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We finally got Red Dead Redemption 2 (opens in new tab) on PC and it is as glorious as imagined, with bold, beautiful graphics that transport you directly into the Old West. It got us feeling all types of ways about this fantastic game, and reminded us of some of its best settings, stories, and moments. So, we tasked ourselves with taking a leisurely stroll down Ye Ol’ Memory Lane to come up with our favorite moments from Red Dead Redemption 2 (which look even better on PC, we promise). Spoilers for Red Dead Redemption 2 ahead.
This is the latest in a series of big questions we’ll be interrogating our writers with, so share your answers and suggestions for topics with us on Twitter. (opens in new tab)
The D’Angelo Moment
I’ve given my answer a slightly vague title because A) I don’t want to do anything to spoil this moment for anyone that has yet to experience it, and B) I am hoping that those who have experienced it know exactly what bit I’m talking about.
Realistically, it may just have been me watching in awe as a single tear rolled down my cheek (and then another subsequent tear as I rewatched the clip on Youtube.. for research.)
It comes at the end of Chapter 5, as the story starts to come to a head. You steal a horse and start your ride back to camp, a different version of Arthur than the one that began the chapter. Queue the dulcet tones of D’Angelo, and the option to enter cinematic mode. It’s like the game knows you’re going to want to take a back seat for this bit. It’s incredible. The scenery. The lyrics. The line ‘May I stand unshaken. Amid, amidst a crashing world.’ I can feel a third tear coming on… Ellen Causey
The Widow of Willard’s Rest
My favorite moment of Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place at a precarious time for Dutch’s Gang. The outlaws find themselves pursued far further North than they had ever hoped to be, cooped up in the verdant mountains of Annesburg and on the brink of collapse under Dutch’s increasingly deluded directorship. Arthur’s coughing up his organs, beset by traitors in his midst, and still recovering from a botched heist in Saint Denis, but – tucked away in a secluded corner of Roanoke Ridge – he meets a widow, Charlotte, struggling to survive in the great outdoors following the unexpected death of her husband. Slowly, gradually, the pair get to know each other, and Charlotte quickly becomes Arthur’s sole source of true happiness in his final moments on Earth. The development of their friendship makes for some of Rockstar’s most tender and earnestly written scenes, romanticized further by their gorgeous backdrop of rolling mists, picturesque waterfalls, and towering redwoods. Return to Charlotte as John, years later, and you’ll be rewarded with a beautifully bittersweet cutscene as the pair both pay their respects to Arthur, neither of whom would be alive if it weren’t for him. Don’t believe me? Ignore Charlotte entirely as Arthur, and John will instead find a decaying corpse sprawled across the floor of her woodland cabin. Alex Avard
Heading to [REDACTED]
Red Dead 2, for me, saved one of it’s best moments until halfway through it’s 2nd epilogue. If getting to step into the boots of John Marston again wasn’t entirely unexpected, the fact that the game’s final hours let you return to the areas of the Wild West that it so thoroughly explored in the 2010 original was for me. Trotting through Blackwater and riding out towards the town of Armadillo scratched my nostalgia itch something fierce, and while it is blatant fan service, seeing the latter on the horizon during one mission made me inadvertently yelp with delight. In a story that is not shy about ruminating on the past, it’s probably fitting that revisiting the original game’s map has stuck with me the most. Ben Tyrer
The KKK
There’s a moment when you’re riding through the forest at night and you hear chanting among the trees, followed by the distant glimpse of light. Slowly approach and you’ll find the KKK attempting to burn two men. If you hang back, you can eavesdrop on what they’re saying, before the leader accidentally sets himself on fire. From that point, you can save the men and slaughter every last one of the KKK members, in a daring act of bravado and justice. It was one of the first “random” encounters I experienced and I went into it having no idea the KKK were even in the game, so it was a hell of a shock to have the honor of slaying the Grand Wizard himself. Ford James
Trying to avoid Red Dead spoilers – and failing miserably
I’ve only played the first chapter of Red Dead Redemption 2. Sue me. Yet, I’ve convinced myself that I’ll finish it at some point. In the year since its release, though, I’ve had to resort to dodging forum threads, Twitter replies, and waves of Reddit memes so I don’t get anything spoiled.
I failed.
I’m pretty sure Arthur dies. Thanks, Facebook auto-play! Then you get to play as John Marston. Cheers, Twitter user who now snugly sits between Piers Morgan and Ricky Gervais on my block list. Our very own News Editor, Ben, even dared spoil something for me about an island. I’ll be talking to HR shortly and, in the meantime, I’ll try and knock all of the Red Dead spoilers out of me just in case I want to one day get back on the saddle. Bradley Russell
Buying the game
Eager on release day, I went out to my local GAME, desperate to get my hands on RDR2. I hadn’t pre-ordered the game, so I was waiting on tenterhooks while playing SnipperClips on my Switch on London’s grubiest tube (District Line), praying there would still be a copy left for me to purchase. Lo and behold, there was. And with the game in hand, and feeling like that kid from a Christmas Carol who Scrooge orders to buy the biggest prize turkey for them all to enjoy, I rushed home to play. But, of course, I was naive. I opened the box and there were two disks. My PlayStation’s 500GB hard-drive shuddered. There was no way the game would fit. What to sacrifice, then? Call of Duty? Horizon Zero Dawn? Uncharted 4? Finally, I decided on Final Fantasy XV, despite having yet to complete it. Sorry, Noctis. Anyway, after making room for Red Dead, I waited a couple of hours for the entire thing to install, then update, then update again, then I fell asleep, went to work the next day, and I have yet to return to actually play the game because life keeps getting in the way and I’ll be damned if I wait around to install another update. What did I learn? That I only have time to play games on the Switch. So, Rockstar, if you’re reading this – release the Switch version! Jack Shepherd
Milky epilogue
I have this love–hate relationship with Red Dead Redemption 2. In that, I love how much Red Dead Redemption 2 so clearly hates me. There are few other games as disrespectful of your time as the sprawling Rockstar western, which is why my favorite moment comes in the opening moments of its first epilogue. After already investing 60+ hours of my life with an ailing Arthur Morgan – enduring all manner of repeating patterns and failed plans; having a little cry as my horse was brutally executed at the close of the story – the last thing I had ever really expected to do was spend a further 60 minutes milking a cow. That’s the brilliance of it; after an epic standoff – almost three IRL days of playing in the making – the game throws it all to one side, infers that it was all a waste of time, sits you down on a wooden stool, locks the camera to some beautifully-rendered udders, and has you pressing buttons to work ’em. Red Dead Redemption 2 finally finds focus in its epilogues, and that’s why this is one of its best moments. Josh West
Guarma
This was a tough decision because Rockstar’s epic is full of great moments: Your first trip to Valentine. The mysteries you can uncover in the woodlands. Rolling into Saint Denis at night. Honestly, there’s loads. But Chapter 5 is so different from the rest of the game that I’m convinced it’s actually a vertical slice ‘test’ of Rockstar’s next game. Full of lush jungle, exotic animals and fortresses complete with cannons your trip to (not) Cuba doesn’t last long but it’s such a change of pace and style that it’ll always stick in my mind. Now Rockstar, if you could just make a fully fledged pirate game with framework of a GTA / Red Dead game that would be great. Thanks in advance. James Jarvis
