The most observant among you will already know this, but I personally spent a somewhat embarrassing amount of time searching around for a manual save game option. There’s nothing worse than pulling off something completely awesome, only to die and realize the game never auto-sa

Minigames in open-world titles, by most accounts, can serve as bite-sized bits of variety in-between missions or while traveling across the map; good for some mild distraction, but usually not much more. But in the rare occasions, minigames like these can add a surprising amount to the believability and depth of a world beyond just its map size and scale. Given that I put in as much time into The Witcher 3 ‘s Gwent as I did in most other games by themselves, there’s certainly something to be said that when done well, open world minigames can add so much more to a believable game world in their own right. And inside the game’s world drenched in the imagery and themes of the Wild West, Red Dead Redemption ‘s minigames were definitely some of the best examples of that extra level of detail and immersion.

The big question is, have you tried the same trick with pigs? If you haven’t, I am going to tentatively suggest that you do. I’ve seen alligators ignore floating bodies before. But as it turns out, pigs can be just as hungry for fresh meat. If you need a handy way to destroy evidence, try p

Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place in 1899; roughly twelve years before the original Red Dead Redemption 2 secrets Dead Redemption. Players take on the role of outlaw gang member, Arthur Morgan, who is the right-hand man for the gang’s leader, Dutch van der Linde. The gang is on the run through the snowy mountains following a ferry heist in the town of Blackwater that went terribly wrong. Once the group finds a place to wait out the storm, they have to work together to gather resources – such as food – and survive the elements. Arthur, being one of the more experienced members, is tasked with rescuing John Marston who is near death on a nearby mountain p

While it’s briefly touched upon in an early cut-scene that you should wear your bandana to hide your identity while doing anything illegal, the game doesn’t mention the other mechanics of the bandana. For instance, if a random NPC sees you commit a crime while wearing the bandana, you’ll still become wanted, but they (usually) won’t be able to pin the crime on Arthur Morgan, meaning if you can avoid the immediate consequences of the law, there won’t be any lasting penalties, at least in the form of a bou

When you first meet Marko Dragic, you will be asked to control a small remote submarine. The goal is to avoid mines and sink ship models in a pond, before they reach the other side. I bet you never expected to be controlling a submarine in Red Dead Redemption 2 , even if it is just a small, remote-controlled one. Remember to keep away from the mines and torpedo explosions you set off destroying the model sh

Upon arriving on the island of Guarma , the gang once again finds themselves in the midst of a civil war. This time, the battle is between the island’s plantation owners and the slaves working in the fields. Taking arms up against the plantation owners, the gang helps progress the revolution for the slaves’ cause, before heading back to mainland Amer

Dutch goes rogue and murders Leviticus Cornwall. In the process, he also incites a war between the surrounding Native American tribe and the United States Army in order to steal some valuable bonds, resulting in a bloody massacre with casualties on both sides. Dutch and Morgan find the bonds, but get ambushed as they escape. Dutch abandons Morgan, who is eventually caught and nearly killed, before being rescued. Morgan finally breaks his allegiance with Dutch when he refuses to rescue Marston’s girlfriend, Abigail, who gets kidnapped by Agent Mil

Rockstar Games has you covered though. If you pop on into a hotel, there is an option to give your character a nice and luxurious bath with actual hot water. Making sure my character bathes is something I never thought I would do in a video g

The time away did not do much for the group of outlaws, as they almost immediately run into trouble, primarily due to Dutch’s terrible decisions in taking on ever-increasingly dangerous heists. To make matters worse, Morgan catches tuberculosis and is given a grim prognosis. He saves Marston (again), but that is when the group truly begins to disso

Red Dead Redemption excelled at bringing players into a vast, Western open-world; even eight years after its release, it’s still one of my favorite game worlds to this day. Yet, what I also adored about the game is the fact that it proved to be just as exceptional in offering players smaller details to enjoy as much the larger ones, and a big portion of that (to me) comes from its collection of Western minigames.

This is the big category and the line-up is strong this year. God of War and Red Dead Redemption 2 seem like the most obvious choices, but Marvel’s Spider-Man might also swoop in for a surprise vict