Game review 13 November 2024, 00:30

author: Giancarlo Saldana

Red Dead Redemption Review: The Definitive and Hopefully Last Version

Various ports after its original release, Red Dead Redemption is still very much alive. This PC port shows us one of the best versions of the game to date.

The review is based on the PC version.

I remember buying Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 for $19.99 during a Cyber Monday sale at Best Buy in 2011, a year after the game had come out. The game had just come out a year before and had won numerous awards so I thought I lucked out considering this Game of the Year edition came with extra content and DLC. As expected, the game was a blast to play and really made you feel like you were out in the old west but with that signature Rockstar flair I had grown to love.

Over a decade has gone by and Red Dead even got itself a sequel, but that still doesn’t mean the original has lost its glory, either, as its latest iteration now brings it to PC for players to finally experience. It’s the same game you’ve played years ago, but it has been upscaled and cleaned up to look even better. If you haven’t played the original yet, you really don’t have any excuse not to.

Improved Performance and Visuals

Now, this review could easily be one paragraph long explaining how the PC version of Red Dead looks prettier than all the others that came before it and how any decent PC from the last decade can make the game run smoothly with Ultra settings on, but there’s more to this PC port that has to justify picking it up, right? Sort of.

For starters, this version of Red Dead is the prettiest version of the game that has yet to come out. It’s not a remake nor is it up to the same standards as Red Dead Redemption 2 in term of visual fidelity, but it does provide you with a buttery smooth experience with little to no frame issues or lag. Everything looks crisper and brighter too so it looks impressive for a game its age. On my ultra wide monitor, the game looks spectacular.

This PC version also comes with—surprise—keyboard controls which do their job, but the game is best played with a controller. Clicking keys is okay, but when you are doing multiple commands on a horse such as speeding up, moving in a certain direction, and trying to lasso a wild animal in front of you, a controller feels more responsive and tactile and is how the game should be played—because, it did come out on consoles 14 years ago, after all.

One of the other benefits of playing on PC is that Red Dead is now portable if you have a Steam Deck, but you should also remember that the game also came out on Switch a couple of years ago. The Switch version doesn’t look as good as this one so if you want portability, power, and performance, PC is the way to go considering it looks better and runs faster than all the others that came before it. Both are also around the same price so you aren’t saving money getting either version so if you already have a Steam Deck, you’re in luck.

Classic Gameplay Still Delivers

Despite all the various ports the game has seen over time, the main story and overall gameplay remains intact. Red Dead Redemption follows the tale of John Marston, a former outlaw who needs to work with the government to round up his former allies in order to see his family again. To get there, John has to befriend sheriffs, corrupted goons, and new allies that sometimes just need him to do favors for them in a wide variety of missions for you to complete.

Red Dead is Rockstar’s take on the Wild West and comes with it a plethora of western film tropes and themes that help kick off the game and the various conflicts you’ll be dealing with as John Marston. Set in a fictional American West in 1911, the narrative sees John on his journey of redemption and features a cynical yet mature take on the world that follows the gameplay structure Rockstar games are known for without being too comical or over-the-top. There are some emotional moments in the game as well as action-packed duels, but you will occasionally have quirky conversations with strangers and even need to hogtie people down to either shut them up or carry them to safety.

The game’s narrative is told through main missions that can involve John getting into gunfights, wrangling cattle, or even escorting trains and defending it from bandits. Your choices in these missions as well as the various side quests the game offers can impact how society sees you through its honor system. Sparing someone or subduing an enemy in a non-lethal way can get you honor points that will sometimes make shops offer you discounts on products or simply treat you differently. Remember that John is a reformed felon, so you aren’t necessarily a criminal anymore and your good actions will sometimes reward you in the long run.

Riding around the world to get from one mission to another also feels very liberating considering all you have with you is your gun and your trusty steed. Like cars in Grand Theft Auto, different horse breeds ride differently so you can spend time finding better horses that are more agile or more robust based on your preference and then call on your horse whenever you need a ride. The game also offers quick travel but this feature shows its age as it’s not the smoothest and requires you to make a campfire to then select your destination instead of simply opening the map and picking where you want to go like you can in most modern games.

This means you may just spend a lot of time riding around the world on your horse, but this also means you’ll bump into random strangers that may ask you for help or animals that you can hunt down to complete in-game challenges or to gather their pelts to sell for cash later on. Despite feeling a bit desolate, the world is alive and you’ll often run into things to do without even planning on them adding to the dynamism and exploration of your surroundings.

Final Thoughts

Besides the main game, this version (like my 2011 GOTY edition) also comes with the Undead Nightmare expansion, which sees you playing as John in a zombie-infested version of the world. It’s a standalone feature and you can access it without even touching the main story if you want, but you also don’t get the original game’s multiplayer mode. Considering most players have probably played this game to death already (pun not intended), chances are you aren’t going to miss much.

Besides improved graphics and a better performance, this PC version of Red Dead is sounding a lot like the GOTY edition of the game I got back in 2011, and remember that I got that version for $20. This latest version that came out 14 years after the main game was release? It’s going to cost you $50.

Red Dead Redemption is an amazing experience and is one of those games that defined a generation of open-world titles where movie-level storytelling weaved into the action you got to control. The game is sure showing its age with each port that is released but it also gives players that may not have been around back then another chance to explore its world. If you’ve already played it, you won’t miss anything, but if you were looking for an excuse to see what the hype was all about, wait for a sale first.