At one time or another people will ponder what gaming will look like in the distant future. I remember seeing the very first games appearing in the world and taking those monumental steps to where we are today. As hardware becomes vastly more powerful and software does ever more clever things with said power, the raw creative potential open to developers has never been so abundant. Of course, horsepower isn’t the only factor on the table because you need talent and vision to mould this digital clay into something worth playing. However, when technical prowess is married with creative vision; we occasionally see a leap in the evolution of gaming.

Spaghetti Western 

In 2010 Red Dead Redemption launched on console and it was met with critical acclaim across the board. As with most Rockstar games, it was based in a fictitious setting which draws its inspiration from real-world places and cultural periods. Players got to play as John Marston, a former outlaw looking to go on the straight and narrow. John is bribed by government officials to hunt down his former associates and these events are what the first game are based on. I won’t elaborate any further as many PC gamers will still be waiting in the hope that this classic will still be released on PC.

Then last year we saw the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 on current consoles and like the previous game, it was widely regarded as Rockstars greatest work to date. This sequel is actually a prequel, telling the story of the Van Der Linde gang and more specifically the events that lead up to the first game. This time around the player steps into the well-worn boots of Arthur Morgan (Roger Clark), a tough and seasoned outlaw who is also the right-hand man of Dutch van der Linde (Benjamin Byron Davis). The game opens just after a failed heist has led to the gang being pursued into a blizzard by the law: wounded and seeking refuge it is here that your journey begins. 

So a few months ago my wife and son set off to Australia for a few weeks and due to my medical situation I was left home alone. With the sofa and TV in my complete control (for the first time in eight years) I decided to finally play Red Dead Redemption 2 on my trusty old PS4. In that time I not only completed the campaign but also mastered every aspect of the games many challenges. A few weeks ago the well-aired rumours of a PC version were finally confirmed and I knew I was heading back into the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 once more. Due to the size of the single-player game, this review explicitly covers the campaign and I will review the online component as a separate body of work. Of course, many reviews of Red Dead Redemption 2 are already out there and so I could have just done a ‘what’s new’ review: but where’s the fun in that? So please, settle down by the campfire and let me tell you what I thought of Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC.

The Beginning of the End

In these first few hours the player is treated to some of the most incredible and atmospheric visuals we have ever seen in a game. As the deadly blizzard whips around your ears, Arthur and his companions struggle to catch their breath. Seeing pinpricks of warm light flicker through the whiteouts and the way harassed lanterns cast a comforting glow across the shifting snow around you is wonderful to behold.

The opening chapter does an excellent job of both introducing the main characters of the gang and also some of the games basic concepts. Riding a horse, hunting deer, searching a house for scraps of food and fending off a pack of ravenous wolves. We also get a good indication of how detailed this world is, from how the snow deforms underfoot, how your hand actually grabs every item you pick up and tiny minutiae like how the print on paper can be faintly seen from the other side. Even within these first few hours it is evident there is is an undercurrent of decent with the group and it is this doubt in Dutch that germinates through the many chapters ahead.

Den of Thieves 

The gang soon make their way down from the mountains and set up camp on Horseshoe Overlook where I would say the game begins proper. As white turns to green you cannot help be shocked at this vision unfolding before your eyes, from how the wagon wheels churn through mud to how dappled light plays on your convey as you ride through the woods. Even within the camp, there is a lot to take in and get to grips with. Similarly to the wider world around you, the camp feels like a living, breathing entity that is in a constant state of flux. As you wander around people will acknowledge you, bring you information or comment on recent events. They will tuck into the food prepared by Pearson (the cook), argue among themselves and sit around a warm campfire at night sharing drunken stories. The camp also has a wide range of practical functions which only increase as you invest more cash into improvements. 

Arthur can use his own tent to shave, sleep or change his clothes as you might expect in a Rockstar game. If you have been bringing meat back to the camp there is usually a stew simmering over the fire and some coffee for those up at dawn hunting expeditions. There are a range of chores for Arthur to tick off which helps the camp while increasing both his and other peoples disposition. These activities, while well animated are mundane after the first few times but as I will discuss later, are vital cement for the foundation of realism. Once you start to upgrade integral parts of the camp people will see this and contribute more to the coffers. You can always throw a few dollars in the pot as well as donate valuables for crafting or selling. 

As you listen to conversations in the camp you are being given backstory on the various members of the group you call family. The turbulent relationship between Dutch and his long-suffering wife Molly, the lazy old grifter who kinda just hangs around sleeping, the morally corrupt businessman Strauss and so many more. You are more often than not given a binary choice of a good or antagonistic response to people which will filter into the honour system. The camp is junction box of the games feedback system and as you move from chapter to chapter, the gang will find themselves in many different locations across the vast map.

The Circle of Life

The world in which Arthur exists is an intricate body of work that is as alive as any game world has ever been. Weather, for example, changes frequently from a misty morning after the rain to thunderstorms and blizzards. I would say some weather systems transition in a little too fast (this could be linked to a technical issue covered later), so much so that you might think the Highlander was gadding about the place. These environments are teeming with all manner of life from tiny birds, right up to stampeding buffalo herds. It seems like Rockstar have considered every conceivable type of animal from snakes, pigs, deer, cougars and including many subcategories. In most games, these critters would be wandering around with some rudimentary behaviour tucked under the skin, but in this game, every creature behaves and responds in a very realistic manner. I have seen bears fight wolves, wolves play fight other wolves, birds of prey swoop down to snatch fish or small rodents and many more examples. I even heard a story of two bucks getting their antlers jammed together and the winner dying from starvation. Interestingly, when a creature (or person) dies their is a full decay system as the corpse is taken back by the land over days.

In addition, there are a number of legendary animals that can be tracked and hunted for special rewards. After going on a particularly enjoyable quest with Hosea, he imparts a map on you with the locations of these legendary beasts. You must then track them in their home territory and bring them down. Some will be relatively easy to best, others will likely rip your throat out and some even have quest line attached to their appearance. Hunting these special animals will not only take you to some spectacular locations but also give you important items that buff your gameplay. After selling the rare pelts at a trapper you can also turn the trophies you gain into trinkets at the fence and these will each offer varying bonuses. If you are the kind of hunter who likes to wear what he kills the trapper can also take pelts/skins off you and craft some very interesting outfits/equipment.

Over the years many games have tried to implement hunting with varying degrees of success but Red Dead 2 is by far the most accomplished to date. While having a good understanding of the natural world, Arthur is honest about his ignorance when using a bow. As you explore the terrain around you many animals will cross your path and each can be observed for more information. This knowledge will ultimately give you the best type of weapon to kill that particular creature if you wish to take quality pelts from them. All creatures (baring legendary) have a three-star rating system and for many crafting projects (or for the most profit) it is the perfect pelts you will need. Using a concoction to mask your body odour or making sure you are downwind from your prey are all mechanics which help you get close enough for a good shot. A head or heart shot will usually give you a clean kill and you can then head over to skin your quarry. Fishing has also been worked into the fold with a fun system that is both challenging and yet doesn’t get too technical. What I love about the fish in Red Dead 2 is that they don’t just spawn onto your hook, they are actually in the water when you arrive. Having trodden on a few when galloping across shallow rivers emphasised this perfectly. As with land creatures, there are also a good few legendary fish you to best, which is a great distraction from adding extra breathing holes to bandits. 

The Devil is in the Detail 

One of the best parts of playing a new game is uncovering a detail that the developer has placed in the world that you were not expecting. These can be purely aesthetic additions or actual gameplay options, but those ‘ah I can do that?’ moments draw the player in like nothing else. Red Dead Redemption 2 is undoubtedly one of the most insanely detailed digital landscapes we have ever seen and makes the world that Arthur inhabits feel like a real place you could go visit. I remember after hunting down and duelling a famous gunslinger I decided to do a Brick Top. I pitched his corpse in the pigpen; never expecting the pigs would actually consume the body. In another situation, we rescued a captive gang member and in the process killed a whole bunch of bounty hunters. While rummaging through the corpses a group of lawmen turned up to investigate the gunfire. Hiding in a bush I watched with amazement as they start loading the bodies onto their horses to take them back to town. 

The horses in Red Dead 2 are a good example of how utterly astounding this game can be. When you move from a cold area to a warmer climate you can actually see steam coming off the animal’s skin.  Similarity (and infamously) a male horses nutsack will actually shrink when in cold areas or water (yes I tested this). You can even sense a horses mood by the position of their ears which is just insane. If you keep your horse well-fed it will gain weight, crap more and be far less like to buck you off in a gunfight. You can buy a horse, steal one or even tame one from the wild and not all horses are made equally. Just be aware that a horse can die, so walk softly and carry a horse reviver I always say. The varied colours, breeds and temperaments are just the start because you can customise many more aspects in the stables. Your saddlebags, stirrups, bedrolls and saddle materials can all be altered to your heart’s content.

Arthur himself will change depending on how you play the game. His hair grows just like a living person which means if you don't cut it you will end up looking like a throwback from the hippy movement. I still feel like hair is one thing that gaming still hasn’t quite mastered yet and with higher resolutions on PC, it can look like wire. You can also get fat or skinny depending on how often you feed Arthur and this, of course, affects his stamina. There are so many ways to customise the way Arthur looks it can be a little intimating at first. Arthur will also wear the scars of his delinquent lifestyle including damage from fights and stains from mud or blood. If a character walks past a bright light source you can actually partly see through the soft tissue of the nose and ears. When a developer puts what must have been weeks of development time into tiny details that some players could literally never notice, this is a sign of a true masterpiece.

Strangely enough, all this realism could be the one aspect of the game that ends up being a turn off for some players. When you kill and skin an animal you enter an intricate skinning animation that is different for each of the hundreds of critters. This system is so detailed that even where an arrow has struck a creature can be seen in the deep tissue when you pull off the pelt. Skinning each kill, lifting it up, placing it on your horse and repeating this action can start to feel like a chore. Out of context, this could be a negative but this game is aiming for realism on an unprecedented scale, so any part that skimps on this process would end up breaking the immersion. When playing I found myself doing unnecessary actions like having a morning cigarette at my favourite vista, just because it felt like what Arthur would do. I think something the recent game Death Stranding has shown is that for some, like climbing a mountain in real life, adversity can in itself be integral to the sheer exhilaration of success. My advice to anyone planning to play this game for the first time is to let yourself fall into the experience, look around and admire the elegance of its design.

King Arthur

Arthur Morgan is the beating heart which this games narrative orbits around and his own redemption is inextricably linked to the path of the Van der Linde gang. For those who know or have played the first game, the overall destiny of many main characters are set, but how the game writers approached this is nothing short of spectacular. When Red Dead 2 was announced many assumed we would play as a younger John Marston, so to create Arthur was a surprising and brave move. There is very little said about Arthur in the first game and so this left Rockstar some creative licence when it came to his own story.

Arthur has been with the gang since being a young man and his entire life has been moulded around this way of life. As America started to embrace the onset of civilisation the lawless were forced to change or be eradicated. Like a school of fish being stranded in a tidal pool, Arthur and (most of) his companions know their entire way of life will soon be over. The honour system is constantly assessing your actions and reactions, moving the slider left for bad and right for good. While many aspects of the main story are set, how you reach that point and also the tone of how it ends will be affected by where this honour system sits as the game reaches the final chapter. Arthur Morgan is one of the most real characters I have ever seen in a game and voice of Roger Clark plays a huge part in bringing him to life. There are moments of fierce wrath, dry sarcasm and heart-wrenching humility. As the game progresses we see a ruthless loyalty to Dutch being constantly tested and this leads to some true edge of your seat moments.

Coddiwompling for Beginners

As you move through the game’s chapters, main quest missions will appear on the map with initials of the person to whom they pertain. These are usually well-choreographed set missions which take you on some truly epic adventures. Occasionally they will be staggered into multiple stages which will give the play a breather between the action and chance to do something else. Outside of these campaign missions, there is a whole truckload of smaller activities which will please those collectors out there. Dinosaur bones, stone carvings, cigarette cards and so many more.

Arthur does have story beats that cover his love life, but unlike most Rockstar games he is unable to visit prostitutes or sleep with members of the gang: with hindsight, I think this was the right move. With a game world this dynamic you can organise your own schedule of mayhem: rob a train, rob a store, release some prisoners from their transport guard or start a bar fight in the local saloon. Just bear in mind the NPCs in this game will remember your wrongdoings and chastise you appropriately the next time you are in town. There are also many random events that you will happen across and some will bear fruit. For example, you may come across a man who has been bitten by a snake: you can suck out the poison, hand him some medicine or just leave the poor sod to croak. If you do either of the former you might then later bump into him in a nearby town where he will reward you handsomely. There are small stories everywhere from one-off encounters to a series that will skip across the entire game. Once I had bitten a large chunk out of the main story I decided to start exploring some of the rumours and mysteries that can be uncovered. I won’t say what they are but with a little bit of digging on the internet, you can get an idea of where to look. It is a testament to the depth of this gameworld that some days I could just load up my horse, jump in the saddle and head out into the wild. For days you can just wander, camp under the stars reading Arthurs journal, hunt for rare pelts needed back at camp and indulge in a spot of coddiwompling. 

West World

An outlaws guns are an extension of his (or her) very being. Arthur has access to a whole manner of weapons and equipment throughout the game which you access from the weapon wheel. Of course, you have an assortment of pistols, revolvers, rifles and shotguns: each will perform differently and the level of detail is exquisite. When you fire a rifle, for example, you will see Arthur chamber a new round for each shot and even when loading his six-shooter you see each bullet going in. Like the horse customisation, you can modify both the components and aesthetics of each weapon, even down to the type of metal for individual parts. You can also use a variety of ammo for each weapon and even make your own at the campfire. Just cutting a split into the end of a bullet can increase it’s effectiveness. My favourite weapon is actually the bow because it allows Arthur to pick of guards silently before moving closer with throwing knives and the odd tomahawk axe. Overall the weapons in Red Dead feel (and sound) great to use and I can now finally play in first-person mode with mouse aiming precision.

Once the bullets start flying this game world is ripe with destructive details. Shooting adversaries in various locations will glean different effects and you can even shoot someone’s hat off. You will also see lanterns get hit (which spray oil and fire everywhere), bottles explode and everything will generally break as you duke it out. I also love how fire will actually spread realistically, even across tent fabric and other flammable objects. The three cores that govern your character’s status are health, stamina and Dead Eye. Each of these cores will supply the outer ring and so when the core is empty you will need to eat or rest. Dead Eye, like the last game, is a way for you to slow time and select numerous targets. As time speeds up again Arthur will put a bullet wherever you have placed a mark. Being confronted by a group and taking each down before they have even drawn their weapons is satisfaction in the extreme. There is also a hunting mode which again slows down time and allows you to see animal tracks, herbs and many other items of interest. 

In addition to his main weapons, Arthur also has a few other tricks in his bag. The lasso can be used for many situations like capturing a bounty alive, pulling someone off their horse or even wrenching an animal carcass from the river if it’s getting washed away. I love how if your target runs around a tree the rope will actually wrap around the bark causing friction. You also have a lantern for exploring caves or the forest at night and a set of binoculars to scope distant prey. Your saddle (which can be moved between horses) can also store a few extra sets of clothes which is useful if you head into colder (or warmers) climes. You can also change your clothes (and shave) in order to avoid the law when you’ve been a rum feller.

Is it PC?

Rockstar has never seemed to favour development on PC, instead, they mostly focus their efforts on current generation consoles. A few years ago they realised a fantastic port of GTA 5 onto PC and it made many hopeful for more simultaneous releases. This hasn’t been the case and I do think there is a clear business strategy at work here. Rockstar has some of the most sought after games in the world because they are absolute masters of their craft. Many bought GTA 5 on last-generation consoles, then again on this generation with the remaster and then finally on PC. I have no doubt in my mind that this is no accident and allows Rockstar to effectively sell three copies of the same game (with the obligatory spit and polish). 

Red Dead Redemption 2 has landed on PC with an unceremonious thump and this is frustrating considering what an important game this is for the platform. On launch day a great deal of people could not play due to a whole swath of issues, such as crashing, frame rate stutters and even the launcher flat out refusing to work. Even if you purchase on another digital store, the Rockstar launcher is required to run in the background because this houses all the games social features. Over the last few days, Rockstar has released numerous patches and updates to the launcher, thankfully most people are now able to play. Each patch has, unfortunately, reset all graphical settings which is frustrating when you have spent hours getting them just right. In this time people have reported that updating BIOS, turning off CPU cores and changing the games default API from Vulcan to DX12 all helped solve the problems they were having. However, these issues show that the game has not been properly tested or optimised for PC which is very disappointing.

Red Dead 2 was thankfully not an Epic exclusive as many had predicted (given 2K was publishing) but the Steam version of the game has been held back for one month. While we will never know the real reason why I think it is safe to assume Rockstar wanted a months grace period to avoid being crucified by user reviews on Steam. There has also been another disappointing element to the launch on PC which is how the refund policy has been handled. Of course when players discovered they literally couldn’t play the game on launch day, many understandably sought a refund from Rockstar. Leading up to launch, Rockstar were offering two free games and an upgrade to the special edition (with lots of in-game goodies) to get people onto the Rockstar launcher, seems reasonable right? Well, it turns out that if you redeem any of these additional games you are then no longer eligible to get a refund for the game you actually purchased. This is a blatant anti-consumer policy and is a good example of why we should never pre-order a game.

I was one of the lucky ones on launch day and was able to play from the start, so how is the PC version of Red Dead 2? Considering I am on an older system (4GHZ, 16GB, 980GTX) the game looks great and has been running mostly at decent frame rates. The options available for graphics are expansive and give players a lot of wiggle room for their own setup. The main framerate killers (as usual) are reflections, high-level antialiasing and volumetric effects. If you have a powerful system this game looks absolutely drop-dead gorgeous on PC with some definite improvements on texture detail, lighting and draw distance: you can actually see the twinkling lights of Saint Denis at night. If we are being fair, on the new Xbox X and PS Pro (and even base PS4) the game also look stunning, showing that Rockstar clearly spent a lot of time squeezing every drop of performance from these closed systems. We also now have the inclusion of a very decent photo mode, which will allow us gaming photographers to spend hours getting that perfect shot while in the thick of the action. The big win on PC is of course in the frame rate bump and how much more fluid the gameplay becomes. Every single aspect of gameplay is improved by a high frame rate, from controlling your horse at high speed, intense shootouts and so much more. It also doesn’t hurt that load times are now mere seconds as opposed to the few minutes on console.

The other big improvements for Red Dead 2 on PC is being able to control the action with a mouse and keyboard. The difference is immediately noticeable and aiming with the mouse feels profoundly improved. Now shooting a gun from an adversary’s hand or picking of a deer from 200 yards is so much more precise and fun. While first-person mode was available on console it was nearly impossible to use due to the unwieldy analogue sticks, now you can legitimately play the entire game in first-person. I do wish Rockstar had made the UI more PC orientated but I suspect a clever modder will oblige on this front. If you play with mouse and keyboard the target reticule no longer snaps to your target which could be a big shock for some, however, you can always just pick up a controller and the game automatically flips to the new input (as it did with GTA 5). So this is all great but not everything is gravy in the controls department either. One niggle I did notice is that while menus are far more snappy, when you hover over items with the mouse pointer it does not give you information on that selection, but this does seem to have been improved with a recent patch. We also still have timed button presses for many interactions and while these seem a staple on console, they really do grate when you want to do something quickly. I will concede that some elements of Red Dead 2 just feel better on a controller, such as fishing with vibrations and the analogue sticks do offer a finer degree of control for movement speed.

Most pastimes (like flying drones, rock climbing etc) will have basic go-to gear, but the more extreme you go the more specialised the equipment gets. The PC platform takes games beyond the conventional and allows them to be the very best version they can be. It is a constant fight for PC to buck the perception that games often don't work properly or you need a degree in electronics to own one. The truth is that PC Gaming does come with some extra work, things can go wrong but more often than not gaming issues arise when a developer doesn’t do their due diligence with Q&A. In the last four years, I can count on one hand the times I have had an issue playing a game other than some minor performance issues. While thankful that Rockstar has finally released this epic game on PC, the state the game (and their launcher) arrived in does damage PC gaming because it highlights where the platform can fall down. There are even reports now that the games decay/weather system is linked to frame-rate which causes all kinds of problems for people running at high-end rigs. I really wish Rockstar had taken more time to get their launcher in good shape but moreover, do the necessary work to let it shine on our platform.

I will just say that while I’m not an audiophile I do know what sounds good and where things could be better. The sound and music in Red Dead 2 are consistently excellent. It blew me away when I discovered that every line of dialogue Roger Clark did for Arthur was recorded twice, once for normal speech and once for him under duress. Ambient sound effects are also excellent from the distance sounds of a babbling brook to hearing the efforts of a busy woodpecker echo through a dense forest. Considering the size and scope of this world the developers who have provided the sound should themselves get an award. 

Conclusion

This might be the toughest review I have ever set about to write. By effectively finishing the game twice in the last six months I have seen almost every nook and cranny of this vast game space: which leaves me with a lot to tell. If I had to nail down the one part that I enjoyed the most about this epic adventure you would think it would be playing in the most detailed digital world ever created. However, it is actually the emotional connection I made with this story, the people who inhabit it and specifically Arthur Morgan. I have never felt such so much affection for a game character before and I feel like gaming is finally starting to match cinema for what is possible in this regard. I was so emotionally invested at the conclusion of the game, I actually felt compelled to visit fallen friends (and enemies) whos graves appear in significant places within the game world. 

It is clear that the PC version of Red Dead 2 was not ready for release and this is frankly gutting when considering what an important game this is. However, while the outrage jockeys must have their pound of flesh, I do think the game will receive the work it needs from Rockstar and it is already looking far more polished. I am also sure that modders will help improve many aspects of the game both in terms of making it more PC friendly but also having the usual naked shenanigans. In so many good games there will be one or two aspects which the developers have absolutely nailed and these carry the weaker parts of the experience. In Red Dead 2, every conceivable element of the game is raised to these heights of excellence and in some cases beyond. This is why I regard Red Dead Redemption 2 as the best game I have ever played and one that truly deserves the title of masterpiece.

Thank you for reading my review of Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC. This was a big review and so if you stuck with me all the way I applaud your stamina! We have a brand new rig coming soon and so this will be the first game we replay. With the single-player review in the bag I will now be putting together a separate review for Red Dead Online, so watch this space. As always you can see all my work posted on Twitter @riggedforepic