9 Reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Already Better Than GTA 5

1. Making All That Open-World Detail Matter

The game's substrate is triggering missions and worthwhile scenarios by just moving from one scenario to the next i.e. Red Dead will serve up missions and interactions as you go. But the secret weapon, is holding L2.

Done with a weapon out you'll aim as standard, but you can also fire up into the sky to threaten NPCs or stop a fleeing citizen dead in their tracks. Holster your weapon and then hold L2 though, is ostensibly your all-encompassing "interaction button".

Used as a way to zoom in and look around, aim at a horse and you can brush and stroke it. Towards an NPC and you'll strike up a contextual conversation depending on their role, what they're wearing or how they're dressed. Aim at pretty much any thing in the world, and you'll get a small selection of options, helping you parse out how you want to go forward.

This universal interaction is what brings everything together. The combat, NPC conversations, morality meter, bartering for hunted quarry and everything in between all goes through L2 - providing the connective tissue between player and everything Rockstar have built.