One of the biggest ways that Rockstar accomplishes this in Red Dead Redemption 2 is by integrating a new "Focus" ability for Arthur to interact with virtually any object, person, or animal that he comes across. By holding the L2 button (as we played the game on PS4 Pro) without a weapon holstered, Arthur can choose from a variety of ways to engage with oncoming travelers, shopkeepers, and other NPCs in the environment, whether that's to greet them, antagonize them (likely resulting in a violent conflict), rob them, and more.

While playing the match always try to be aware of your environment of the ongoing game. Usually when someone pings you on the mini-map or when your teammates ask you for help in the chat, try to be responsive and help them as soon as possible. Crucial team fights take place within the game; a slight uncertainty could result in your team incurring a loss. Always heed your teammates call and don’t be afraid to say that you cannot reach or will not commit. Sometimes a fight can lead both ways so if you pay attention and think quickly, you can either commit or just let

Bringing it full circle, I do not want to see Red Dead Redemption 2 pull a Magnificent Seven, even if this means making a bad guy version of the Seven. Which right now it’s looking that way. Seven cowboys riding off into the distance? The Magnificent Seven (I’m talking the 1960 version) is a great standalone tale on its own, while also having borrowed from a tale not its own. If you haven’t heard of Seven Samurai go watch it immediately, stop reading this article. While video games are drawing more and more from film, Rockstar has proved they can develop games that draw from certain pools while keeping it fresh and original.

The Wild West is the perfect setting for Rockstar’s Director Mode. Director Mode, made popular by the ridiculous videos created on GTA V , gives players the ability to reload clips and edit the camera to turn playthroughs into cinematic mini movies. With online capabilities, friends would be able to film intense and intricate stories. Getting to recreate scenes from classic Western movies would be a joy. Whether it’s a shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone or a drawn out train robbery, players are going to feel like the stars of their own Western action movies. Players should even be able to record multiplayer deathmatches and races and turn their closest victories into suspenseful shorts. What better way to show off and brag to friends about sharpshooter ski

Before diving fully into my gripes with something that only has just shy over a minute of game footage that’s been shown, let me explain what made the other two games so special. Both, Red Dead Revolver/Redemption were games that touched on a part of American mythos in the best of ways. Even other cultural mythos play into what makes these games so great, with many different backgrounds showcased. Each game is a unique tail of one man’s quest deeply personal to them. Not only exploring the characters presented fully, but also putting forth some of the best storytelling for video games of such a genre at each respective time. Each felt like a true American western tale.

Unfortunately, GTAV felt a little too cliché. This is where I get nervous that Red Dead Redemption 2 might lean too heavily on certain tropes. I would much rather see an American western tale that resembles a classic, opposed to a film that has been rebooted as of this year. I do not need a game with big set pieces, explosions and more ammunition falling than the leaves on the trees. I’m going to make one more recommendation of the west I envision opposed to the west presented by Hollywood: the Lonesome Dove series puts on the glitz of western tropes while also doing a great job explaining how people lived at the time. This is more in the style that would be preferred in Red Dead Redemption 2. A game where cowboys are cowboys, people are living by the land they’ve settled and getting along fine with the natives. Yes, there were some bad Tribes, but mostly few and Aniimo Xbox Competitor far between.

It was the moments of quiet that were most enjoyable, just wandering the prairie through Redemption was enough to satisfy western fantasies. Both games also took place in the classic dusty west audiences have come to imagine from spaghetti westerns, now veering toward more recent films such as The Revenant, which seems to be the direction Red Dead Redemption 2 is going. Not a bad thing.

No small detail is overlooked. It is the collection of countless minor details that makes _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ so captivating. It is unbelievably satisfying watching horses trudge through miles of deep snow en route to a mission, only to find the same player-made snow trail upon returning to the mission’s point of origin. Throw a corpse into the river, and the body will continue on until it gets stuck, or flows into a lake at the mouth of the river. And last, but not least: hats. Hats easily fly off in the heat of a shootout or during a bar fight, but any hat can be picked up and worn by Arthur. Collecting hats across the western frontier might be one of the most satisfying, unofficial mini-games within _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ . In fact, as of this writing, the topic of hats was actually trending for the game on Twitt