Is Red Dead Redemption 2 Worth Full Price?

There's more than a little nostalgia flowing form this game art! (Credit: Rockstar Games)

Vast landscapes, engaging characters and gripping plotlines, what more would you expect from a Rockstar game in 2018? But a full priced game takes some real justification, I went out and spent £48 on this single game. But is Red Dead Redemption 2 worth the full ticket cost? I think so.

Firstly, it must be said that I bought this game to run on the original PS4, so I’m not judging the game on any of its fancy 4K features, just the base game that so many others will still experience. Currently, the game sits at a cool £49.99 on Amazon, but only £47.99 in HMV and if you’re looking to save whatever money you can like I am, that’s an important saving!

I follow a rough rule of thumb with games, and it definitely doesn’t apply to every game. I directly exchange the price for how many hours I want to spend in the game. For example, with Red Dead Redemption 2, I would want to spend at least 48 hours playing the game. This would equate to around £1 per hour of entertainment, much cheaper than trips to the cinema for example. Of course, this does not always apply, but when I’m looking at a game on the shelf, it helps separate the worthwhile games from the rest.

According to a Forbes article, the average meandering run through Red Dead Redemption 2 may take around 55-65 hours, so that ticks that box.

But then there’s the quality of the entertainment. Of course, Rockstar always tend to knock it out of the park when they come to their games, and really this is no exception. The game is stunning to look at. As a primarily PC gamer, I expect a lot from my games and I was unsure about how I would feel going back to console. I hadn’t even turned my PS4 on in around four months, the console normally sits dormant until I decide to go back to firm favourites like Uncharted and Kingdom Hearts. But it shines.

Red Dead Redemption 2 feels like a beautiful living, breathing world. (Credit: Rockstar Games)

Remember back in 2013, when Grand Theft Auto V pushed the PS3 and Xbox 360 further than anyone thought they could go? Well that’s what they’ve done again. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a piece of art. Looking out over the American Heartland draws the player in and it’s all too easy to wander aimlessly through the hills discovering a hugely detailed world.

This comes at a cost however. It’s painfully obvious when the game pushes the original PS4 past its limits and the frames start to grind to a painful halt, especially in the intense shoot-outs where the game excels! Luckily, the game catches up fast, but between this and the console fans making it sound like it may take flight, the whole experience is a little scary.

So, is Red Dead Redemption 2 worth the ticket price? I’d say it is, but it’s a just for me. It hasn’t managed to capture my heart in the same way as it’s predecessor. For whatever reason, the technical developments don’t fill the place of the magic that I felt playing Red Dead Redemption for the first time, but it really is a piece of art worth seeing for yourself, even at full price.