Our survey on Red Dead Redemption 2 sparked heated discussions in the MeinMMO community, but for the most part, you had a similar opinion about the game.
Right at launch, RDR2 was showered with praise from critics. Many gaming sites gave the western game the maximum score, and it also performed exceptionally well on Metacritic.
The game was also very well received by the MeinMMO community. A survey by MeinMMO, in which over 1900 users participated, showed a strong tendency towards 10/10 points. However, RDR 2 is not without its flaws. In your comments, you actually addressed these flaws more than the aspects that you really liked about the game. But see for yourself.
Vibrant and Realistic World
A world you can lose yourself in: Long before release, Rockstar had especially chosen the game world of RDR 2 as one of its trump cards. Many news pieces about the game focused on how much effort and work the developers invested in the world to set new standards in the gaming industry. And they seem to have succeeded, judging by the players’ reactions. Our user Sunface enthusiastically wrote:
It is the most authentic game I have ever played. Everything just feels right. I can’t imagine any game reaching such a level of detail again. I can only tip my hat to that.
Especially the immersion in the game world of Red Dead Redemption 2 was praised. The AI of the animals and their behavior are extremely detailed and realistic, whether in territorial conflicts among themselves or during a hunt’s fleeing behavior.
There are also differences between day-active and night-active animals and their behavior. Markus Silec from the MeinMMO community stated that he now goes out with multiple horses so that he can fish and hunt extensively during his travels.
The player Guten Morgan also praised the immersion that Red Dead Redemption 2 offers in the comments:
For example, when at night on a cliff, riders stand with torches, turn them off, and ride off, you think: Are they coming to get me? You tend to take cover and watch back. 😉
In Red Dead Redemption 2, you move slower: With pride, Rockstar talked about how much work went into the story and side quests of RDR2. It takes about 65 hours of gameplay to get through it. The script for the game comprised a whopping 2000 pages.
The community did not have a very strong opinion about the story in the comments, but rather about the pacing of the game. Regarding the pace, RDR 2 is definitely one of the slower games. In the comments, MeinMMO users wrote that on some days they do not complete missions or quests, but just ride through the world and leisurely explore everything.
Alternatively, others take care of their horses and gang members and preferred a more leisurely pace between the action-packed parts of the game. Alex B. commented:
The game has very, very slow pacing. It’s just not an action boom-bang game where you fly from a skyscraper with a glider onto a truck and then collide with a train in a helicopter.
Main Criticism: The Controls
What is being criticized? One of the criticisms that the MeinMMO community largely agreed on is the controls of Red Dead Redemption 2. User TNB wrote in the comments:
The controls are unfortunately incredibly poor. Morgan controls like a tank, and I have rarely experienced something so spongy and imprecise. It dampens the fun of a generally very good game.
This statement received a lot of agreement. Some of you described the controls as:
- “outdated”
- “clunky”
- and “catastrophic”
According to user opinions, the controls are one of the main reasons why some of you have a hefty bounty placed on the game. The overloaded button configuration causes players to accidentally hit their horse or suddenly start shooting in the middle of a town.
There were also users who did not find this criticism too serious, even though they generally agreed with it. However, even for the moderate voices, the controls were at best “unconventional.” User Jokl commented:
The controls are a bit clunky at first. With the right settings and the right camera, I was able to manage it, but they could have done better here.
Big Discussions about the Voice Acting
Criticism of the lack of voice acting: One aspect of Red Dead Redemption 2 that triggered the longest discussions in our community was the lack of German voice acting. You split into two major camps:
- Players who would have preferred a German voice acting and see it as a drawback of RDR 2.
- Players who don’t mind the purely English voice acting or even oppose German voice acting.
Reasons users want a German voice acting: To convey the “Wild West” setting as authentically as possible, Rockstar Games specifically used many dialects, slang, and speech errors in the characters’ English voice acting.
However, even players with good English skills had difficulties. Our user BigFreeze25 wrote, for example:
The English spoken in Rockstar Games is unfortunately extremely slang-heavy/mumbled. If you haven’t spent a year in an English-speaking country, I can completely understand when people say: I don’t understand most of it, I have to read subtitles the whole time.
Many players agreed with this in the comments. The excessive speed of the subtitles and the overall large amount of input were also criticized. At times, some of you had trouble keeping up with reading the subtitles while also riding and paying attention to your surroundings.
User JimmyVoice stated that people should not be blamed for not knowing English and wishing for German voice acting because it makes the game easier for them.
Reasons users are against a German voice acting: There were also players among you who expressed themselves against a German voice acting. The main argument for this was a lack of quality among the German voice actors. User Genisis_S commented:
Honestly. I wouldn’t touch this game in German!! We simply don’t have voice actors who could convey the atmosphere!
Other users saw the slang language in RDR 2 as an opportunity to improve their English and expand their vocabulary. Thus, player Guten Morgan found slang to be brilliant and that you learn something from it.
Conclusion: The Wait Was Worth It
Through the evaluation of the survey and the comments from users, it becomes clear that MeinMMO readers have difficulty describing what exactly makes Red Dead Redemption so great in their eyes. Despite the individual criticisms here and there and really everywhere, you are convinced of the Rockstar game.
- Average rating of the survey: 7.53 out of a maximum of 10 points. At the time of evaluation, about 1900 users participated in the survey.
Many have already said that after trying the offline version, they are now also looking forward to Red Dead Online, which, according to Rockstar, will follow in November.
There are already the first pieces of information and rumors about the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2:
Red Dead Online: Leak names vehicles and houses for multiplayer
