Red Dead Redemption 2 has been a massive critical success, and it's becoming an even bigger sales one for Rockstar already after less than two weeks on store shelves.

What kind of a game is Red Dead Redemption 2? On the surface, it looks like your typical sandbox, albeit with some rootin’ tootin’ gun-slinging action thrown into the mix. Which it is! It’s also a horror game of sorts, if you’re prepared to dig deep enough. Rockstar loves them a mystery, and much like the first Red Dead Redemption game released in 2010, there’s plenty of it in the sequel.

There’s a culture of crunch in the industry, that is not healthy at all, something that Rockstar Games found out the hard way after they were rightfully lambasted for boasting about putting their employees through excruciatingly long months of development for Red Dead Redemption 2. A problem that seems typical of the AAA game development space, only it really isn’t.

There’s some good money to be made out in the wilds of Red Dead Redemption 2. Critters and varmints can be found roaming the land, their precious meat and skins ready to fetch a fine price on the market if you’re willing to track them down. Beyond even those creatures however, there are the legendary beats who inhabit forests and grasslands within the game.

If there’s one tradition that’s alive and well in Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s Rockstar’s love of cheat codes. A mainstay of any game from the developer, cheat codes are old school throwbacks to a time when players wanted to play a game and get drunk with power. Just like Grand Theft Auto 5 before it, Red Dead Redemption 2 does have cheats, but they comes with a few caveats.

You’ve obviously read our own review, where we rather liked Red Dead Redemption 2. Arguably the most anticipated game of the year, the prequel/sequel to last generation’s best cowboy simulator is a phenomenal achievement. Not just in its living, breathing environments, but also in storytelling. Yes, we loved it – but here’s what other critics think of Rockstar’s latest.

Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser has expressed his delight with not having to wonder how Grand Theft Auto 6 would work in today's political climate.

What you wear, how you approach people and your physical condition speaks volumes, as does Morgan when players highlight an NPC and use a more natural form of dialogue inputs to start a conversation in Red Dead Redemption 2. Which all plays beautifully together with the retuned AI system in Red Dead Redemption 2, says Rockstar.