By Connor Gray, Senior Reporter
In 1899, after years of success, the Van Der Linne gang encountered a major blunder in Blackwater, Texas.
The aftermath of a robbery gone wrong is where the story begins. it is the beginning of the end for the Van Der Linne gang.
Despite being labeled as a sequel in the title, it’s actually a prequel because it takes place 12 years before the events of the first game.
This time around, instead of playing as John Marston from start to finish, for the large portion of the game, you play as Arthur Morgan, the right hand of Dutch Van Der Linne.
Morgan is the enforcer of the gang and will do anything to protect them.
The gang is being hunted by a federal group known as the Pinkertons, who are hired to take down the Van Der Linne gang and other outlaws.
Players will encounter them throughout the story and play a major role as antagonists.
OLD AND NEW FACES
Some familiar faces from the previous title return, but many new ones were added to round out the gang.
Everyone brings their own charm as they are all well-written characters.
Morgan as a character will be remembered by other members of the gang depending on the player’s actions and decisions.
The first game had a morale system, but it never affected the story or how characters treated each other. Now it does.
Through some moments of the game, whether Morgan will be remembered as a good or bad person is up to you.
The gameplay is technical marvel. It pushes Rockstar’s game engine to the max in regards to how it approaches the game: beauty of the world, interactive environments and character interaction.
The game is more grounded in realism than any Rockstar title before.
NEW GAMEPLAY
Morgan needs food to keep his energy and health up.
You have to bond with your horse to get the best out of it, and you can only carry so much equipment with you at a time.
Instead of a wheel of all your weapons, you have to pick and choose what to carry while the rest of your stuff stays with the horse or back in camp.
What makes it different is it forces players to account for health and what weapons they should use when exploring the world and during missions.
I enjoyed the new challenges added throughout the game and the different options players are given for missions.
Throughout the course of the game, it’s all about the fall of the gang. Van Der Linne, Morgan and Hosea try everything they can to keep things going.
A new character, Micah Bell, constantly throughout the game antagonizes everyone but Dutch. Bell is the most despicable character in the best way possible.
He’s the devil that whispers in Dutch’s ear instead of listening to people he’s known for years.
Dutch puts his faith in Bell, which irritates Morgan, Hosea and the rest of the gang.
The game allows players plenty of side content outside of the main story: helping strangers in need, simple work to help earn money to buy better weapons and upgrades and more clothing options for Morgan.
NEW STORYLINE
Because it’s a prequel, the game has to cut any loose ends to fit in with the first game’s narrative.
The story overall does a good job of explaining why characters are not around and why they are not brought up again because they didn’t exist before.
After players finish Morgan’s portion of the story, we are treated to an epilogue and play Marston.
The epilogue puts things into motion of how Marston became a rancher in his attempt to provide for his family, left the outlaw life behind and eventually was forced into being a bounty hunter for the FBI in 1911.
The game is a masterpiece in storytelling with amazing performances by the cast, more realistic gameplay in how it approaches the world, beautiful environments and amazing music.
The game also receives the same score as the previous title of a 9.5/10.
The game recently hit the 50 million copies sold milestone, making it one the most successful games of all time.