Red Dead Redemption 2 is a Western-themed adventure game, the prequel to the previous Red Dead Redemption, set in 1899. Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on October 26, 2018, and developed by Rockstar Games.

The story follows Arthur Morgan, a member of a gang called Vander der Linde. The story also follows the past, present, and future of said gang.

The gameplay is second-to-none. The game can either be played in first or third person. The gameplay brings back important mechanics such as great combat controls and the honor system with the hero vs. villain bar. The developers upped their game by adding a big request of fans in dual-wielding. This feature was awesome and it was pretty sweet doing it on a horse. The game is true to its RPG roots. While there is the main storyline, 60 hours long, the player has a choice to really do whatever the player desires which really makes the game what it is.

The game starts off in a blizzard and the Vander der Linde gang is running away from another gang called the Pinkertons. These two gangs have a lot of history and pretty much is the background of the entire storyline. The game immediately shows its combat improvements in the first couple of minutes. The mission really does a good job of setting the context for the rest of the plot. The plot isn’t confusing either. Just like any other RPG game, there are many side-missions that don’t directly relate the main story, but still connect to the overall story pretty well. The plot connections were a lot better than Red Dead Redemption.  

The cinematics was a huge improvement and are by far the best in a game this year. Rockstar Games put in cinematic views whenever the player is just riding the horse. With the snow, the rain or whatever landscape it is, the cinematics make it seem like a movie. The cutscenes are very entertaining and keep the player engaged throughout the entirety of the cutscene.

The best part of the game is the graphics. The graphics are absolutely ridiculous. This plays in with the cinematic views. The whole game feels like a movie and it because of the graphics.

The player, as mentioned before, plays as Arthur Morgan. He was born in 1863 and had a rough childhood when his father was arrested when he was 11. He soon joined the gang. The character development for Arthur is there, we get to see his occupation as an outlaw first hand. With the improvements to the honor system, the player can decide to be an outlaw that is considered a villain, or a hero. The player really chooses the character development his or herself.

All in all, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that was highly anticipated. Fans are drooling over the greatness of the game and there is no other game that can compete with this one. Spider-Man was AWESOME, but Red Dead Redemption 2 is by far the 2018 Game of the Year.