At its best condition when Red Death Redemption shuts up

Red Dead Redemption celebrates its 15th anniversary today (May 18, 2025). Below, we think this might be better than the show.

Usually, Westerners are sincere. Of course, there is a complete farce like a blazing saddle. Many classic Westerners like Rio Bravo have a passionate comedy side. Even dark epics like the searcher have flashy moments. But even if they are interesting, Westerners will be straightforward. They can easily make fun of it because they are so signed. In this case, Red Dead Redemption struggles to find its place. It imports Grand Theft Auto's irony into a naked and gloomy world. In many moments, the protagonist John Marston is the only rational voice in cliches and comics. When Red Dead Redemption talks, it is usually cheap and doesn't understand. When it shuts up, it will manage the real poetry, thanks to its plain scenery and the plain world.

First, let's dig into its writing. RDR is the sunset of the West, located on the days of Western expansion. Marston is an outdated man: a cowboy criminal in a world that wants to kill him (and will). Marston is stupid. He hunted his former compatriots at the request of the U.S. government because he hoped that they would fulfill his promise, return his family to him and leave him alone. He was wrong. The killing he undertakes has shaken him and his family.

This tragic arc is convincing, but part of the game is relatively narrow. More time was spent on Marston getting stuck with Scoundrels to track his goals. These characters are mostly clichés. Nigel West Dickens is a snake oil salesman who beats snakes. The Irish is a drunk Irish. Agustin Allende is a cruel dictator, and Landon Ricketts is the noble Marshall. Like Rockstar’s other open world games, RDR’s story mission is permeated to a large extent throughout the rest of the game. Many of them are just riding: a long discussion about horseback, and there may be gunfights afterwards. A large part of RDR runtime is listening to the Inane character on Marston's scolding, Tut-Tuts or shrugging shoulders.

In this regard, the game's treatment for Mexico is particularly shocking. The Mexican Revolution was one of the most complex conflicts of this period, with dozens of factions. RDR reduces it to two aspects: an oppressive government led by Charlatan Abraham Reyes and a revolutionary army who only want to power for themselves. Marston helped both sides achieve their goals, thus bringing himself completely beyond the conflict. He frowned and shook his head as the revolutionaries celebrated their victory. The pessimism of the game is not bleak, but it is cheap.

To some extent, RDR's political commentary feels incomplete due to Musten himself. He is both a symbol of America's worst sin and a hired gun designed to kill political dissidents and minor criminals, and a victim, detainees are forced to work as Labor and the government will not get dirty with its own hands. This is a meaningful tension that RDR will not fill. If anything, Masten's plight would be directly compared to the indigenous peoples of the game. Both were displaced. But Musten is the kind of white border people who drive away so many indigenous people from their hometowns. Due to the sarcastic tone of the game and the wiseness of Musten, the pose above the pose, it cannot hide the tension of the drama.

The game even weakens its most effective moment. José González played an original song as Marston crossed the Mexican border. I still remember the first time I arrived at this moment. Dawn scattered in the virtual desert. Blood-red dirt and the sky glowed in an uninterrupted line. But this moment is the Irish drunk hijinks. The grandeur of the world of RDR is the empowering Needle to fall down the land, but this is the moment when the game is not built or descended.

But the difficult separation between RDR's narrative and its vast world is a weakness. This is not the Ubisoft List world. The side activities of RDR, especially mini games like poker and cheat dice, exist on their own terms. You can't capture the outpost foundation to spread your influence or win games to become the most famous poker player in the West. Instead, if you want to hit a hand or two, there is a seat on the table, but the dealer will deal with you. Random events in RDR can feel serious. Marston always arrives in time to stop the highway robbery or rescue fair teenage girls from the tramp. But Marston could also be in trouble. The highwayman will try to catch his horse, or the bandit will hide behind the rocks and try to ambush him. These systems work together to separate the world from the players. The sun sets. Every night, the same person gets drunk in the local bar. Marston wandered between them.

The simulation of the natural world of RDR contributes to this sense of separation, action and movement without your input. The game has extensive hunting and foraging mechanics. Even if you don't interact with them, creatures are scattered in the bushes on the roadside, buffaloes and cattle grazing on the grass, and an accidental encounter with bears can ruin your day. This does lead to some stupid video games hijinks – the game's predators will attack you for no reason – but there is also a wildness that can be quieted down.

A big part of the wildness is that the game is still pretty. Each of its biomes has a unique feature. It has a spectacular view Monument Valleybut it is also willing to trade in an ordinary way: a shabby dirt road, a dusk chicken coop after a while, playing with horseshoes in the backyard. Rockstar's obsession with granular background simulation It can be ridiculousbut this is obviously part of its game feel unique. RDR is quiet, too. No tremolo radio or blown car horn. Only the desert. In the way there are few video games, RDR can feel meditated and even bored.

The ending is the best part and quiet side of the RDR chatty side. After completing the mission, Marston returns to his farm and his family. His wife Abigail and son Jack are not clichés. Both have complex feelings about the person who is absent from life. The game takes time to unravel these threads. Meanwhile, Marston works like an ordinary person. He does housework. In the last few hours of the game, there is only the feeling of being in the world.

The ultimate violent disruption of Marston's quiet life is even more heartbreaking about how long it will take. The power of the final image of Red Dead Redemption helps explain its huge reputation. Marston assured his family that he would find them when he knew he would die. Take a deep breath before facing the agent killing him. Blood poured out of his mouth as he tried to stand. There is a lot of wanton violence in RDR, but it's a really meaningless moment. All of this is because of its quietness, how much accumulation it has caused. RDR's politics is a symbolic symbol of the white settlers being the ultimate, symbolic martyr of American national violence. This will never be separated from the ghost of death in its conclusion.

But here's the thing: One of the main inspirations for RDR was Cormac McCarthy's blood meridian. The novel is instantly beautiful, bleak and ridiculous, following a group of men murdered on the line between Mexico and the United States, with the real-life Granton gang murders. Blood Meridian is ashes, gunpowder is printed on the page. Most of the power of RDR is derived from it, and the game can't help but feel it. Furthermore, it reaches emotional depth that RDR cannot provide in a very short period of time. But what these cannot provide is the aesthetic manifestation of RDR. As you enter the darkness, spontaneous sunrises on a clear desert night, coyotes cry, distant campfires.

Read more about Red Dead Redemption's 15th anniversary Spaghetti Western Movie Inspiration.