Red Dead Redemption: an exemplary PC version ideal for (re)discovering this gem from the studios behind GTA

Red Dead Redemption is not a game like any other. There is clearly a before and after May 2010, the date it came out. RDR redefines in all “humility” the standards of players in terms of open world, narration, graphics and finishes. Crowned with an 18/20 on JV and a 95% on Metacritic, the Western from Rockstar Games is shaking up the industry and helping to make video games an Art in its own right… the 10th Art. After a release on PS4 and Nintendo Switch during the summer of 2023, it finally arrives on PC almost 15 years late. Better late than never!

History

Millions of fans already know the story of Red Dead Redemption, at the same time Rockstar's game was released in 2010, but for those at the back of the class who have been hibernating for three years, I will summarize in broad terms lines the scenario. Red Dead Redemption plunges us without warning into the wild and declining Wild West of the early 20th century. We follow John Marston, a former outlaw who seeks to turn the page…

… except that the government does not agree with this and leaves him no other choice than to hunt down his former accomplices, the very people with whom he went through everything, to save his family. Between shootouts, epic rides, duels in the sun and unusual encounters, we discover a universe where the much-fantasized Wild West is coming to an end. It is a story of survival, redemption and sacrifice, which questions us about what we are prepared to do or not to protect our loved ones.

Graphics

Red Dead Redemption was so far ahead of its time in 2010 that 14 years later it hasn't aged a bit. The Rockstar Games title is still visually impressive with its artistic direction which has nothing left to prove and its graphics which immerse players in a credible and living Wild West. It is through the attention paid to details that it stood out and still stands out from the competition. The wind in the bushes, the footprints in the mud, the snow-capped mountains, the desert plains and the setting sun add a real realistic dimension. Without ever competing with Red Dead Redemption 2 technically speaking and that's quite normal, it still has a lot going for it.

PC players will certainly have waited a long time to discover this John Marston adventure, but Rockstar Games is taking care of its copy, just to make the pill pass. This is the best version of Red Dead Redemption available on the market to date. It benefits, among other things, from the improvements of the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 versions as well as the optimization provided on Xbox One Red Dead Redemption is living its best life on PC in 2024. Finally, it supports ultra-wide and super ultra-wide screens, which should please anyone who has invested several hundred or even thousands of euros in this type of hardware.

Gameplay

Red Dead Redemption is the very quintessence of a Rockstar Games video game. The dads of GTA have since proven that they can improve the formula with GTA 5 and of course the sequel Red Dead Redemption 2, but when the basic ingredients are excellent, it gives an open world western that is still just as enjoyable… even after 14 years. I could kick open saloon doors and tell you that this adventure is like no other, but you probably already know that. Even so, it never hurts to point out the obvious, especially when evidence rhymes with excellence.

Anyone who has ever dreamed of becoming a solitary cowboy roaming the Wild West in search of opportunity has fallen under the spell of this little video game gem. It offers nothing other than going from an intense shootout to a horseback ride into the setting sun, from horse training to a wild poker game… and much more. The possibilities offered are numerous and overall extremely well executed. The most finicky will surely find fault and this is understandable in the face of a work which has the faults of its qualities. I'm thinking in particular of an old school interface and controls that are just as old school. Even if in terms of controlling the main character, Red Dead Redemption spares us a certain heaviness present in the second part.

Red Dead Redemption is an open-world action-adventure game, which means a lot of back and forth on an ultimately desert map as well as missions that can be renewed, but which remain quite similar in the end. However, it is impossible to deny the pleasure as the charm operates from the first to the last minute. This feeling of truly belonging to this past and fantasized Wild West which grabs you by the guts is accentuated by a system of choices which affects your reputation. This has a strong impact on how you are perceived by people as well as their reactions and therefore on your perception of the world around you. Still somewhat rudimentary in Red Dead Redemption, this altogether classic principle gains in intensity and interest with the sequel.

Scenario

The story told by Rockstar Games is a little gem. This western does not just unfold the life of John Marston and tell a cowboy adventure seen again and again. Oh no! We are talking here about a pure quest for redemption, hence the title of the game, during which our anti-hero attempts to make amends and erase the mistakes of his past in the hope of protecting his family. Immersion is total in the heart of a wild West which is living its last hours and which is populated by secondary characters written with finesse making each encounter a memorable moment.

What can we say about the staging except that it is still in 2024 a model of the genre supplanted only by Red Dead Redemption 2, 8 years its junior. Rockstar Games takes inspiration from the greatest Hollywood directors of the golden age to design an adventure that merges the best of cinema and video games. There is clearly John Ford, Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood without forgetting John Wayne in Red Dead Redemption. What emerges is the authenticity of a western from the great era with its breathtaking panoramas, its moments spent on horseback, the palpable tension and this nihilistic tone perfectly underlining the end of an era… that of America pre-industrial revolution.

Content

Content-wise, Red Dead Redemption… it’s solid. The opposite would have been surprising knowing Rockstar Games and its video game habits. The main adventure and its zombie expansion alone require no less than 25 hours to complete in a straight line. And that's without counting all the side quests, mini-games and other additional content. If you want to complete Red Dead Redemption AND Undead Nightmares 100%, it will cost you at least 60 hours of life. For the rest, Rockstar's title does not have any multiplayer mode to extend the adventure, but with so much to eat, not sure that it is necessary.

Conclusion

Red Dead Redemption can still be enjoyed in 2024, and this is proof that this video game western was, is and will remain an exceptional video game that has no equivalent. Its captivating story, its wild West living as far as the eye can see, its meticulous gameplay and its exemplary lifespan make it, 14 years after its release, an essential experience of the 10th Art on PC.