"Hello old friend. Its been a long time."
Something that took me by surprise recently was a message from my younger brother about Red Dead Redemption being released on PC. I was surprised that I hadn’t heard about it, and even more surprised when a code slid across my desk. While I had not played the game all the way through personally, watching my older brother try to capture and ride the literal four horses of the apocalypse — over a decade ago now — is something of a formative memory.
Red Dead Redemption is an open-world, action adventure game set in the Wild West, where we follow former outlaw turned bounty hunter John Marston as he hunts down remnants of his old gang. It also includes the incredibly fun Undead Nightmare expansion, changing the old west aesthetic for a gritty horror/supernatural one.
Despite the game being over 14 years old, I feel like it hasn’t aged much at all. The gunplay is all-around solid, with the Dead Eye mechanic — in which you can slow time then turn it back on to instantly kill enemies like a talented gunslinger — being exceptionally noteworthy.
Riding around the land on your steed, that you bought (or stole, or captured) yourself, is a very zen experience broken up with an occasional random encounter that really helps the feeling that the land is alive.
There's plenty of side missions to mess around with on the way. You could be shooting bandits one minute and trying to convince a wife to stay with their husband the next. Collectables and challenges are also scattered about, ranging from following treasure maps to collecting herbs. Undead Nightmare adds some more absurdity, including those aforementioned horses of the apocalypse.
An aspect of this game I always remember is the combination of the save system, the honour system, and the bounty system. Saving isn’t automatic in most instances — you need to sleep to save properly. The honour system tracks your actions, good and bad. The bounty system will punish you accordingly — however, if you, say, dispatch any witnesses, no bounty will be assigned to you. This combination leads to some of the best immersion I’ve felt.
Picture it — you’ve just lost your last chips in poker. The winner is gloating, raking in his winnings, and for a moment, your hand drifts to your gun. The other players have left, no-one will know. If anyone sees, a few bullets more or maybe a bribe will silence them. And hey, it’s nothing a few dollars passed to the courts can’t fix anyway. But are you that type of person? That death is on your hands, your honour. You could do it for fun and reload your game, but when did you last save? 2-3 hours ago? Is it worth playing through all that again?
Red Dead Redemption shines in these moments, becoming a game that is so easy to get lost in.
PC performance is melted-butter smooth, running a cool 144FPS, and includes all the bells and whistles of a modern PC port, with Frame Generation, DLSS, FSR, 4k and ultrawide resolution support, and about as many sliders for level of detail as you can shake a stick at. Controls are fine on both controller and keyboard.
For a port, there’s surprisingly little to complain about here. My main issues are a lack of the multiplayer that was present in the original, and a rather high price. While I can understand the lack of additional features — trudging through 14-year-old code is already hard work — dropping multiplayer feels like a bit of a let down in an otherwise solid port. The price especially feels a tad too much, at $80, and I can only really think this would be worth paying if you have never touched the title before.
Nevertheless, Red Dead Redemption on PC is something I never knew I wanted but am overjoyed to have in my hands. While the price is a tad high for such an old game, I think it’s worth it for those who missed out on this one back in the day. Relive a modern classic. Its aged like a fine whisky.
By Michael Robertson
