Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar Games' epic of the dying American frontier — a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption that traces the outlaw Van der Linde gang in 1899 as federal agents, Pinkertons and the era itself close in around them. You play Arthur Morgan, the gang's enforcer and Dutch van der Linde's most trusted lieutenant, across a long campaign that spans the rural heartland from snowy mountains down through swamps, prairies and frontier towns.

The story is the heart. Arthur is forced into harder and harder decisions as the gang's choices grow more desperate, and the internal divisions threatening to tear the group apart eventually force a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the people who raised him. Over 175 Game of the Year awards and 250-plus perfect scores landed on the game at release, and the writing is the reason — performances, character arcs and quiet character moments hit at a level the genre rarely reaches.

The open world is built around interaction. NPCs remember you. Horses bond with you over time. Weather, season and time of day shape what's possible in each location. Hunting, fishing, exploration, side activities and chance encounters fill the spaces between story missions, and most of them connect to small narrative beats that wouldn't exist in a less ambitious game. The level of environmental detail is the standard the AAA industry has measured itself against ever since.

Red Dead Online ships in the same package — the multiplayer experience built on the same world. Ride solo or form a posse, run moonshine, battle lawmen, outlaw gangs and wildlife, build your own path on the frontier. The two halves complement each other but each stands on its own; the single-player campaign alone is a 60-plus hour experience that most players consider one of the best games of its decade.