Red Dead Redemption PC Review - The Best Way to Play, But There's a Catch
After what seems like an eternity, PC players can finally get their hands on one of the greatest games ever. It is a game that has been available on consoles for 14 years and for some strange reason, hasn’t been ported to the more powerful platform. That game is Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar’s open-world tribute to the Wild West. A game that is almost always mentioned when someone puts together the greatest game of all time list. But 14 years is a long time in games, so now it is finally on PC the question has to be asked, is it too late?
That this is a classic game is without question. It is also important to note that it holds up extremely well. Apart from some low-res textures, this is a game that is just as good now as it was back then. Even more so on PC with a host of platform-specific upgrades being introduced. 4K resolutions, Ultra-Wide support and a host of smaller improvements like advanced shadows and adjustable draw distance. This is, from a tech standpoint, the best version of a great game. It is still impossible to not admire the beauty that Rockstar has created with their vision of frontier life. There is honestly nothing I can say about Red Dead at this point that hasn’t already been said a thousand times before.
This is also the complete package, so the full game, along with the excellent zombie-filled expansion, Undead Nightmare are here. There is a lot of game to love and if you have held out from playing Red Dead for this long, you are going to have plenty to keep you busy. Getting lost in this world is a pleasure and one that I am once again finding both cathartic and engaging. While it could be argued that Rockstar made Red Dead 2 too big and too “real” this game walks the line between simulation and game perfectly, never diving into busy work and always keeping things entertaining.
For players who have portable PC gaming systems, Red Dead works perfectly. I played a huge amount of time on my ROG Ally X and it was honestly perfect. Being an older game it was a super smooth experience and quite easy on the system resources, so it isn’t taxing on the battery at all. In fact, I could play it on high settings, 60 FPS on the low power “Silent” mode that the Ally X offers. The low-res textures are even less of a problem due to the smaller screen. Of course, results will vary between the other handheld PCs, but I am more than confident that they will all be able to run them from a tech standpoint (though I hear there are some issues with STEAMOS that may require workarounds)
Now I come to the catch. This is an expensive re-release. $70 dollars in Australia which is quite a lot for a game that was originally released 14 years ago. I generally don’t like bringing price into reviews, I feel like value-for-money is such a subjective marker that it is best for players to make that judgement for themselves, but here I feel it is a warranted discussion point. This is the best version of the game, without a doubt, but if players have an Xbox or Playstation, this game can regularly be had on sale for under $30. So if you have a console option, it is really hard to justify the extra amount, there isn’t that much of an upgrade to make it worth it. Unless you are desperate to finally play Red Dead and you have no other option, I would be waiting for those Steam sales before diving in, after all it has already been 14 years, what’s a few more months?
The price, however, is literally the only bad thing I can say about what is one of my favourite gaming experiences of all time. It may be an old game now, but it is one that has aged like fine wine. The gameplay is pitch-perfect, the art direction is stunning and the story holds the same emotional impact it always did. I just can’t say a bad thing about the game itself. Sadly though I think Rockstar has really overshot the price so I can’t recommend it right now. Give it a few months, possibly the boxing day sales, this will be the perfect addition to your PC gaming library, but right now it should only be considered if you have never played the game before and don’t have any other option besides a PC to play it.
Red Dead Redemption was reviewed on PC with code kindly supplied by Rockstar Games.
