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.

With enough time and bonding, you can even unlock more advanced riding tricks and techniques, such as rearing, drifting, and a quick turn ability. Where cars and other vehicles in Grand Theft Auto are fairly disposable, Red Dead Redemption 2 creates a more genuine relationship between the player and their horse, and given that I had a few close calls with my own horse, Marble, out on the road that almost led to its death, I would have been heartbroken at his loss if that happened.

For all the genre's advancements in the past decade or more, only a few games have come close to the sort of ultimate, lofty goal of crafting an open-world that truly feels "living." Many open-world games have aimed to become a place where players can not only have the chance to engage with a game world that is ripe with possibility and endless locations to explore, but to really immerse players inside a world and make them feel like a part of it. They want to be a place where players can influence its direction and truly feel like they have an impact on its characters and setting.

So let's get this out of the way first before delving into the deeper parts of this review: Red Dead Redemption 2 is an exceptional game that pushes the bar for open-world titles, and will more than likely be considered one of the best games of this generation. Much like its predecessor, Red Dead Redemption 2 's blend of storytelling, gameplay, and artistry are all working together to form a game that works on every level. In the way that Grand Theft Auto III set the foundations for the open-world genre nearly two decades ago, Red Dead Redemption 2 feels like the culmination of everything Rockstar Games has done to develop a world that feels not only grand in scope, but even deeper when it comes to the levels of interactivity and immersion that it offers players throughout its journey.

If you’ve made it this far and still have every intention of pre-ordering _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ , that is totally fair. This is merely an attempt to offer up some suggestions to - at the very least - temper expectations. One final thought for those debating whether or not to pre-order _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ : Maybe just wait to submit that pre-order until more details are released. It is easy to be excited about such a highly-anticipated title, but we are sure to hear more news surrounding the details of the game as its October release date approaches, ideally including pre-order bonuses. It is rare for games (and feybreak island Exploration retailers) to not include some sort or pre-order bonus, especially those with online experiences. If you are planning on pre-ordering _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ , at least try and get yourself something exclus

This may seem a little selfish, but I really want support for PS3 and Xbox 360 to end. It’s not that I don’t like the systems. I love them both and have cherished my time with both, but it is time for the industry to move. Continuing development on these old systems continues to hold back games like Call of Duty, Destiny, Battlefield, and Far Cry. Developers can’t properly take advantage of the extra power in these new consoles if they’re being tied down by PS3 and Xbox 360. Now, developers can make last-gen exclusive games like Assassin’s Creed: Rogue, but cross-gen development needs to stop in 2015.

While loot boxes continue to dominate the discourse of legality in video games, it is the community of gamers at large that have actually forced changes to happen. The microtransaction controversy surrounding Star Wars Battllefront 2 is a prime example of the gaming community bringing a fundamental change to a game, as is the more recent removal of the "Death Tax" in _ Sea of Thieves. _ It will be interesting to see if the online element in _ Red Dead Redemption 2 _ follows some sort of play-to-win platform, which many would argue is currently the case in _ GTA Online _ . Regardless, unless Rockstar manages to exceed expectations with the game’s online experience, the studio may be forced to play nice and enter into a collaboration with the community that will ultimately deem the multiplayer mode as a success or fail

As a prequel, Red Dead Redemption 2 is set well over a decade before the events of Red Dead Redemption , which takes players into the thick of the Van der Linde gang's story at the peak of their infamy in the great American West. Where Red Dead Redemption followed John Marston's search for vengeance many years after the gang's disbanding, Red Dead Redemption 2 instead follows Arthur Morgan, the right-hand man of Dutch Van der Linde, as he fights to protect the rest of the gang in their journey to stay one step ahead of the law, and the imminent demise of their outlaw life by modern society.