First and foremost, let’s take a look at Rockstar Games’ track record with single-player titles. Rockstar has not delivered a new title since 2013’s _ Grand Theft Auto V _ , which is ultimately a reflection of the success of _ Grand Theft Auto Online _ . In fact, Rockstar has only released two other games since the original _ Red Dead Redemption _ and _ Undead Nightmare _ expansion in 2010: _ L.A. Noire _ and _ Max Payne 3 _ . Hopefully, the _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ team at Rockstar was fully-devoted to the title and the wait will be worth it, but a five-year hiatus from releasing any single-player title is enough to make us a bit w

GameStop stated that the game’s delay would not affect the overall sale of video games in the fall. This could be because the impact of the game has already lessened, meaning that it wouldn’t have been the end-all game many are hyping it up to be. Instead, moving it to the beginning of the year simply moves it out of the way of potentially bigger titles that could steal its sales. The holiday season is incredibly important in the games industry because everyone wants the best new game as a gift. Rockstar could have realized that even that time of year wouldn’t have helped Red Dead in any real way, so moving the game’s release date at least moved it out of the way of other big play

If you’ve made it this far and still have every intention of pre-ordering _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ , that is totally fair. This is merely an attempt to offer up some suggestions to – at the very least – temper expectations. One final thought for those debating whether or not to pre-order _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ : Maybe just wait to submit that pre-order until more details are released. It is easy to be excited about such a highly-anticipated title, but we are sure to hear more news surrounding the details of the game as its October release date approaches, ideally including pre-order bonuses. It is rare for games (and retailers) to not include some sort or pre-order bonus, especially those with online experiences. If you are planning on pre-ordering _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ , at least try and get yourself something exclus

Wanted levels have never made sense in Rockstar games and they are always a joke. In the Grand Theft Auto games, even though you can steal a tank, and destroy literally hundreds of people, all that happens when you get caught is you lose some mo

Unsurprisingly, _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ will feature an online multiplayer component. Not much is known about the online mode, other than a few leaked modes potentially at play, including Battle Royale, Revive and Survive, and Money Grabs. Online retail product descriptions for the game indicate that “the game’s vast and atmospheric world will also provide the foundation for a brand new online multiplayer experience.” But let’s be honest. Just because a game has an online multiplayer experience, it doesn’t mean it is good. For instance, fan-favorite, iconic franchise _ Metal Gear Solid _ has dabbled in the realm of online multiplayer, but to no avail. An oversaturated market also makes it difficult for great single-player games to stand out as decent online multiplayer games. Obviously, Rockstar found the golden ticket with _ GTA Online _ , but can that success realistically be repeated with a 1900s-era western g

What adds to the wariness is the fact that Rockstar – a Take-Two Interactive subsidiary – had originally intended on releasing DLC for _ GTA V’s _ story mode, which never actually came to fruition. Then, when asked about the planned release of the DLC during a 2015 earnings call, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that story-based DLC was never discussed. In 2017, Rockstar finally shed some light on the lack of story-mode DLC, when Director of Design, Imran Sarwar, stated that, “it was not really a conscious decision, it’s just what happened.” Sarwar went on to state, “At Rockstar, we will always have bandwidth issues because we are perfectionists and to make huge complex games takes a lot of time and resources. Not everything is always possible, but we still love single-player open world games strategy-world games more than anything.” The latter sentence gives some hope that _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ will receive the attention and treatment that it rightfully deserves, but while any game is in development, the mention of studio “bandwidth issues” is sure to send shivers down gamers’ spi

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a long game and there’s a lot to do in it. The main campaign alone, along with a good number of Stranger missions, took us just under fifty hours to complete, which is exponentially longer than its predecessor. That’s barely even participating in the various other activities, such as hunting, gambling, bounty hunting and more. The Stranger missions are one of the bigger draws as they are once again whacky, over-the-top scenarios that fill out the world. Arthur may not have the sarcastic, comical timing of John Marston, but he still lends to each situation with his confusion. Sadly, I never saw a damsel tied up on a railroad track that needed saving. Speaking of Stranger missions, you’re also able to make choices that may affect scenes in the main story. For example, I met one woman earlier in the campaign and she appeared as a prostitute later on, which lead to a bounty immediately put on my head. Another was a surprisingly lengthy scene with a nun who I randomly bumped into once, and Arthur opened up to her. Your choices through the campaign do hold some weight as they can affect where specific people end up in the future and might even expand upon Arthur’s character more.