But... we’ve been here before, haven’t we? It’s a recently-scribed tale as old as time: A sophisticated, wondrous looking trailer drops for an upcoming big-name title. Gamers then drop some serious coin on pre-orders for the game, only to be delivered a half-finished, buggy game that fails to meet expectations. This was notoriously the case for both _ No Man’s Sky _ and _ Sea of Thieves

Outside of that, Rockstar has created an engaging system that allows you to rob shops, stagecoaches and even trains full of people at any time. All you need to do is put on mask (if you don’t want to get caught) and start demanding the goods. If you do most of the story, you won’t need to do this all that often as you’ll be rolling in dough, but it’s a fun way to de-stress. The Wanted system is also back, as the more heinous of crimes you commit and people witness, the higher the bounty is put on your head. You can change your disguise or grow your hair and facial hair out to avoid being recognized, but you’ll probably want to pay it off the fee to avoid bounty hunters coming at you in the wild. Alternatively, if you catch up to a witness, you can threaten them, or if a police officer sees it taking place, you can defuse the situation if it’s not too damaging of a crime. Occasionally it can be a confusing why you’re immediately pinpointed as the perpetrator, though, as we’ve had a number of instances where we killed someone, a pedestrian comes across the body while we’re nowhere to be found, and yet a bounty is set on our character. Overall, though, the system works fine and can even be entertaining to chase witnesses down as they plead for their lives.

Naturally, headshots are going to be your best option when taking on enemies as they will practically take out anything in one hit. So when faced with a large group of enemies ahead, or if you just need a moment to clear out an overwhelming gunfight, take your time to eliminate large groups of enemies with well-placed headshots rather than going for multiple shots on one target. Unless you really don't like the guy and just want to riddle them with bullets: then that's okay.

Throughout the numerous towns and areas you'll visit in Red Dead Redemption 2 , you'll run into plenty of general stores and gun shops where you can stock up on supplies during or in-between missions. While ammo and healing supplies are naturally items you'll want to pick up when you have the opportunity, two particularly useful items (at least I find) you should always make sure that you have in supply when needed are gun oil and snake oil.

Bringing it full circle, I do not want to see Red Dead Redemption 2 pull a Magnificent Seven, even if this means making a bad guy version of the Seven. Which right now it’s looking that way. Seven cowboys riding off into the distance? The Magnificent Seven (I’m talking the 1960 version) is a great standalone tale on its own, while also having borrowed from a tale not its own. If you haven’t heard of Seven Samurai go watch it immediately, stop reading this article. While video games are drawing more and more from film, Rockstar has proved they can develop games that draw from certain pools while keeping it fresh and original.

The first Call of Juarez game is a decent Westerns, but it's definitely a B-tier 'play it by the books' sort of shooters. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger not only shakes things up for the franchise, but for the genre as well. You play as the legendary bounty hunter Silas Greaves who recounts his many feats to his fellow bar mates. This may seem like a rote storytelling trope, but the amazing thing here is Silas’ unreliability. He may claim he faced off against a hundred bandits when a patron will call him out on it and the game will literally change before your eyes. The shooting is outstanding, and the cel-shading is like icing on the cake. At max, it’s only $15 too so go on Steam, PSN, or Xbox Live and grab it

As you stock up on valuable loot and money earned from heists, you have the option to contribute those items (or cold hard cash) into your gang's funds, which in turn can be used to invest in upgrading the various sections of the camp. Though some of these upgrades will be a bit pricey (especially early on in the game), the camp provides a valuable resource by giving you easy access to ammo, provisions, and tonics that will all be more than useful when you're going between missions, in a more cost-effective manner than getting it all individually at a general store.

As for the main story, it’s entertaining but far from revolutionary. It has its highs and lows, the lows being the lack of development outside anyone who’s within the Van der Linde gang. You get to meet a plethora of characters through Arthur’s journey and yet most of them only appear in one or two missions, outside of a couple of exceptions. Red Dead Redemptions 2 moves at an incredible pace to the point that most people in the Open world games vehicles are disposable and sometimes unnecessary, making me wish there was more of a focus on specific story beats as it’s spread too thin in spots. With that said, outside of the phenomenal core cast, what Rockstar does right is create exciting scenarios. This is something the company is known for, crafting well-designed and often comical heists that are sure to go awry. Whether it’s robbing a train or a stagecoach, or simply walking through town, each chapter has a handful of standout missions that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Granted, the other missions are mostly broken up into your standard affairs, but at least they’re kept lively thanks to Arthur generally being assisted by another member of the gang.