That's all until Red Dead Redemption 2 , Rockstar Games' long-awaited and highly-anticipated follow-up to the 2010 Western epic Red Dead Redemption , and a title that is aiming to take the next step when it comes to delivering a truly immersive Open world games Reviews-world experience. Coming off the heels of the previous game -- one which many look back on as one of the best games of the last generation -- it's an understatement to say that Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a long time coming, and even more so to point out the unbearably high expectations that have been placed on it.

The game gives you two options: warn the reverend so that he can move on alive and well, or kill him for a pile of cash. It’s as simple as walking up to the reverend (who will greet John in a cloyingly friendly manner), and use whatever facet of John’s arsenal to put the reverend down in the street like a dog. Even though it’s the Wild West, popping a reverend was —and still is— considered a bit shocking, to put it ligh

Back in 2007 we were all tired of World War II, and the jump to Modern Warfare was fresh and exciting. The opposite is true today. We’re tired of Modern Warfare and semi-Future Warfare. It’s time for FPS games to try something new, by going into the past. Rumors have been floating around for a while now that Treyarch’s next Call of Duty game would return to World War II, something I very much hope for. We need a change, and sometimes that change can be found by returning to your roots.

From the beginning of the game when you enter the bustling Western town of Valentine, to the city streets and electric glow of Saint Denis, every detail, environment, and setting is meticulously crafted and offers a ton for the player to explore and interact with. By holding the L2 button (as we played on PS4) to focus on a specific person, object, or animal, Arthur has a range of options to interact with them, whether it's to greet a traveler on the road, robbing a store clerk, picking up an object to observe it in greater detail, and yes, even down to petting a dog or brushing your horse's coat. These types of interactions aren't just limited to characters that are integral to the story; you can engage with pretty much any other person or animal that you find out in the world, and having that possibility to engage with NPCs in such a way adds so much to how far Rockstar has gone to make Red Dead Redemption 2 's world feel deep and tangible.

Aside from the numerous options to customize Arthur's physical appearance and gear, the other core relationship that players will develop throughout the game is that of Arthur and his horse. Red Dead Redemption 2 has expanded immensely on making your horse more than just a mode of transportation, and there are numerous ways that players can invest time into developing their bond with their horse and, as a result, increasing its ability to take players through this world. These actions start as simply as riding the horse and utilizing its saddle to store all of your equipment and gear between missions, but as you spend more time for your horse and care for it -- feeding it, brushing its fur, petting it, etc. -- you'll be able to increase its stamina and health.

In Rockstar’s effort to create a realistic game, like horses that have packages that shrink in cold weather, they certainly didn't go all the way in some regards. For example, you can somehow store a near infinite amount of random items in your beginning pouch, but heaven forbid you to put more than one animal carcass on your horse. Also, somehow, you can store an army of guns on your sidesaddle, but not on Arthur's person. There are a lot of inconsistencies, but hey, that's video ga

The game has a weird dichotomy when it comes to making Arthur seem like a bad man. Even when he does good deeds he always says something along the lines of he isn't a very good guy. Despite that, he constantly does good things. There's the morality meter too. Here you are, at the height of the Van der Linde gang, a bad guy through and through, and yet the game sort of pigeonholes you into doing virtuous deeds. It sends a mixed mess

During certain missions, you are prompted to cover your face with a bandana, which is typical of Westerns. It looks cool. This is to keep your identity hidden, right? Well despite this, somehow you always get fined with a bounty. It doesn't make any sense. I tried wearing masks too and that doesn't do anything either. It feels like Rockstar put them in as an obligation to the genre. They didn't want to implement it as a real disguise. It might have broken the game otherwise, or someth

In the town of Blackwater, John encounters a sobbing pregnant woman who’s praying at a church. She asks him to go to the child’s father to ask him for money so she can have a better life for her and her child. When John finds the father, who (surprise!) is a total asshole, he challenges John to a standoff for insulting his honor. John guns him down, loots his body for cash, and heads back to the sobbing mot