Red Dead Redemption 2 Review: 7 Ups & 3 Downs

Downs...

3. The Clunky Controls & Movement

By far the worst thing about RDR2 overall is just how awkward and clumsy the controls are.

Making Arthur move around feels like wading through treacle, and interacting with objects can prove especially frustrating as he stumbles around in the environment before subjecting the player to a 5-second animation of opening a drawer or something equally rudimentary and boring.

This is obviously a design choice by Rockstar to evoke a more "realistic" vibe, but depressingly, it makes the game feel oddly reminiscent of Shenmue and its infamously trying controls and movement mechanics.

You can do yourself a favour by raising the Look/Aim acceleration and lowering the dead zone in the game's control settings, but even so, exploring this lush, vast world shouldn't feel like such an effort right off the bat.