STACK #168 Oct 2018

GAMES

FEATURE

1 If you cut your hair or shave your beard, you’ll have to wait for it to grow back in real time. Eat too much, you’ll pack on the pounds – too little and you'll look like a costume of a man. 2 The cool cinematic camera angles seen in the later GTA titles can be used when Morgan and co. are galloping en route to a mission, putting players in the director’s seat. 3 The HUD can be removed for a more authentic experience. 4 192 pieces of music have been composed by returning musician, the game entirely in the first-person if you choose to do so, although looking at your horse’s head bouncing up and down in front of you is a little weird. 7 Expect an inordinate amount of clothing customisation options. 8 Despite Moran residing on the wrong side of the law, honour will play a significant role in the world. The choices you make and how you treat others in the world will reflect on how you’re treated. Woody Jackson. 5 The Deadeye mechanic has been upgraded to feature five levels. 6 You can now play

Rockstar has expanded all the

elements from the previous title in the series and added a stunning amount of new content...

off demo to the rolling plains and rises in the level we’re playing through, the depth of field is remarkable. Encouraged to explore a nearby town, I immediately sense the opportunity for trouble. Mud tracks

the central hub of all gang activity; here you will build relationships with members, play cards, hunt, swap stories around the campfire, and pick up missions. As I walk through the campsite, John Marston’s young son Jack calls out “Did you become a sheriff?” in reference to the hat I’m sporting. Again, it’s those little details.

churned from wagon wheels and hooves wind through the timber structures while carpenters saw lumber and hammer iron nails into new constructions; the detail in even this short passage of play is phenomenal. There’s a blacksmith, a hotel, a saloon (not adorned with Hollywood saloon doors), and a store where you can browse catalogues to replenish vital inventory items and add new ones. There are no hidden pockets in RDR 2 when

Back to the final mission that I acquire at the campsite. A member of rival gang the O’Driscolls is ‘persuaded’ to give up the location of gang boss Colm O’Driscoll and his clan, so off we gallop. Now the brief here is to stealthily dispatch wandering opposition gang

members on the perimeter of the enemy camp. By initiating a squad-

it comes to weapons – if Morgan is carrying a repeater rifle slung over his shoulder and peacemaker strapped to his waist, then that’s what you can use. You have to clean and maintain your weapons, too, to keep them operable. Talking of guns,

based mechanic you can direct your posse to attack certain targets, but old butter fingers here, keen to help out, pulls out the six-shooter instead of Morgan’s throwing knives and before I know it, lead and tree bark erupt in fury. An improved version of

I spot a bank that is currently being

• Red Dead Redemption II is out Oct 26

guarded by the sheriff. Strolling through the doors I walk up and, prompted by an

the Deadeye mechanic returns and kill animations add to the cinematic feel of

onscreen option to press the square button on the controller, I taunt him. It doesn’t take much to rile the arm of the law and before I know it the HUD turns red and I’m belting out of town on my horse with the sheriff and a couple of his men in hot pursuit. Eventually cut off by a cliff face, it’s time to fight. In a quick exchange of fire, two lay dead and finally the sheriff falls off his horse. Upon close inspection, the coup de grace is a shot right through the brow of his Stetson. My host points out that it’s possible to swap hats with the dead lawman, which I promptly do. In order to take the heat off, I slink back into town, swing past the railway station and pay a hefty $100 to the bounty paymaster – job done. The final part of the demo details how intrinsic the Van der Linde Gang’s camp is to the game. It’s

the melee. The AI is top shelf – as I push on trying to flank the enemy, they retreat, sensing my strategy. It’s a frenetic and brutal gunfight, fought whilst dashing through forest undergrowth and seeking cover behind trees from where you can shoot from. This is all Sam Peckinpah and no John Ford. It’s hard to condense the overload of information and little time spent with the game into such a short preview. Rockstar has expanded all the elements from the previous title in the series and added a stunning amount of new content, a formidable open world adventure, and refreshing experimental concepts. With an unbelievably extensive map and an undoubtedly endless suite of online play to be unrolled, like GTA V, Rockstar will have you locked into its depiction of the Wild West for a very long time. No complaints here.

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