Red Dead Redemption Switch is a great, if expensive, way to play Rockstar's best
Despite the rather high cost of entry for a 13-year-old game, another way to play one of the greatest open world games ever made can only ever be a good thing.
This week I’ve been stepping back into the dusty boots of John Marston – relapsed-outlaw-turned-government-pawn, on a mission to bring the former members of his cowboy gang to justice. It’s a story most of us will know, but for the first time, it’s available to play in a very different way: portably. And mirroring the success seen when the likes of Doom, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Alien: Isolation migrated from PlayStation and Xbox consoles to the Nintendo Switch, this version of Red Dead Redemption – for the most part – looks and plays fantastically.
Of course, this shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise. Rockstar’s crown jewel originally released 13 years ago on the PS3 and Xbox 360. It’s a game twice removed from its original era, still being ported to modern systems – how’s that for influential? The Nintendo Switch has also proved time and again that it’s capable of handling video games of this calibre. Even still, I wouldn’t blame anyone for being cautious about picking up Red Dead Redemption’s Nintendo debut, largely due to how poorly the ports of the PS2 GTA titles ended up.
People are right to have their guard up. But whereas the awkwardly named Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition had the tricky task of remaking three beloved open-world games entirely from the ground up, implementing a more cartoony art style – messing up rain effects and lacking certain songs from the original soundtracks in the process – Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch is a less complex affair.
There are positives and negatives to this being a strict port rather than a remaster or remake. The positives are that this is very much the same game we all remember, complete with the same sentimental journey concerning one of the American Frontier’s last cowboys. The characters and missions are great; it features some of the best writing I've ever experienced in games, and the age of the Old West makes for an enthralling and engaging setting to be in. The negatives are that there’s not much more to it than that.
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In fairness, Rockstar has tried to sweeten the deal by including Red Dead Redemption’s widely celebrated zombie DLC, Undead Nightmare, as part of the package. Again, though, if you’re someone who’s already played both these releases, there’s not a lot for you to get excited about outside of the slightly improved lighting and ability to gun down raiders and criminals using Dead Eye while on the toilet.
I can’t speak for the PS4 version which resided on the now obsolete PS Now service from 2016 up until last year; available for PS4 and PS5 players, it disappeared from the platform when PS Now was rolled into the revamped PS Plus subscription model last year. But, at least on Nintendo Switch, you’re locked to 30fps at what appears to be 720p in handheld and 1080p in docked mode.
Giddy up
All I want to do is shout from the heavens that now even more people can play Red Dead Redemption on what is arguably the most convenient console platform, potentially for the first time. Alas, this new version being priced at £39.99 / $49.99 /AU$69.95 makes that a tad more difficult than it should be, even though there’s a whole lot of bang here for your buck. Collectively, both Red Dead Redemption and the Undead Nightmare DLC could take you anywhere between 40 and 50 hours to see and do everything.
You only need look at what Konami is doing with Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 to see how a straight port of old, beloved games can add more value. This package includes digital screenplay books, digital soundtracks and digital graphic novels for each game where available; it feels like a true celebratory package. Red Dead Redemption is a little more ho-hum by comparison, but this shouldn’t take away from what is still ostensibly one of the best open-world games ever made – that’s saying something from Rockstar’s standards.
So yes, while you could play Red Dead Redemption on PS4, PS5, or even Xbox Series X|S (with improved upscaled visuals and 60fps) via backwards compatibility, there’s still a magic to having a game as substantial as Red Dead Redemption made playable on the go. And for the time being, due to the absence of having a PC version on Steam and therefore the Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch remains the only way this is possible. That’s why it’s heartening to have a version here free of screen tearing, glitches, pop-in and the like.
Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch is an incredibly smooth, straightforward but no doubt oddly priced port. That said, every time I found myself travelling on horseback in the effort to help a townsman retrieve his wife, claim a bounty, or just generally explore what lies beyond the next hill, it was hard not to fall in love with John Marston’s story and the Old West over again.
Whether you’re a returning player or newcomer (who might want to wait for it to go on sale), I'm excited that you now have the chance to (re)live the delights of Red Dead Redemption on Nintendo Switch.
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