It’s a rare and in-depth look that can be entirely ignored. This handwritten journal makes Arthur feel like a real man and breaks down the illusion of minute choices in Red Dead ’s world: Arthur’s character is predetermined. The honor system becomes a mechanic more so than a narrative pathway, unlike Mass Effect ’s infamous narrative decisions.

RDR2 takes us back to the year 1899, 34 years after slavery was repealed in the United States of America. The discriminating attitudes still remain of course, and there are those who would have preferred to keep humans as property, but now the law prohibits them from doing

Of course, one of the best things to do in Red Dead Redemption 2 is to go find some treasure à la Indiana Jones. There are several treasure maps that will lead you to stashes all around this extensive world. Read on if you want a guide to all the known treasure maps in Red Dead Redemptio

What makes the journal even more beautiful is the fact that it records your moments in-game and weaves them into the life of Arthur. I may not be able to make Arthur loyal to Dutch in the end or have him be pals with Micah, but I can decide what side activities he partakes in or the animals he hunts. It gives what I do in-game life. The journal becomes my version of Arthur’s final days, giving my playtime a personal, lively touch that I’ve never experienced in a game before: Arthur’s story and mine intertwine.

There are plenty of little huts and shacks to explore if you’re brave enough to travel off the beaten track, but one, in particular, has clearly been home to a witch! Inside, there’s a bubbling cauldron full of mysterious liquid that the player is able to cons

I kept imagining that this was the type of story that Houser wanted to tell, and while Hell or High Water might have its own set of problems, it never needed to reduce anything to caricature the same way that Red Dead Redemption 2 does. This is a game that tries to desperately to show its maturity, that it’s past the simple morals of fantastical and escapist gunslinger movies, and more along the lines of a “prestige” film like those of Sheridan or Dominik. Yet somehow, old Houser habits have a stubborn refusal to die, creating a product that is in odds with itself.

As with past Rockstar Games they have included proof that aliens and UFOs exist in the Rockstar Games universe. Red Dead Redemption 2 goes all out as there are several UFOs you can see in the game. For starters, if you head north of Emerald Ranch you will come across a shack in which you can almost get abducted by a UFO . Another UFO you can see is atop Mount Shann. You will have to arrive at 2 AM in order to witness the UFO. While these are the only two that have been recorded perhaps there are other UFOs waiting to be fo

The picture in the second Jack Hall Treasure Map is of the Cotorra Springs, a location to the north of the Cumberland Forest. It’s hard to miss them. The water of the springs is beautifully clear, and what looks like geysers are in the area. To the west of the springs is a strange cluster of rock pi

On a similar note, Red Dead Redemption 2 fails to engage with bad actors in this period properly. While the ideals of Cornwall and the Pinkertons are destructive and villainous in their own ways, the game romanticizes the Western lifestyle and ignores that lifestyle’s part in the intense hardships of indigenous people at that period. While this game doesn’t go the Spaghetti Western route in completely ignoring sensitive issues, it bungles its attempts to be more modern and self-aware, while falling into old, “classic” narrative tropes with the Rains Fall story arc. In a moment when the game attempts (with bare minimum effort) to make some form of commentary involving a group of Ku Klux Klan members accidentally catching themselves on fire, the scene doesn’t register in a satisfying way. It’s the equivalent of depicting Adolf Hitler slipping on a banana—a farce with nothing substantial to say, while trying to make it seem like a statement.

I kept thinking back to Andrew Dominik’s 2007 film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford , which I’ve been presuming was the most prominent visual inspiration for Red Dead Redemption 2 for a few reasons. For the most overt example, look no further than the major train robbery sequence from early on in the story, and compare it to one of the first scenes in Dominik’s film . From the foreboding music, the light in-between the trees as the gang members await the train, and the point man standing on the track to stop the train, the two scenes are nearly the same beat-by-beat.

The visual connections stack up when you compare transition scenes with Arthur Morgan having a blurry, dream-like quality that resembles the film’s cinematography from Roger Deakins. Thematically, both Red Dead Redemption 2 tips and tricks Dead Redemption 2 and The Assassination of Jesse James focus on a commune of criminals and gang members, led by a charismatic leader who the rest of the gang eventually become disillusioned with. There’s even the same devotion to realism—Dominik’s film attempts to be as authentic in portraying events, dialogue, and action the same way it would happen, with shootouts happening at point blank range with both combatants missing each other. It’s slow, deliberate, and honestly, a bit boring—which is how I felt about Rockstar’s game every time I was told to search a room.