Red Dead Redemption Review (Nintendo Switch OLED)

by Jim Smale · Published August 22, 2023 · Updated August 21, 2023

For this Red Dead Redemption Review, where we journey across the sprawling expanses of the American West and Mexico in Red Dead Redemption, and its zombie-horror companion, Undead Nightmare. We Step into the events immediately following the 2018 blockbuster, Red Dead Redemption 2, in the critically acclaimed tale of Marston’s journey to bury his blood-stained past, one man at a time.

Red Dead Redemption Review Pros:

Decent graphics.
11.4GB download size.
Own in-game achievements.
3 save slots and a fourth autosave slot.
Contains the main game and the Undead Nightmare DLC.
Two difficulties – Normal and hardcore.
You can select and play the Undead Nightmare straight away from the main menu.
Fast loading times.
Tutorial pop-ups as you play.
In-game cutscenes.
A full 3D world with 360-degree camera control.
Auto saves regularly.
Action adventure gameplay.
Is set in The Wild West.
Amazing voice works for every character.
The main quest with optional side quests you can get given or find randomly.
Play how you want.
Massive open world.
A brilliant soundtrack.
Very atmospheric game world.
The game transitions between cutscenes and gameplay smoothly.
The mini-map is basic but shows objectives.
Comes with the Golden Guns option. (found in the game settings)
Targeting mode can be set to casual, default, and expert.
Controller settings – Invert axis and sensitivity sliders, auto center, southpaw, and flip bumper buttons.
Display settings – brightness, contrast, saturation, motion blur, kill effect, subtitles, subtitle scale slider, objective scale slider, help text scale slider, show map, and show waypoint.
All the game cheats can be turned on and off along with the old-school enter cheat code menu.
Your horse has its own stamina bar and you can gallop and just stroll along, if you have a companion or someone to follow then you can hold the button down to match their speed.
Full stats menu for – general, Missions, strangers, crimes, travels, money, combat, Collectibles, score, and miscellaneous.
The game still looks incredible.
Sixteen outfits to u lock and wear, some have specific criteria and actions to complete.
Your journal houses challenges, strangers, and any briefs.
You can instantly skip cutscenes.
Sleeping in your bed saves the game but also advances time by 6 hours.
The map fills in with objectives and points of interest over time.
Button prompts appear when needed.
Deadeye allows you to slow down time and paint/shoot enemies.
It’s the small attention to detail that sticks out as your horse goes faster on the trails rather than the rough Offroad.
Poker is in the game, just find a table and play.
You can buy and rent houses.
The honor and Fame system is at play and determines how people react to you and what missions you could possibly get.
Stage coaches act like taxis and can take you places for a price.
For the most part, you can pause cutscenes.
You can loot bodies.
Full cover shooting including blind fire and vaulting over cover.
Campfires allow you to save and fast travel to unlocked locations.
It’s a fully living world and you can people watch, look on as fights break out, find dead bodies, and more.
Place a marker on the map and it will give you the best route to follow on the minimal, this also happens in missions.
Your currently equipped weapon and any skins/outfits are shown in the cutscenes.
Press up to have your current horse come to you, they have an icon that shows on the map.
Strangers are people you can stumble across who have a mission for you, the missions can be started and finished whenever you want.
You build trust and loyalty with your horse which can increase stamina.
Wildlife and animals roam the world and can react and attack you, luckily you can also hunt and skin them.
Wanted posters hang in towns and you can view the target and reward before accepting it. It puts a marker on the map.
You can attempt to break in and tame wild horses by using a lasso and grabbing one and then playing a mini-game of balancing on the horse until it’s tamed.
Any dead animals/people will show an X on the mini-map to show they can be looted or skinned.
Full day and night cycle with different weather types happening with the thunder and lightning being a real highlight.
At any time something can break out.
Outfits can give major buffs and state increases aswel as possible entry into closed-off communities/areas.
Wanted is when you kill innocents or steal, as you continue the money you owe goes up with more police chasing you until finally they hire a gang to chase you ANYWHERE on the map.
Gang hideouts act like dungeons in that they are self-contained and have unique or harder-to-get upgrades and rewards.
Unlock new jobs and shop stock by playing the game.
With your lasso, you can grab and drag people or get close and hogtie them.

Red Dead Redemption Review Cons:

Does not have any multiplayer.
No touchscreen support.
Cheats disable autosave and achievements.
You don’t get any confirmation or warning about skipping cutscenes.
Can’t turn blood on and off.
The controls haven’t been updated to make using the map or anything easier.
Had missions bug out like the first sheriff one where you have to tail Walton, the sheriff didn’t move or react until I died and it restarted the mission and fixed itself.
Huge initial info dump.
The follow someone on a horse mechanic is hit and miss if it matches their direction.
You have to play a fair bit until the game opens up to the point where you can do what you want.
No colorblind settings.
Pop in of detail is very noticeable.
It’s really hard to make out the X on the mini-map at times.
Every action has an animated sequence from looting to skinning.
People will challenge to duels and they are optional otherwise it’s a mini-game.
You can see evidence of what sacrifices were made for the game to run on the Nintendo Switch like less foot traffic, the open areas aren’t as populated or dense with vegetation and trees.
Getting rid of a wanted level is a real pain as it can only be done at train stations and these bugs out or close down when you are being chased or in a wanted town.
The tutorial pop-ups at times seem really delayed and small in size so you get a lot of them.
Earned achievements don’t pop up on the screen and you can’t sort them to see what you have.
Instances of people walking into walls or horses clipping.
The camera goes crazy when breaking into horses.
The Ai patching isn’t always great.
Still cannot skip the skinning animations.
Been in gunfights and all of a sudden my horse will be there and dies.
Had inexplicable fights or bounties when doing missions.

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Red Dead Redemption:

Official website.

Developer: Double Eleven

Publisher: Rockstar Games

Store Links –

Nintendo

8/10

Graphics - 8/10
8/10

Sound - 8/10
8/10

Accessibility - 8/10
9/10

Length - 9/10
10/10

Fun Factor - 10/10

8.6/10

Summary

Red Dead Redemption is a game that immerses the player in a vast and realistic open world set in the American West and Mexico in 1911. The game follows the story of John Marston, a former outlaw who is forced to hunt down his former gang members to save his family. The game features a variety of gameplay elements, such as horse riding, gunfights, hunting, poker, and side missions. The game also has a morality system that affects how the characters and the world react to the player’s actions. And after many many hours, I can say that Red Dead Redemption is a masterpiece of Western-themed action-adventure that immerses the player in a vast and realistic open world with a variety of gameplay elements. The game has some drawbacks, such as outdated controls, buggy missions, and graphical sacrifices, but it also has many strengths, such as an atmospheric game world, smooth transition between cutscenes and gameplay, dead eye mechanic, living world, day and night cycle, weather effects, and outfits. Overall it’s the same Red Dead Redemption but running really well on a handheld! If you ever needed a reason to jump back in then this is it especially as the loading times are much improved and the game still holds up.