This review contains spoilers
I believe that there are two ways you can experience this game, either playing it with no prior knowledge of RDR2 which many did way back in the day or like me playing it fully for the first time after playing RDR2 many times through. I truly believe playing this with the knowledge of the second game enhances the story in all the right ways. Don't get me wrong this game would still hold up if RDR2 never existed and it isn't as if RDR2 makes this game drastically better, it just compliments the story in all the proper ways.
To start off, the story itself is fantastic with amazing performances all around. All the story beats surrounding the old gang members are highlights of the game and are made much more emotionally investing with the prior knowledge, we aren't just hunting down bad guys, John his hunting down his former family, characters we have seen fall down this downward spiral, Dutch in particular. Speaking of, Benjamin Byron Davis gives an amazing performance in the small amount of screen time Dutch has, Dutch's final speech before his death is one of if not my favourite moment across both games. John's death is masterfully handled as it rightfully wraps up his story after he got his redemption and still hits hard to this day. A lot of small throwaway lines of dialogue are given a lot more meaning through the sequel which just makes the dialogue all the more enjoyable. The whole host of side characters make for great companions throughout the story, best of including Bonnie, Irish and Ricketts. Also with a lot of interesting and sometimes wacky side content to do in between missions.
Gameplay wise it holds up very well. There are some areas which feel a bit dated mainly the horse mechanics. Shooting ages very well. The map is vast and feels way more like a western setting than RDR2 does, primarily because most of the game takes place in either New Austin or Mexico.
Now for the controversial part, The port itself. I do agree that this game should not have been £40, however after looking at some of the games released in the later half of this year (Cough Cough UFC 5/ MWIII) Thank God it was only £40. It should of released with 60 Fps support of the bat, I played the last few missions with 60 fps enabled and the game looks even more fantastic. Graphically the game looks great, whether that's down to the port or the fact the game holds up really well regardless ill leave that for people to decide for themselves. At the end of the day, its a port of one of the best games Rockstar has to offer on a console that couldn't play it. Obviously i would of loved a ground up remake but in all honesty everyone was delusional thinking that a full remake was gonna happen with GTA 6 right around the corner.
I know i spoke a lot about RDR2 in this review and i dont want that to take away from the fact that i loved this game. I am in part glad that this wasn't a remake so it wouldn't be filled with RDR2 references like some people wanted. That is what takes away from the charm this has, but instead we now have a sequel that compliments the original extremely well. If you are a fan of the original or RDR2 and havent played the original yet, do yourself a favour and play it.
To start off, the story itself is fantastic with amazing performances all around. All the story beats surrounding the old gang members are highlights of the game and are made much more emotionally investing with the prior knowledge, we aren't just hunting down bad guys, John his hunting down his former family, characters we have seen fall down this downward spiral, Dutch in particular. Speaking of, Benjamin Byron Davis gives an amazing performance in the small amount of screen time Dutch has, Dutch's final speech before his death is one of if not my favourite moment across both games. John's death is masterfully handled as it rightfully wraps up his story after he got his redemption and still hits hard to this day. A lot of small throwaway lines of dialogue are given a lot more meaning through the sequel which just makes the dialogue all the more enjoyable. The whole host of side characters make for great companions throughout the story, best of including Bonnie, Irish and Ricketts. Also with a lot of interesting and sometimes wacky side content to do in between missions.
Gameplay wise it holds up very well. There are some areas which feel a bit dated mainly the horse mechanics. Shooting ages very well. The map is vast and feels way more like a western setting than RDR2 does, primarily because most of the game takes place in either New Austin or Mexico.
Now for the controversial part, The port itself. I do agree that this game should not have been £40, however after looking at some of the games released in the later half of this year (Cough Cough UFC 5/ MWIII) Thank God it was only £40. It should of released with 60 Fps support of the bat, I played the last few missions with 60 fps enabled and the game looks even more fantastic. Graphically the game looks great, whether that's down to the port or the fact the game holds up really well regardless ill leave that for people to decide for themselves. At the end of the day, its a port of one of the best games Rockstar has to offer on a console that couldn't play it. Obviously i would of loved a ground up remake but in all honesty everyone was delusional thinking that a full remake was gonna happen with GTA 6 right around the corner.
I know i spoke a lot about RDR2 in this review and i dont want that to take away from the fact that i loved this game. I am in part glad that this wasn't a remake so it wouldn't be filled with RDR2 references like some people wanted. That is what takes away from the charm this has, but instead we now have a sequel that compliments the original extremely well. If you are a fan of the original or RDR2 and havent played the original yet, do yourself a favour and play it.