Red Dead Redemption 2 is truly an achievementin game design. Still, that doesn't mean it's not withoutits flaws. Some are a little annoying, some are straightfrustrating, and, some... well, some occasionally make us want to use our controllers as claypigeons. Rockstar Games made just about everythingin Red Dead Redemption 2 rewarding, but that doesn't change how many things feel like chores. You'll even find that riding your horse requiresyou to hold a button down the entire time, or time button presses to gallops for maximumefficiency. That is, unless you use the auto-ride feature,which puts the camera into a sort of cinematic mode and instantly points your character inthe direction of the waypoint you set. The problem is, the world of Red Dead Redemption2 doesn't care if you're auto-riding while sitting in front of the TV or if you've goneto make yourself a sandwich while your character is in transit. It keeps on living. The bad guys still want to kill you — andthe natural obstacles don't just disappear. If you set yourself to auto-ride and walkaway, you shouldn't be entirely surprised if you come back and find you're dead. Rival gangs still roam the roads and trailsin Red Dead 2. And the law is still on the lookout if youhave outstanding bounties. You ma y believe you've found some loopholethat lets you catch up on some email while Arthur or John make their way across the mapto the mission target. But really, all you're doing is leaving yourselfvulnerable to attack. Thanks, Rockstar. "Wow, that's — thanks so much." Unless you were fortunate enough to use somekind of gold bar exploit, money is extremely hard to come by early on in Red Dead Redemption2. Your share of gang robberies is pretty paltry. It seems like anyone you hold up yourselfis poor as hell. And if you want your character to wear somenicer clothes or shoot some nicer guns, you're going to have to spend that dough like a bigboy. Which is why it's wholly frustrating to berobbed totally blind without being able to hunt down the jerks who stole from you likethe animals they are. "Hey friend! Come here a minute. Trust me, you wanna hear this. I promise. You gonna wanna hear this." This happens a couple of times in Saint Denis. Some sketchy dude will call you over, you'llfollow him down an alley, his ruffian friends will knock you out from behind, and, whenyou come to, you'll find that — surprise! — your cash has been swiped. Of course, the bad dudes who assaulted youhave expectedly peaced out, and no amount of hunting will lead you to their doorstep. That money is just gone forever. You'll never get to exact your revenge. And if you had plans for how you were goingto spend that money, well, too bad, sucker. "Didn't your mama warn you 'bout followingstrangers?" "C'mon, let's see what he's got." To put so much time into growing your wealth,only for it to be gone in an instant, is always enough to send you into a fit of rage. "Give me back my money!" Even the most die-hard Red Dead Redemption2 fans will admit that Rockstar may have tried to do a little too much with the game. There are unique actions for almost anythingyou can do. Controller buttons perform those differentactions depending on the situation. It's entirely possible to take a step backand see the same button now does something totally different, just because you aren'tstanding next to a drawer, or a person you can interact with … or your horse. For reasons that are unknown — and reasonsthat make Red Dead 2 players want to hurl themselves off a cliff — Rockstar mappedthe action for getting on your horse to the same button as the one used to tackle someone. If you're in a crowded town and someone happensto be standing next to your horse, you can understand why this might have some unintendedconsequences. "What's the idea? Damnation!" All you wanted to do is saddle up and getto the next mission in peace… but RDR2's controls have something else in mind. Namely, an unwanted fight leading to the popoon your tail. It's infuriating. And you'd be totally justified in shuttingthe game down so you can cool off. Or, y'know, just taking out the whole town. Red Dead Redemption 2 is overflowing withmissions, side quests, and mysteries. Not only that, the game encourages you toexplore every nook and cranny. You can log every animal species into a database. You can craft items from their hides. You can play for probably 100 hours and neverfinish everything. But some people like to try by revisitingthe game's world after they get through the main story campaign. Unfortunately, there's a problem with thatapproach. You see, Red Dead Redemption 2 wisely builtmost of its side quests so that John Marston could complete them, even after Arthur diesin the campaign. "Years ago a friend of mine helped you retrieveyour horse… you became friends." "Oh, yeah, Arthur. Yeah." But there are some quests that are meant forArthur only — specifically, the ones that take place while the gang is hiding out atvarious camp sites throughout the story. When the location of camp moves, these questsdisappear, and they can no longer be played again unless you start an entirely new storyplaythrough. Basically, if you're a completist and youdidn't finish everything in Arthur's story, you'll have to start over. And if you thought it was a slog the firsttime, just wait until you have to do it again. Red Dead Redemption 2 does a lot of thingsright. Say what you will about the length of thestory, but it's truly moving and does a great job as a prequel, setting up the events of2010's Red Dead Redemption. You also have to credit the attention to detailin every little thing the game shows off, living or not. It takes video game realism to another level,and there's a good chance you'll never see another game hit this bar until Rockstar makessome sort of follow-up. But goodness gracious, are Red Dead 2's controlsgodawful or what? Whether you're playing as Arthur Morgan orJohn Marston, it doesn't matter — they both move like they have cinder blocks strappedto their feet. Everyone laughed at The Legend of Zelda: Breathof the Wild for bragging about the intelligence of its horses, but we promise, you won't belaughing once your horse in Red Dead Redemption 2 rams into a damn tree or a freaking rockfor the hundredth time. “Stupid horse!" All throughout Red Dead Redemption 2, thegang is on the run, trying to scrape enough money together to eventually make an escapeand live free of the law. But it doesn't always go to plan. Things go wrong. Heists get foiled. And the gang is forced to move from one makeshiftcamp to another, with everyone doing their best to gather enough resources and come upwith enough cash to survive. "So, what are we doing next, Dutch?" "We just need money..." Just kidding. Actually, it's your character that seems tobe doing all of the heavy lifting. You're the best shot, so you're always senton every mission as protection. And not only that, everyone relies on youto stock the camp with food. And find medicine. And purchase enough ammunition for everyoneto keep their weapons loaded. You're also apparently the main source ofincome. When you stop by the camp's money box andmake a deposit, you'll often find that everyone is donating cents at a time, while you'rebankrolling the entire operation. Everyone else dallies around. Dutch reads his philosophy books. And you're doing all the hard work. It'll make you angry every time you open theledger. "Where's the money?" "They hit me!" "Where's the money?!" There's nothing worse in a video game thanbabysitting missions. You might remember having to guard Natalyain GoldenEye 007. It was the absolute worst. It takes those kinds of companions to appreciatethe useful ones, like Elizabeth in BioShock Infinite, who tosses you ammo, opens tears,and manages to keep herself alive. If Elizabeth can survive without your help,why can't your gang members in Red Dead Redemption 2? Dutch's gang is a bunch of rough-n-tumblebadasses! Elizabeth is basically a Disney Princess! It just doesn't make any sense. "No… it damn well doesn't." When a gunfight breaks out, you have enoughto worry about. You're usually taking cover behind something,trying to shoot down enemies without getting pumped full of lead yourself. The least your fellow bandits can do is holdtheir own and stay alive long enough for the mission to end. Apparently, that's too much to ask. If you aren't keeping a watchful eye on theseso-called killers, acting as a chaperone while also thinning the herd of hostiles, they'llinevitably be shot to death … and you'll have to start all over. Please, don't make us babysit our allies ingames. “I'm gonna let you in on a little secret:I'm not a real babysitter." For all of the realism you'll find in RedDead Redemption 2, there are a couple of things that ask you to suspend disbelief. The game encourages you to eat regularly,for instance, in order to keep your health and stamina up. But you can play the entire game without eatinga single thing. You can lose your hat in a heated battle,leaving it on the ground as you walk or ride away. Yet somehow, that hat always seems to findits way back into your horse's satchel. But those are tiny things. The fact that enemies can take multiple shotsand act like they don't feel a thing? That's a pretty huge leap in logic. We get that it's a video game, and one-shotkills might make gunplay pretty boring. But this is a game that leans in to make everythingelse so lifelike. Your horse gets tired if you ride too far,while enemies can soak up bullets like it's no big deal — it's complete nonsense. Let's get one thing straight: the shootingin Red Dead Redemption 2 is pretty awful. It's hard to aim properly. Your targeting is easily knocked off everytime you get hit by an enemy. And those opposing gunfighters are incrediblysquirrelly behind cover. Fortunately, Red Dead 2's Dead Eye systemhelps level the playing field. It slows down time, giving you an opportunityto hit moving targets more easily and shoot far more accurately. It's a godsend. But there's a problem. Dead Eye charges slowly. If you run out of the consumables needed torecharge it quickly, you'll be in a really bad spot when a shootout occurs. It always seems to happen at the worst time— you'll be getting flanked both left and right, trying to peek out and gun down enemieswho never seem to provide an opening. Because the shooting in the game is so bad,you're bound to lose your life a few times simply trying to land a shot or two. And because you're out of Dead Eye consumables,you'll meet this same fate over and over. The official end of Red Dead Redemption 2'sepilogue is immensely satisfying. If you're like most people, you go throughArthur's story absolutely hating Micah. When you learn he's the source of most ofthe gang's misery, you hate him even more. "You pick your side now, because this is over. All them years, Dutch… for this snake?" And long after Arthur's passed, when you getto play as John Marston and deliver sweet justice to Micah, it all feels worth it. But wow, the fight up the mountain to reachMicah's cabin in the epilogue will make you angrier than any video game has any rightto. For some reason, Rockstar thought it wouldbe totally fine to send you up a mountainside with zero cover. Meanwhile, every single one of Micah's men— random goons that shouldn't be that great at handling a gun — suddenly become expertmarksmen. They can somehow see you coming around a bendbefore you ever get there, and once they're able to train their sights on you, there'snot a lot you can do to respond. You'll likely die a whole lot trying to survivethe game's final mission. Just remember it's fine to take a break — and,no, by "take a break," we don't mean snapping the disc in two. Unless you downloaded it. Check out one of our newest videos right here! Plus, even more SVG videos about your favoritestuff are coming soon. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit thebell so you don't miss a single one.
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