With the release of Grand Theft Auto III in 2001, Rockstar Games essentially gave us the first taste of what would become the open-world game. The ability for players to take on the story and explore Liberty City however they saw fit was truly a revolutionary experience at the time, and even to this day, the game has still been the essential foundation for all other open-world games that followed it. In the 17 years since its release, the genre of Open world games tips-world games has flourished not just from Rockstar’s later games, but with many other studios taking their own spin on that formula, expanding on it, and remixing it in varying ways, to greater and lesser effect.

The release of the original _ Red Dead Redemption _ in 2010, along with the _ Undead Nightmare _ expansion, left players wanting more of everything. More shootouts and saloon fights. More eccentric and wily characters. More riding horseback through the vast, open world of the western frontier. And while it was a long eight years, Rockstar made sure that the wait was well worth it – albeit not without some controversy . _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ immerses players in the grueling world of the wild west with familiar gameplay dynamics that have been taken to the next level to not only make _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ an easy favorite for game of the year, but also Rockstar’s crowning achievement to d

It’s safe to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily the most visually-impressive game Rockstar has ever created. While it’s difficult for open world games to compare to more linear, focused experiences due to the amount of content shoved onto screen at once, there were times when I thought I was playing a CG movie. Maybe that’s a little bit of hyperbole as there are still some compromises that are taken, but for the most part this is arguably the best looking game of the year. Character models are remarkably detailed, even with the most insignificant individuals, and the open world is absolutely gorgeous. Not only does it have an incredible amount of variety, from industrial cities to snowy mountains, but the way settings are organized bring the world to life in a sensational way. From a pure visual aspect, the only negative notions are minor ones, namely beards can sometimes look like they’re pulled off a character creator, and the rendering and reflections when moving through water has a strange issue on the sides of the screen. Animation is the only other aspect that can be bothersome at times. Don’t get me wrong, everything is animated meticulous, from faces to actions, but when you need to interact with something in the world, it can put you into an animation that takes a lot longer than you’d hope for. Other than that, I was blown away with what Rockstar was able to accomplish, as the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 is simply breathtaking.

2014 got a pass because not a lot of original content for PS4 and Xbox One was being released until the final quarter of the year. 2015 is different, because now we’re starting to see development for these new platforms ramp up. There’s no need to see teams waste their time to bring games only a few years old to these new consoles. Already we have DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, Devil Mary Cry 4: Special Edition, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster among others. Now there are some exceptions for games that were only released on one platform (Resident Evil Remake HD), or games you can’t get anymore because they’re so old (Grim Fandago: Remastered). Other than these few exceptions, enough is enough!

_ Red Dead Redemption 2’s _ visuals are astounding. Considering the size of the map – which takes 16 minutes to cross on horseback from one end to the other – and keeping in mind that the game features a vastly underdeveloped western world, it should come as no surprise that traveling from one point to another comes with a lot of wide, open terrain. While this may make travel seem boring and tedious (admittedly, one of my own personal gripes from the original game ), _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ does a stellar job of keeping players engaged with ever-changing weather, authentic architecture, and gorgeous, sprawling landscapes and scenery. While it may seem like there is not much to do in such a vast open-world, the game does a superb job in balancing random interactions and mini-games along the tra

While it’s great that Rockstar is probably creating a whole new map for Red Dead Redemption 2 , it would be a lot of fun to revisit a location from the previous game to see how it’s changed. While it’s still unclear whether or not Red Dead Redemption is a prequel or sequel, either way it would be fun to see how towns like Blackwater and Armadillo have changed. If it’s a prequel, maybe players could see the early settlements of Blackwater, or a time when Thieves Landing wasn’t just filled with brothels and, well, thieves. If it’s a sequel, it would be amazing to see how a town evolved, like Armadillo, either grown to a hustling town like Blackwater or turned to a ghost town by bandits. Getting to explore areas that players did before would not only be a fun shout out to the original game, but help cement the world that Rockstar is trying to cre