Red Dead Redemption 2 is a game that is going to inspire many emulators. Between its incredible story and voice-cast, to its occasionally revolutionary gameplay systems, it’s going to have some staying power.
15 Horizon Zero Dawn
Previously a Playstation exclusive that has since been ported over to the PC, Horizon Zero Dawn is another excellent character-driven open-world game set in a world without the comforts of technology as we know them. It’s a beautiful and immersive game with a lovable main character in Aloy. The primary enemies in this game are mechanized animals that range in size from woodland creatures to prehistoric dinosaurs — though you do fight other humans here and there. While Horizon isn’t as gritty and tactile as RDR2, it is fun, beautiful, and enveloping.
14 God Of War (2018)
God of War (2018) is another open-world story about a person coming to grips with his past and trying to do better for the future. The combat and playstyle are wildly different from RDR2, but its story and themes are similar. Kratos is also a violent man intent on doing better, even if the world around him makes it hard to reconcile with his past. If you haven’t played the prior God of War games, they aren’t necessary to enjoy the 2018 installment. Just know that Kratos used to be a very cruel and violent man… who also killed all the Gods of Olympus.
13 Outer Worlds
Outer Worlds is a planet-hopping science-fiction RPG with a coy and comedic tone, and it would seem vastly different from Red Dead Redemption 2 on the surface. Despite that, it actually leans on the plot conventions, aesthetics, and pacing of the western genre. On top of that, it has anti-establishment themes, a sprawling open world to explore, and is just a ton of fun. Feel free to check this one out once you’re finished with RDR2.
12 Spec Ops: The Line
This one is a deep cut and may seem like a bit of a stretch. Spec Ops: The Line is a modern warfare third-person game set in Dubai after a sandstorm buried it underneath tidal waves of sand. It’s heavily inspired by Heart of Darkness, and it focuses on a protagonist that is also reconciling with the violent tendencies within him and does some very, very bad things over the course of the story. The story is thoroughly brutal and hard to watch at times, but it’s brilliant. The game mainly consists of cover-based shooting that isn’t that far of a cry from RDR2 and has a very tragic ending.
11 Last Of Us Parts 1 And 2
Yet another Playstation exclusive, Last of Us Parts 1 and 2 are prime examples of a videogame about very violent protagonists who, despite their deep convictions, are morally flawed and commit some shockingly vile acts. Plus, Joel Miller, the protagonist of Part 1, is from Texas, so his accent isn’t that far from Arthur Morgan’s. The Last of Us games are very narratively-driven, incredibly violent, and have a lot of shooting and stealth mechanics that would feel a little familiar to the Red Dead Redemption 2 player. It’s not open-world (well, mostly not in the case of Part 2), but both games consist of an incredible narrative on par with RDR2.
