Fourteen years after its initial release, Red Dead Redemption has finally landed on PC. The PC port is, without a doubt, the best way to play Rockstar’s open-world Western. Rockstar and co-developer Double Eleven have added a handful of graphical features and improvements that make this the smoothest and most beautiful version of Red Dead Redemption to date. These visual improvements accentuate an already excellent tale that has unquestionably withstood the test of time.
I’ve spent roughly 20 hours exploring each of the game’s major regions on max settings with an ultrawide monitor, and it is sublime. Red Dead Redemption was praised in 2010 for its impeccable atmosphere, and that remains intact after all these years. The rhythmic thumping of hooves echoing throughout the plains as the early morning sun peeks through the clouds is just as intoxicating as it was in 2010. Moments like this are frequent in Red Dead Redemption and the improved visuals and performance further enhance these highs.
The most obvious upgrade is the extended draw distances. While impressive at the time, the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Red Dead Redemption look as though anything outside of protagonist John Marston’s immediate vicinity has a blurry filter over it. Like 2023’s PS5 version, the PC port uses the extra horsepower to fill out those details to create a much cleaner image. When paired with the PC port’s native 4K resolution, Red Dead Redemption hardly looks its age. Eagle-eyed players may notice a few objects and textures that still look a little muddy, such as a couple side characters or the collectible herbs that dot the frontier, but it’s easy to forget when you’re riding through the golden plains of West Elizabeth.
The star of the show, though, is Red Dead Redemption’s ultrawide support. Seeing this world from a 21:9 perspective goes hand-in-hand with Red Dead Redemption’s themes and cinematic inspirations. Slowly approaching Fort Mercer in the game’s opening hour feels like it could have taken straight from Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch or Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. The wider aspect ratio gives the entire experience a sparse, desolate feel that matches the atmosphere beautifully.
The ultrawide presentation does have one noticeable issue: The game’s cutscenes are still rendered in a 16:9 aspect ratio. While a 21:9 aspect ratio could ruin the framing of some shots, it’s a shame Rockstar and Double Eleven haven’t given players the option to change this, especially since modders have already addressed this very issue. Seeing some of the game’s most iconic cutscenes in a cinematic, ultrawide format without having to install mods would have been a welcome addition.
As solid as this port is, it does feel barebones. Most notably, the PC port–like 2023’s Switch and PS5 versions–removes the game’s original multiplayer and cooperative components. Given server costs and upkeep, I understand why Rockstar and Double Eleven wouldn’t want to resuscitate multiplayer, but it’s a shame to see it missing considering how its open-world structure laid the groundwork for the wildly popular GTA Online. At the time, Red Dead’s multiplayer modes took a big swing at what a social multiplayer experience could be, and it’s disappointing that that ambition isn’t represented here. Additionally, the lack of a photo mode in particular is a missed opportunity. So much work has been put into the visuals, and a photo mode could have really highlighted those graphical improvements.
However, what’s impressed me the most about revisiting Red Dead Redemption after all these years isn’t its visuals or performance, but its stellar writing. Red Dead Redemption manages to juggle several complex themes in a way that feels authentic. Characters–although introduced and discarded quickly–are colorful, witty, and exuberant. Many of them cynically personify the vices, virtues, and myths of the American Dream and the untamed West. Nigel West Dickens is quite literally a snake-oil salesman parading as a dignified capitalist, while Landon Ricketts is a washed-up gunslinger who’s gone south to feed his savior complex. Although John’s bloody quest for redemption amounts to a very long list of errands, the vivid characters and clever dialogue keep the adventure from ever feeling stale.
John Marston’s stint in Mexico remains a highlight given how messy the politics, leaders, and allegiances are. Marston embodies American interventionism as he ping-pongs between causes in order to hunt down his former gang member Bill Williamson, an objective that feels so narrow-minded when compared to the chaos and bloodshed unfolding in front of him. It’s hard not to feel uncomfortable as John aids and abets both sides of a bloody revolution, but this discomfort is what makes Red Dead’s themes and its ending hit so hard. This is all punctuated by Marston’s often endearing and simplistic philosophical diatribes about freedom, war, good, evil, human nature, fatherhood, masculinity, and so on.
Red Dead Redemption is a sprawling epic that stands shoulder to shoulder with some of the greatest Westerns of all time. If you’ve never played it, the PC release is the perfect time to give it a shot. However, if you’ve already played Red Dead Redemption or picked up 2023’s PlayStation 5 or Nintendo Switch port, there’s not much else here besides improved visuals.
