Last year brought the world tons of critically acclaimed video games, but few stand alongside Red Dead Redemption 2. The sequel to everyone's favorite virtual Western captivates with an engaging story, plenty of action, and a dense world to explore. The game features great performances, a massive open world, gorgeous graphics, and incredible sound design. There is little that people can hold against such a well-made game, but is that because it's perfect, or because people are giving it too much credit?
For this list, we're going to take a look at all of Red Dead Redemption 2's faults that players have come to overlook. Nobody is saying that it isn't a great game, it's fantastic, but it's not perfect. It has plenty wrong with it: we're talking plot holes, gameplay flaws, and some of the most bizarre quirks that the Wild West has to offer. We won't be discussing glitches or technical errors though (there are plenty of those for sure), but this list was created under the assumption that the game is working the way it should. Even when the game is working properly though, there are plenty that fans seem to ignore. Keep in mind that this list is all in good fun as we're not here to bash your favorite video game or take away from its well-earned praise. This list only serves to shine a light on the flaws that this near-perfect game has cleverly hidden away. So, it's time to saddle up, here are 20 Things Wrong With Red Dead Redemption 2 We All Choose To Ignore.
Trigger-Happy People
Is there any reason why the average Red Dead pedestrian is so easily agitated? Civilians in Rockstar games are notoriously aggressive as they love to antagonize the player and pick pointless fights, but this is just nonsense. Non-player characters get spooked just as easily as they anger, and they'll pull a gun on the player for the slightest perceived offense. Did you accidentally bump into somebody on the street? Expect a standoff.
Red Dead Redemption 2 mitigates this issue with new conversation options, letting you appease and antagonize NPCs with simple button presses. However, even though conversation can diffuse tense situations, people are still way too easy to anger and even quicker to enact violence. Not everyone in the Old West was a gun-slinging bandit, right?
Paying Bounties Is Too Forgiving
Committing crimes can rack up quite the bounty on Arthur Morgan's head. These bounties can really pile up, and the higher the bounty, the riskier exploration can be. Bounty hunters can track you down in packs and entire towns can even shun you on sight. Although paying off bounties can make things much easier, isn't it weird that you can do this to get out of any crime?
Real life can be similar, but Red Dead doesn't have Arthur paying off parking tickets. The gang can raid entire towns or leave tons of casualties behind and the entire episode can be forgiven with a simple payment at the post office. Where do these people draw the line?
Useless Bandanas
Red Dead Redemption 2 introduces the bandana, a new item that players can equip to conceal their identity during the game's various heists and shootouts. The item's tutorial suggests that wearing it will completely hide your face, but technically, that's not how it works.
The bandana doesn't hide your identity, it only lessens the chances of being recognized by bystanders and law enforcement. It also rarely works as described. What's the sense of using an item that only works half the time? Players might be better off wearing it all the time in the hopes that it works, or just ignoring it all together. At least it makes you look cooler.
No Running In The House
Players spend a lot of time in the gang's camp. Not only is it the starting location for many story missions, but it's where Arthur eats, sleeps, dresses, stocks resources, and socializes with the rest of his family. You'll often spend a lot more time there than necessary, though, because Arthur is forced to walk as slow as possible.
Once the player enters the camp's boundaries, running is disabled, and Arthur is forced to walk at a slow, all-too-leisurely pace. This makes walking around camp extremely tedious, especially when you need to accomplish simple tasks consecutively. Maybe, you need to talk to another character, but you need to donate resources and change your clothes first. You'll find yourself spending way too long traversing camp when these tasks could be completed in under a minute.
Relentless Lawmen
For a game all about living free from society's oppression, Red Dead is enduring if you don't follow society's rules. Gone are Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV days where the police officers are hilariously incompetent as the lawmen of Red Dead Redemption 2 are vicious and surprisingly effective.
Much like the other Rockstar games, you can simply outwit the law by avoiding them with strategic retreats and hiding spots. However, unlike their previous games, standing your ground against the local law is not for the faint of heart. They're plentiful, accurate, and extremely dangerous to tackle alone. We're not saying it should be easy to fight them off, but you would think a game so thematically opposed to “the law” would be a bit more forgiving.
The Gang Empties The Donation Box
Why is it that the gang never seems to contribute as much as the player? The campsite must be upgraded by donating to the gang's collection box where each donation is recorded. However, browsing the financial ledger shows that other gang rarely contribute as much as Arthur Morgan.
This makes sense, seeing as the player can make money way faster than the NPCs, but why does everybody start to complain when Arthur doesn't donate? If you haven't contributed in a while, gang will often berate you for not pulling your weight, as if they're slaving away to pull theirs. The fact is that if it weren't for Arthur, Dutch's gang of criminals would be worse off. A little gratitude would be nice.
Virtual Hygiene Matters
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a surprisingly realistic video game. The attention to detail is astonishing, almost as if it tries to be some kind of western life simulator rather than a crime adventure. However, while the realism is appreciated, not everyone plays video games to simulate the mundane tasks of reality.
When's the last time you played a video game where your character had to bathe so NPCs would stop heckling you? Again, sure, it's realistic, but it totally lessens the pacing of the game. If you don't stay clean, people will insult you and sometimes, wildlife can smell your unbathed stench, ruining your element of surprise on a hunt. Do we really need to worry about virtual personal hygiene when we could be off doing something more fun?
Weapon Hygiene Matters
Just like the realism of personal hygiene, weapon maintenance also plays a major factor in your combating prowess. If you don't clean and maintain your guns regularly, their combat stats will diminish and they'll be much less effective. If your revolver seems like it doesn't have the kick that it used to, it's probably because you need to give it some oil.
It's another cool, realistic feature that sounds interesting in concept. However, having to take valuable game time to wipe down all of the guns in Arthur's inventory is a chore that players can do without. Can't we just play the game? If you want to skip the hassle of slowly wiping down each one, you can pay gunsmiths to do it for you.
Everything Is Animated
Video games often feature a kind of “shorthand” for simple, menial tasks. For example, characters rarely need to bend over and pick an item up off the ground to collect it. In Red Dead Redemption 2, though, even the slightest, smallest tasks are animated. Need to loot an enemy you just defeated? You won't just be walking over them and tapping a button, you'll have to slowly, painstakingly search each one of their pockets.
Sure, this might make the game “realistic” in a sense, but having to sit through tons of monotonous, identical animations just to do something simple is extremely grating. Even the process of skinning animals after a hunt is animated in detail — and yes, the bigger the game, the longer it takes to skin. Why aren't more fans complaining about this?
Lame Horse Whistling
Bonding with your trusty steed is important. To make them loyal companions, you need to feed them well, brush them clean, and treat them right. However, even the most loyal horse isn't above Red Dead's misguided attempts at being realistic.
At any time, you can whistle for your horse to call it to your current position, where in the previous game, whistling for your horse would summon it no matter where you were — a convenient “video game-esque” feature that saves the player tons of time. Now, if you whistle too far from your horse, it won't come to you at all. Do we get magical, all-hearing horses in real life? Of course not. However, whistling too far from our horse and having to hike back to it is a total buzzkill. Get ready for some long walks.