Red Dead Redemption 2

Intense overall intensity
Highest flag: Substances — player uses or trades
AdventureHistoricalSandbox
🏆 The Game Awards 2018 — Best Narrative

What's in it

Violence graphic & gore
High

Realistic gunfights, knife fights, and beatings against human enemies with heavy blood spray; close-range shotgun and explosive hits can produce visible gore.

Substances player uses or trades
High

The player character drinks alcohol to the point of drunkenness, smokes, brews and sells moonshine, and consumes stimulant tonics and consumables.

Dark themes graphic
High

Heavy subject matter including terminal illness, death, betrayal, grief, and the bleak collapse of the gang.

Crime & lawlessness rewarded for crime against innocents
High

Robbery, train and stagecoach heists, and murder are core, rewarded activities, and the player can also rob or kill townsfolk and lawmen.

Spending real-money purchases
High

The online multiplayer mode sells gold bars and cosmetic items for real money.

Torture player commits it
High

A story mission has the player beat and interrogate a helpless man, and debt-collection missions involve roughing up victims.

Language strong
High

Frequent strong profanity in dialogue, including repeated use of harsh swear words during arguments and violence.

Horror & psychological frightening
Moderate

A few unsettling encounters such as a serial killer's mutilated victims and eerie night 'folk' create brief spooky moments.

Prostitution / sex work depicted
Moderate

Prostitutes are present as background characters in saloons and towns, referenced but not sexually engaged by the player.

Mutilation / body horror depicted
Moderate

Explosives, dynamite, and point-blank shots can dismember or blow apart enemy bodies on screen.

Sexual content innuendo
Moderate

Innuendo and crude sexual talk in saloons and camp banter, plus a fade-to-black implied encounter; no explicit acts are shown.

Gambling simulated gambling
Moderate

Saloons and towns offer poker, blackjack, and dominoes played with in-game money.

Nudity revealing/suggestive attire
Low

Brief revealing attire and partial figures (bathing, brothel dancers) with no full nudity in normal play.

Animal combat combat mechanic
Low

Hunting and skinning wildlife for meat, pelts, and crafting is a core gameplay mechanic.

Suicide & self-harm referenced
Low

A stranger encounter involves a distraught man contemplating taking his own life.

Spending pressure optional
Low

Online purchases are optional and can be earned through play rather than forced.

Who can reach your kid

Voice chatChat with strangersStranger friend requestsReal-money spending

What it is

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a large open-world action-adventure set in a fictionalized American West of 1899, where you play outlaw Arthur Morgan riding, hunting, and robbing across the frontier with his gang. Gameplay centers on realistic gunfights with blood, bounty-driven crime such as robbing trains and homesteads, hunting and skinning animals, drinking and using tonics, and card gambling in saloons. The story carries heavy adult themes of illness, death, and betrayal, along with strong profanity, innuendo, and occasional disturbing encounters. An optional online mode lets up to 32 players interact with voice and text chat and offers real-money purchases.

How it's framed

The game frames its outlawry through an honor system that tracks the player's choices, letting Arthur profit from robbery and killing while the narrative treats his violent life as a source of guilt and eventual reckoning rather than glory; cruelty is possible but often shown to have moral weight and consequences.

Details

Developer
Rockstar Games
Publisher
Rockstar Games
Released
Dec 5, 2019
Metacritic 93critic score (third-party) · out of 100

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