A landmark of video gaming, finally portable, whose story and mood remain devastating. The port makes technical concessions and carries a debated price for an old game, but Marston's epic remains unforgettable.
Your verdict
Category
Open-World1 player18+
Description
A port of Rockstar's cult open-world western, including the Undead Nightmare expansion, out on Switch in 2023. In the dying American West, John Marston hunts down his former gang to reclaim his family. Horse rides, duels, hunting and masterful writing compose a twilight epic that became legendary.
Red Dead Redemption review
4/5
Art direction
★★★★★
"Striking"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
The score by Bill Elm and Woody Jackson is one of the most memorable in games. Its low strings and desert guitars embody the twilight of the Old West, and the piece accompanying the arrival in Mexico remains a peak of emotion in the medium.
The story of John Marston, a reformed outlaw forced to take up arms again, is a twilight western of rare gravity. The tale of redemption, family and the end of an era reaches a cinematic depth that marked a whole generation of players.
Gameplay
"Excellent"
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Captivating"
Difficulty
"Balanced"
Lifespan
"Massive"
Beyond its long campaign, the game offers a vast open world to explore: hunting, treasure hunters, challenges, side activities galore. You can spend dozens of hours roaming this twilight West, long after finishing the main story.
Is Red Dead Redemption still worth playing in 2026?
Three years after this port, Red Dead Redemption remains one of gaming's greatest westerns, and John Marston's epic has lost none of its tragic force. Being able to take this twilight open world everywhere — its hunting, challenges and heartbreaking epilogue — is a privilege the Switch version finally offers. As the video-game western stays rare, returning to this peak makes complete sense. On Switch, immersion in the wild West is savored just as well on the TV as on the go.
