Red Dead Redemption Review: Should You Return To The Old West?

A barebones port of a thirteen-year-old game isn’t usually a major cause for celebration, but Red Dead Redemption isn’t the average game. It won numerous Game of the Year awards and is often considered one of the greatest games ever made. Until now, the only modern system you could play it on was the Xbox Series X|S, thanks to backwards compatibility. With this new port, though, you can now play Red Dead Redemption on all kinds of platforms, including the Switch. Taking one of the greatest games ever made and being able to play it on the go is understandably exciting, but does Red Dead Redemption hold up as a must-play today?

An Epic Journey

The short answer is yes. Even after thirteen years, Red Dead Redemption tells one of gaming’s most compelling stories. The tale of John Marston, a former outlaw in the old west who has since gone legitimate and started a family. When the authorities catch up with him though, they kidnap his family and force him to hunt down his former gang members if he wants them back. All of this is set against the end of an era as the west starts to modernize and leave people like John’s former gang behind, which makes them all the more dangerous as they try to hang onto something that is rapidly slipping away from them.

One of Red Dead Redemption’s smartest moves is feeling like it drops us into the middle of the story. While John is just getting started on a new journey, that this is a story based on a deep history is immediately clear and leaves players wanting to know more. While a lot of his history will be revealed as he journeys across multiple countries hunting for his former compatriots, this history was rich enough to create a prequel with a narrative some think is even better. John Marston’s story, on its face, may seem a bit generic, but it’s so well crafted and filled with little details suggesting a more profound history that I couldn’t help being drawn right back in, even having played through it before.

The More Things Change

Playing Red Dead Redemption is still a joy, too. Rockstar created a massive open world in a setting that is still wildly underexplored in video games. They give you horses, guns, saloons to gamble and drink in, and tons of side quests to explore if you aren’t in the mood to just hunt down outlaw after outlaw. You have all the tools you need to feel like you belong in one of the great spaghetti westerns. Rope animals, get into duels, chase people down in a horse and buggy, or just blow people away with a great feeling shotgun.

When a game of this age is remastered so simply though, we’re often reminded of how so many things have changed in game design over time. The most obvious example is that you still have to hold a button down to run, something which I can’t remember doing in recent years. Video games tend to standardize certain features over time once the audience decides they like something, and nowadays, everyone has seemingly decided that you hold the analog stick to run and tilt it more slightly to walk. If a game wants to do anything different, they’re more likely to have you hold a button to walk than to run. Horse controls also feel stiff at first until you get used to the rather wide turning radius they come with, which feels a bit too much like a play for realism in a game, which otherwise doesn’t make that a focus.

Still, you’ll get used to these different ways of doing things rather quickly, and once you do, Red Dead Redemption still feels great to play. Gunplay is sharp and snappy, and the horse controls allow you to ride along smoothly alongside AI companions without constantly having to adjust or to tear off on your own when you need to. Even today, I quickly fell into a comfortable rhythm with the game and never looked back.

The Same Old Game

If you’re hoping for an improved experience though, the Switch version of Red Dead Redemption will leave you wanting. If anything, this is the weakest version of the game ever released. Most of what’s missing is minor and not a major focus, but it’s still missing. First up is the multiplayer experience, which is simply gone. Red Dead Redemption’s multiplayer was never a major factor for me or most players, but it certainly was a nice option to have and could be fun. Removing it almost certainly made moving the game to Switch easier, and I can see why the choice was made, but it still makes it hard to recommend the Switch version over the Xbox version if you have both options unless you specifically care about handheld play.

Any additions compared to older versions of the game are incredibly minor. Quality of life improvements like allowing you to adjust the size of subtitles are nice, but they’re bare minimum stuff in 2023. You can’t even access the settings to change these until you get past the game’s opening cutscene, meaning if you need subtitles, you’re completely out of luck on knowing what happens in that opening. Putting a settings option on the start screen seems like an easy option, but it’s just not here.

What is included, at least, is the game’s expansion, Undead Nightmare, which imagines an alternate ending where John Marston returns home shortly before his part of the country is invaded by zombies. It’s a goofy premise, which didn’t grab me from a story perspective, but it still plays great and there is definitely some joy in blowing the heads off of zombies. This is the part of the Red Dead Redemption package I had explored least before checking it out on Switch, and I can see the appeal even if it isn’t really my thing.

Conclusion

Red Dead Redemption on Switch is a mostly fine port of a great game. If you’ve been dying to replay it or haven’t checked it out before, you should absolutely do so, but those who have already fully explored the old west won’t find anything new here or much reason to buy it again outside of the handheld factor. For some, though, that will be all the incentive they need.

Final Verdict: 4/5

Available on: Switch (Reviewed), PS4, Xbox Series X|S; Publisher: Rockstar Games; Developer: Rockstar Games; Players: 1; Released: August 17th, 2023; ESRB: M for Mature; MSRP: $49.99

Full disclosure: This review is based on a copy of Red Dead Redemption provided by the publisher.