Today is the last day of this week’s lengthy Amazon Prime Day sales event, and that means it’s also the last day to take advantage of its excellent deals on popular games for Xbox, PC, and other platforms. In these final hours of the annual sale, though, I stumbled across a steep discount on the Ultimate Edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 that’s even better than Amazon’s — a true “anti-Prime Day” deal that knocks the price from $100 to just $18.39 at CDKeys.
If you have a capable gaming PC to use, that’s the most affordable way to dive into Rockstar Games’ beloved open-world action-adventure. It’s a deal so good that it feels like highway robbery to pull the trigger on, but you’d better do so ASAP if you’re interested; once Prime Day ends tonight, there’s no telling how long it’ll last.
This deal seems too good to be true — but it’s real
In any discussion about the best games ever made, Red Dead Redemption 2 is one that’s all-but-guaranteed to get some passionate mentions. The 2018 Rockstar Games title won countless awards and accolades and was a worldwide hit, and also accrued well over 200 perfect review scores.
Notably, one of them came from our review, in which we gave it 5/5 stars and called the game a “Wild West masterpiece” that “represents a generational leap for the gaming industry” and “almost feels beyond the standard definition of a ‘game,’ bordering on raw simulation.”
Indeed, Red Dead Redemption 2 is something of a sim, with nearly every step of the open-world adventure giving players a system, mechanic, or NPC to interact with in some way. At times, I honestly think the game goes too far with its prompting, but I can’t deny that even seven years later, it’s also more engaging than most titles in the genre as a result of it.
Another huge draw of Red Dead Redemption 2 is the game’s story, which I can confidently say is both Rockstar’s best and one of the most beautifully written narratives in all of gaming. Brimming with heart, character, and emotion, it’s set in 1899 — 12 years before the events of the original Red Dead Redemption — it puts you in the boots of Arthur Morgan, an outlaw in the Van der Linde gang.
As Arthur, you’ll be forced to rob and fight alongside the rest of the gang’s members as lawmen and bounty hunters close in in the twilight of America’s Wild West era in environments inspired by the United States’ West, Midwest, and Southern regions. The heart of the story revolves around Arthur being forced to grapple with his values and his loyalty to the gang, with the two coming into escalating conflict as the narrative progresses.
No spoilers here, but it’s simply phenomenal — an epic tale supplemented by several pieces of extra story content included with the Ultimate Edition, along with an innumerable number of side quests and activities to engage with while exploring the open world. Notably, the Ultimate Edition also includes several exclusive outfits in both the single-player Story Mode and the Red Dead Online multiplayer experience, along with some minor gameplay buffs to Arthur in the former to make him more effective in combat.
All in all, Red Dead Redemption 2 is nothing less than a triumph, and a must-play title to check out while we’re all waiting for Rockstar to release Grand Theft Auto 6. Note that if you’re on Xbox, you can get the Ultimate Edition for just $20 at Amazon while Prime Day is active, with the Standard Edition only $15 at Amazon. The Standard Edition is also just $14.29 at CDKeys on PC, though I strongly recommend spending a few dollars extra to get the Ultimate Edition deal I’ve spotlighted here.