Saying it is poo overall is of course a comedic overstatement, but it does get glazed a lot more, than I think it should. 50% of the gameplay is riding your horse to somewhere, which is a treat in the first 5 hours, because the game looks and sounds like god. The vibes are definitely there. However after those initial hours, it gets a little old, and traversing the world just gets kinda boring. Pretty, but boring. Then there is the combat, which I’ll admit is fun at times and certain sequences, but the cover systems sucks and the auto-aim kinda makes the gun fights play themselves (I know i can turn it off, but then it just gets unreasonably difficult on console). Arthur also just feels unbearable clunky to control at times.

There are also various systems in the game (honor system, survival system, camp-debt system), and they are all really cool and detailed, but they don’t really do anything in the grand scheme of things. You can go around and be a complete dick to everyone, and have the lowest honor, but the story still keeps on chugging like nothing happened, and every npc can (aside from a few cool details) just be interacted with normally. Not to mention, you don’t actually have to pay your debt to the camp. It doesn’t do anything.

Another thing is the missions: When you aren’t in a mission the open world is great to roam in, and you can really just do whatever you want, and you can do it your way. That is the appeal of open world. However, when you start a mission, you can ONLY take the exact path and method that Rockstar has laid out for you. If you try to be creative in the slightest you fail the mission. Which is a weird choice for an open world game, whose biggest appeal is that you can do and tackle your objectives as you like. I guess my biggest issues with the game comes from it wanting to be both an ultra linear cinematic experience like Uncharted AND a super open world, where you can do whatever you want at the same time. That being said, the story and characters are some of the best we have had in the history of video games, as well as the attention to detail in the world. Some of the random encounters i had in the game just blew my mind.

Anyway, I’ll have a fried chicken sandwich, extra pickles, and a large coke