The first time I played Red Dead Redemption was, of course, the day it launched. 2010 really doesn’t seem all that long ago at all, but there was a level of expectation and excitement to those opening moments in Rockstar’s utterly wild West that I do feel I haven’t experienced in a very long time indeed.
It was an excitement that had me on my phone to an equally exuberant friend (we’d been to buy our copies together earlier that day, like something out of a Dickens novel), as we both gawped in amazement at this incredible recreation of a lost world. Do games still drop jaws in the same way that a big Rockstar joint used to back in the day?
As the camera settled on John Marston aboard the game’s opening train ride, as we started to get a gauge on just how no-holds-barred and authentic this particular cowboy adventure was gonna be, there was an air of something special, of a game that might just be everything we’d wanted and more besides. And it was!
I reviewed Red Dead Redemption on Switch for its 2023 release, so check that out for a full run-through of the finer details of the game itself. However, I ‘only’ gave it an 8/10, which may seem odd given all the gilding of its lily I’ve just done above this very paragraph. But a lack of multiplayer, alongside a lack of polish overall, meant it had to go down as a barebones port. Still amazing in its narrative and gameplay, but in need of TLC. It was eminently playable, and already looked nice, though, so you were in safe (if unspectacular) hands on Switch.
This Switch 2 update, on paper, gives us the basics and no more, too. Oh, you’ve given it more resolution, have you? Increased the frame rate? Well done. But wait. We’ve now got mouse controls for fine-aiming, and they feel really good. Also, and as expected as resolution or frame rate increases are nowadays, my goodness, it really does look and feel very nice indeed. Have I ever played this game at 60fps before? I’m beginning to wonder, because I’m sure it’s never played this nicely.
Remember the journey into Mexico, that magical bit with the music, the showstopping part? It’s all the more magical when you can see the very dust in the air, the shimmering heat haze in the distance now as clear as day thanks to pristine visuals. HDR is really helping to make things pop in comparison to the older port, that’s for sure.
Yes, there’s still no multiplayer, but it now feels as though the game is being presented on a Nintendo console in a manner befitting such an epic slice of gaming history. With slick controls, DLSS, HDR, volumetric effects, options to personalise mouse mode, 60fps that felt flawless, and a resolution bump that’s got it looking super sharp, this is a gem that still feels modern, immediate, and relentlessly replayable on Switch 2. Now that’s rootin’ tootin’, partners!