9 Times Gaming Was Too Real

2. Living An Entire Fake Life As Arthur Morgan In Red Dead Redemption 2

We covered the visceral side of Rockstar's cowboy games with John Marston's death, but what about Red Dead Redemption 2, and the tale of Arthur Morgan?

That - although its ending certainly veers in the same direction - has an appeal more routed in living a Warcraftian life of the utmost simulation.

See, Rockstar didn't just create "more Red Dead", they practically coded an entire virtual reality simulation of the Old West without goggles. Everything from retrieving animal skins for your camp's stew to watching beard hair grow, surviving in harsh weather to carrying grain from A to B or going fishing is rendered with a level of craftsmanship no other developer is anywhere near.

It results in a level of role-play we'd never seen, and you'll want to live Arthur's life right.

The way he's written and how the story pans out lets you conjure a custom fate, but that's after the immaculate narrative drive established across the opening acts.

Here you're a cowboy on the run from the law, doing everything from trading haymakers in saloons to brushing the dust off your horse, just to keep it happy.

If you've devoted any number of hours to RDR 2, you'll know this indescribable feeling of true immersion, and for that, Rockstar should be applauded for making virtual reality without any additional equipment.