Red Dead Redemption

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1

The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

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Review:

Red Dead Redemption is an Open-World Action-RPG set in the American Wild West. Originally released in 2010 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and until now the game has never been ported outside of those platforms, though subsequent Microsoft consoles would be able to play the game via backwards-compatibility. However, in 2023 we would finally see this game brought to more modern platforms in the form of a port to PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch, complete with content from the Game of the Year edition of the game, including the Undead Nightmare standalone expansion.

However, those eager to get their hands on this game best not start whistling Dixie, because this handsome stranger has a dark side. Perhaps it’s all too fitting that this port brings with it the good, the bad, and the ugly…

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The Good

The original Red Dead Redemption is a massive, sprawling Wild West epic that’s still a joy to play even to this day. You’ll find seemingly every Wild West trope there is beautifully rendered here in a setting where you could stumble on something interesting around pretty much every bend in the trail.

Being period-appropriate and not at all cleaned up for modern sensibilities, this means you’ll hear plenty of racist sentiments, sexist sentiments, objectification of women, rape, lynchings, and so on, along with buckets of blood. So if you’re the sort of person who finds this sort of topic matter offensive, you’d best mosey on past this game.

But for those who fancy a trip to the Wild West with dirt, grime, and blood, pretty much everything you’ll hope to find here is available. Wild gangs of bandits, whorehouses with women trying to sell their wares, cattle rustlers, hangings, hunts for hidden treasure, wanted posters for bounty hunters. Just wandering along, you might find yourself targeted by an ambush posing as a wagon driver in need of assistance, or a man needing to be rescued from a pack of wild coyotes… this game is filled to the brim with classic Western tropes, so fans of that genre of story will feel right at home here.

There’s plenty to do here, too. You can assist a homesteader with tending to their farm, join forces with the local constabulary to hunt down lawbreakers, explore the wilderness looking for game to hunt or wild plants to harvest, take down bandit camps, play a friendly game of poker… Red Dead Redemption truly fulfills the promise of an Open-World Wild West game.

There are a few minor QoL improvements and added features in the Nintendo Switch release of the game, too. Text size settings, HD rumble support, additional help text that wasn’t in the original game… it’s not much, but it’s something.

In addition to the great gameplay, there’s also an excellent story, with some superbly well-voiced and well-written characters that make the setting come alive. This is joined by an authentic-sounding Western soundtrack (complete with guitars, harmonicas, and whistling, sometimes joined by more subtle orchestral music).

This is paired with graphics that have aged somewhat, but still mostly look good today. The character designs (at least for main characters) are all excellent, and there’s a lot of detail in the environments, with some really excellent lighting and shadows. There is a bit of pop-in here at times, and the color palette can seem a tad washed-out, but overall this is still a good-looking game.

In terms of performance, the original release of the game ran at a 720p or 640p resolution (depending on the platform), but the Nintendo Switch (as well as the PlayStation 4) release ups that to 1080p in docked mode, with the game still playing at 720p on Nintendo Switch in handheld mode, and with each release apparently maintaining the game’s 30FPS framerates pretty well. The Nintendo Switch release also features improved anti-aliasing, though there are fewer options for this than the PlayStation 4 received. However, overall this is a great-looking port that looks even better than the original.

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The Bad

Unfortunately, while this is a solid port of the original game, it’s not really a complete port of the game. In particular, this release of the game is missing the multiplayer mode that was in the original game. This isn’t just a Nintendo Switch issue, though – the PlayStation 4 release is also missing this feature.

What’s more, while there are a few minor new features, for the most part this release doesn’t have much in the way of new features or enhancements. The purported HD rumble is not especially noticeable, and there’s also no gyroscopic motion control support (something that would have been nice for aiming firearms) nor is there any touchscreen support.

And while some quality-of-life features have been added, many others the game really could make use of have not. You’re still looking at going through multiple menus if you want to save or fast travel, there are some animations you’ll see countless times over the course of the game that are unskippable, and overall navigating this game’s menus is an awkward mess.

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The Ugly

Now it’s time to address the elephant (stampeding bison?) in the room – the price. A $50 price tag for what is mostly a straight port of a 13 year-old game with missing features is outrageous. Even more outrageous, the original game (with its Undead Nightmare expansion) can still easily be purchased brand new for under $20. Heck, it was even a part of PlayStation’s Greatest Hits line of discounted games! And the Xbox 360 version of the game which received upgraded resolution through backwards-compatibility on modern Xbox systems is also only $30. So why the heck are Nintendo Switch owners (or PlayStation 4 owners, for that matter) being asked to pay more or less two times the price for the same game?

Or, to put it another way, this is only $10 less than the game’s sequel, Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s absurd that two games released nearly a decade apart should bear almost the same price tag… yet here we are.

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The Roundup

Yes, it’s wonderful to finally have this absolutely classic game on a Nintendo platform for the first time, it’s fantastic to have it on a portable platform, and it’s excellent that the resolution has been upgraded in this release. It’s a solid port of an outstanding game… but when the price has been jacked up this much, it’s hard to celebrate what would otherwise be a must-have release on Nintendo Switch. As of this writing, the game has gone on sale a few times for $35, and even then the game is still overpriced.

If you loved the original release and absolutely need to get it on Nintendo Switch no matter the cost, I do not think you will be disappointed. If you’ve never played the game or its sequel before and are discovering it for the first time, I think you’ll be delighted with it. But if you have played the original and expect an upscaled port 13 years later to have a lower price, like a reasonable person, you will be sorely disappointed.

tl;dr – Red Dead Redemption is an Open-World Action-RPG set in the American Wild West, and this release is mostly a straight port of the legendary 13 year-old original game with improved resolution, a few very minor tweaks, and its Undead Nightmare expansion, but also missing the original game’s multiplayer. This would be a must-have game on Nintendo Switch if the $50 price tag wasn’t an absolute insult given the game’s age and lack of new content or features. You should still absolutely get this game, but only when it gets a really good sale.

Grade: B

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The Nintendo Switch 2 Difference

Red Dead Redemption – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

Genre: Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Rockstar Games’ support of Nintendo platforms has been spotty at best over the years, so I expect many will have been surprised that they would not only release a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition for Red Dead Redemption within the first year of the Nintendo Switch 2’s life, but that this would come in the form of a free update for players who own the Nintendo Switch version of the game. However, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth… well, except I’m reviewing the game so I suppose I am.

The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game doesn’t add any new content, nor does it restore the multiplayer that was stripped out of the version of the game that was released on modern platforms. This is strictly a performance update. However, when you actually give it a look I think you’ll find that’s plenty enough on its own.

Let’s start with the least impressive change, the loading times. On Nintendo Switch, the game took 11 seconds to load into a game, and another 11 seconds whenever you used the fast travel option (inconvenient as that option is to use, it is there). On Nintendo Switch 2, that time has been slightly shaved down to 9 seconds and 9 seconds. Not much, but these weren’t especially bad loading times to begin with.

No, the major changes here are to the framerate and resolution, and I’ll say the framerate in particular sees a massive improvement here, now buttery-smooth on Nintendo Switch 2. As for the resolution, I did still notice a bit of aliasing on things like telephone cables, but overall everything looks much smoother and less pixelated. Also, I should note that small issues with pop-in that the original game had are far less present here.

I think the Nintendo Switch port of Red Dead Redemption is a solid one, but even so I think the upgrade on Nintendo Switch 2 is outstanding, and makes the game far more playable – with the better framerates and resolution, I found it much easier to shoot moving targets on horseback, for example.

I still think the lack of multiplayer and the $50 price tag is absurd, and players should be under no illusions that this upgrade brings this game anywhere close to the graphical splendor of Red Dead Redemption 2, but for players who want to play this classic Open-World Western in fine form on their TV or on the go, this is an excellent way to do it, and if you already own the Nintendo Switch release, getting this free update is a no-brainer.

tl;dr – Red Dead Redemption is an Open-World Action-RPG set in the American Wild West, and this release is mostly a straight port of the legendary 15 year-old original game with a few very minor tweaks, and its Undead Nightmare expansion, but also missing the original game’s multiplayer, all at a bloated $50 price tag. The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition doesn’t add any content, but improves the performance dramatically, with a free update for players who own the Nintendo Switch version of the game. It’s still feature-poor and overpriced, but otherwise this is an outstanding way to play this classic.

Grade: B+

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