite aspect. The game starts off with a winter setting with beautiful snow and wooden buildings that have a great atmosphere. This eventually makes its way to other settings like desert and grassland, which are all stunning in different ways. Bryson Tesseneer, a freshman, notices this and says the environment changes and makes it “less static and more realistic.” The fog levels and other things even get across how humid, hot, and muggy it may be.

Both games take place in the early 1900’s and were before a time where common localization was a thing. The prequel opens the world and gives it life while expanding the characters. Not only does it have returning systems from the first game, (abilities such as ‘Deadeye’), it adds new systems like an honor system that determines how the NPC’s look at your character and interact with them. Another new mechanic is when your weapon gets dirty it’s more likely to jam and clog so you need to clean it.

One thing people are happy about is that it’s not just a copy of the game Grand Theft Auto 5 like a lot of people were afraid it was going to be. Bryson said he was happy with how the game is. “It is great so far. Rockstar did very well on this addition. It is not a copy/paste format. In other words, very different from GTA.” Luke even rated the game a 10/10. This game has been getting a lot of positive feedback, and it’s worth checking out.