Red Dead Redemption Review

It feels odd to leave out ‘remaster’ or ‘remake’ from the title. Not because it’s wrong, but because this puts the very release of Red Dead Redemption in an odd place.

The year is 2010. Rockstar Games have just released a new title 2 years after their last Grand Theft Auto game. Taking it back to the days of the Old West, Red Dead Redemption was based off the very muddied release of the former Capcom title, Red Dead Revolver. Telling the story of the former outlaw John Marston, the game went on to sweep the industry with its incredible narrative, open-world gameplay and beloved lead character. A sequel released 8 years later, and by 2021 it had sold over 23 million copies making it one of the best selling games of all time.

And the sales haven’t stopped.

In 2023, the PlayStation 4 received an updated version of the title, opening up a whole new way for players to play it. Remember, the PS4 wasn’t really a backwards compatible beast. Blame that on the Cell processor developed for the PlayStation 3 Sony will say. But due to its popularity, there was a yearning from some for the ability to play the game on it. Especially following the release of 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2, which went on to receive just as many accolades. But information around any kind of release would come and go. Eventually fans gave up in late 2022 until its sudden appearance in rating boards and updated changes to the Rockstar website in June of 2023. Red Dead Redemption would then release on the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 digitally on August 17th, 2023. Physical editions of the game later arrived on October the 13th.

So what does this 13 year old game feel like?

Perfectly fine. I mean it is just Red Dead Redemption but on a different system. Noticeably shorter load times are appreciated, along with the sharper visuals. A 60fps update eventually dropped for the title with the October release, which resolved any issues I had with the drop I experienced on digital. It also improved the lighting and shaders, yet somehow had a washed out look and lacked saturation. Though, this could be an effect of the game’s age, and its use of the same resource library.

Sharing the same sentiment, were the controls. There was jank to them for me. This meant playing with the sensitivity of the controls for a minute before I felt comfortable traversing the world of John Marston once again. Not that it was impossible, as they’re just as easy to pick up after some time away. Ultimately, that’s the thing with this release; It’s a “nice to have” but it’s just Red Dead Redemption on a new set of consoles. There’s nothing outwardly different about it. And I still can’t skip the animal collecting scenes which eat up so much time while the world is calling.

Does the rating move in any way then? While the original still lives up its high ratings, I’ll dial this release back because it’s the same game with a bit of polish. Polish is nice, sure. But it’s not enough to bring it up to the era of gaming we’re in now. Especially after the release of its successor, which surprises to this day with the amount of life Rockstar put into it. It also doesn’t justify the $80NZD price tag it commands on digital AND physical.

But for those who haven’t ridden the wild roads of one John Marston, ask if you can borrow a friends copy. Yeehaw.