Red Dead Redemption 2 Reviews Have Arrived

Those eager to get an idea of what to expect from Red Dead Redemption 2 don't have much longer to wait. Just ahead of the game's release date, RDR 2 reviews will start to appear online this Thursday, October 25, at 4:01 AM PT / 7:01 AM ET, Rockstar Games has confirmed. That's 12:01 PM in the UK. If you live in Australia, you can start reading reviews for RDR 2 at 10:01 PM AEST. [Update: The embargo has now passed, and you can read our thoughts in our Red Dead 2 review. For a broader look, check out our review roundup.]

Red Dead Redemption 2 itself launches at midnight local time on October 26, so there isn't much time between when reviews begin to show up and when you can play the game for yourself. You can expect to see and hear much more about the game once the review embargo lifts.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar's first game built from the ground up for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One (GTA V was initially released on PS3 and Xbox One before later launching for the new systems). A prequel to 2010's Red Dead Redemption, the sequel puts you into the cowboy boots of an all-new character, Arthur Morgan, who is a member of Dutch Van der Linde's gang. You can expect to see a number of familiar faces as your gangmates, including RDR 1 protagonist John Marston.

A lot of the discussion around Red Dead Redemption 2 recently has related to the allegations of "crunch" and other overly difficult working conditions at Rockstar Games. The studio has since stated that it doesn't force its employees to work overtime.

To refresh your memory about the story of the previous game, you can take a look at our Red Dead Redemption recap or watch the video above. Also be sure to check out our Red Dead Redemption 2 impressions for more information.