Rockstar Games, the company behind hit game series Grand Theft Auto and the Red Dead Redemption, is known for their great story writing, character writing, how they connect with the other characters in the game and detailing the game world in a way we haven’t seen before.

We saw this kind of work in Grand Theft Auto 5, released in 2013. Grand Theft Auto 5 really pulled the player in and immersed them with the memorable trio of characters that we’ve all come to love, and the engaging and scarily accurate representation of Los Angeles and the surrounding area through the layout of the city and the overall atmosphere of the game. The same goes for Rockstar’s latest game to hit the shelves, a sequel to Red Dead Redemption, released in 2010, simply titled Red Dead Redemption 2.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on October 26, 2018 to a huge hype train and to critical acclaim, with journalists and reviewers praising the game. Sales wise, Red Dead Redemption had the largest opening weekend in the history of entertainment, making over $725 million in the course of three days since the release andover 17 million copies shipped in two weeks. Total sales are second behind Grand Theft Auto 5, the most sold piece of media in history.

The story follows outlaw Arthur Morgan, the main protagonist in the story, in a fictionalized portion of America during the late 1890’s, where the age of the cowboy is coming to a screeching end and America is starting to finally fully develop, civilize, and industrialize across the nation. However, Arthur and the gang that he’s in, the Van Der Linde gang, still try and preserve the lifestyle of the wild west. Through the course of the story, they face a rival gang, the O’Driscolls, lawmen and private detectives, and other forces working against you as you rob banks and trains,  and wipe out enemies of the gang. In the world itself, you ride on horseback through the open and expansive world in front of you, while meeting various characters and doing side missions to help out your gang and to acquire special items.

The story itself is absolutely addicting. Over the course of my playthrough, I had trouble putting the controller down because I needed to see the next leg of the story; what was going to happen to Arthur? Would the gang finally rob another bank and would the plan work? Would the faith that I had in them actually be valid? The combat is extremely fluid, gunning down enemies and fanning the hammer with an old-fashioned revolver or picking them off with a modern bolt-action rifle has never felt so good in third-person before. The world itself is open and large, with many different areas of the world and different environments to experience, ranging from scorching deserts to swamps, bustling cities to orests, and much more to experience. The characters are memorable and well written to make them seem like unique people, all with different problems and solutions to everything, instead of making them feel like shells of a human. Everything about this game, its interactions, its world, make it feel believable and real with every little detail and feature implemented.

In summary, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of, if not, this year’s best gaming experiences that you can buy. The game is so finely crafted to the highest marks that it should have won Game Of The Year 2018, but unfortunately lost out to the very popular battle royale game, Fortnite. It is a shame as well, because this game is truly addicting and immersive for the player. This game cannot be recommended enough to everyone, by everyone.