9 Reasons Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Better Than GTA 5

3. Fun Melee Combat

Sadly, Red Dead 2's fistfights aren't a patch on 2005's immaculate The Warriors (also from Rockstar, which is why it's so maddening they can't re-implement that game's array of moves), but they're a damn sight better than GTA V.

Where 2013's release saw the same animation-heavy system from GTA IV, where you're more watching canned sequences play out before retaliating or ducking in tow, RDR2 reduces everything to two buttons:

You're either on the defensive holding square/X, or attacking with circle/B. Hold the former to block and absorb, then go all out with the latter.

Punches land with the requisite slap-of-meat thump they need, and brawls go everywhere from saloons to street corners, atop trains to cornfields. A lot of the transitions are scripted and/or story-dependant, but even when you strike up an encounter and batter someone for the hell of it, the result is always far more satisfying.