Red Dead Redemption 2 Strategy Guide Review

I find it very fitting that what is most likely my last strategy guide review is a return to how I started helping Keri with Strategy Guide Reviews. That return is a full blown written review. CRAZINESS! Well, really it is because my wife and I recently moved and I have been so busy with house work that I haven’t had time to dig through the massive amount of boxes scattered about to try and find my web cam. Also, I don’t really have a good spot to record a video review at the moment. Curse you moving and adulting. Anyway, enough of this rambling, let’s get on with the review.

As this is probably the last guide I review, I gotta say I’m glad Piggyback did such a great job with the Red Dead Redemption 2 guide. One of the first things I do with any strategy guide is to just thumb through the pages to see if the publisher took the time to make the guide feel like an extension of the game. Piggyback did just that. The cover art is wonderful. The pages feel like something from the old west, but of higher quality paper. Navigating through the massive amount of content crammed into such a small guide is nice and easy thanks to a small navigation system that sits in the sidebar of the right page. Heck, even the artwork on the inside of the covers is gorgeous.

A few things I noticed right away were the small attention to various details. The guide begins with a letter from Rockstar Games that gives a quick explanation of how they worked closely with Piggyback to try and ensure that the content within the guide was as accurate, thorough, and spot on as it could be. The next thing I saw was a little note about patches. This basically said that while the guide is as accurate as it can be when it was printed, Piggyback cannot update a physical book in your home to correspond with any patches that might arrive that change how the game works, how weapon damage might change, or even how basic food consumption affects your character and/or horse. The last item that really stuck out to me was in the index of the guide. There is a small note that anything in the index that might lead a player to possible spoilers is marked in red. This is the first time I can ever recall an index coming with that bit of warning, and that is just awesome of Piggyback to do.

The guide is broken into eight main sections beginning with the primer, essentially the basics of how the game works and important commands players should know, and ending with the index. Each section is then broken down into smaller sections. The primer does a good job of helping players understand the crazy amount of things there are to do in this game, such as upgrading camps, how robberies work, and even the basics of why feeding your horse is important.

Once the basics are covered, it’s on to the main story missions. Each chapter of the story is marked in red on the sidebar navigation system. That makes it extremely easy to find just about where you might be in the guide based on where you are in the game. Each mission is also extremely detailed. A little map for each mission is displayed with red numbers. Those numbers correlate to breakdowns of what is happening at specific points in the mission. The breakdowns are clear as to the objective, and almost every single snippet includes a screenshot of what to look for. As mundane as it might be, some of the screenshot even include sight/firing lines to clearly show where to either be looking or shooting. Sometimes, it even points out where to make things explode, thus causing the most amount of chaos and death!

What I liked most about this layout is that each mission also includes what is necessary to earn medals, as well as any important notes that might help the reader. There are times that these notes will reference a specific technique that should be used in a mission. If this is the first time that technique is being referenced, there is a nice box right in that mission section that contains some solid instruction on how to execute said technique. Sure, there might be some page flipping later on in the event that forgetfulness kicks in, but it’s really nice to have that information immediately available when referenced for the first time.

The bulk of the guide is dedicated to exploration, as there is so much to do Red Dead Redemption 2! This portion is crammed full of tables, screenshots, and more tables. While this might be the bulk of the guide, it still carries a nice breakdown on that right page navigation bar. Want to know where to find the best horses? Well, just flip to the horses section. Have a hankering for loansharking? There is portion dedicated to just that.

The downside to this is that I found myself doing a lot of page flipping based on what I was doing. Sometimes I was just trying to hunt and gather materials for camp upgrades. Then I’d get sidetracked because I’d stumble upon some random house out in the middle of nowhere. So, I’d find myself trying to find that house and what possible shenanigans it might bring upon my time on the range. Thank goodness for bookmarks of any kind.

The thing I enjoyed most from this area of the guide was the explanation of all the various table games. I suck at poker. So having the guide give me a rudimentary explanation of what to do was a welcomed inclusion.

From there it’s on to the atlas. This contains some seriously zoomed in sections of the world. Each map contains the same map symbols that are contained in the game, making it so much easier to find the post office and not pay off that Dead or Alive bounty, as well are numbered boxes. At the bottom of each page, those numbered boxes are given a brief description of what can be found at that location.

While the atlas area was easy enough to use, I also found it so crammed full of stuff to find, and do, that I found myself easily distracted. It also led to a fair amount of page turning as I would find something in the atlas that I’d then have to go hunt down in another section of the guide. That small gripe aside, the atlas is a great help when it comes to game completion.

The next two areas of the guide are dedicated to weapons and items. Anyone who likes number crunching and boxes full of numbers and details will love this area. Again, both of these are nicely broken down on that right page navigation system. I don’t really know if I spent more time in these two areas of the guide, or the atlas. They are all just so crammed full of info.

The last chunk of the guide is dedicated to extras. As with the spoiler warning that comes with the index, this also contains a spoiler warning right off the bat. It’s nice when a guide tries so hard not to spoil things! Anyway, this is where unique collectibles, points of interest and shacks, a compendium check list (I’m so not doodling in this guide to mark stuff off), and various secrets can be found.

Those of you who know me know I love a good art section. This guide doesn’t disappoint in that department. This is basically a headshot of each of the various main characters, and then a full body shot with a small description of the character. While it would have been nice to have so more art of the gorgeous vistas in the game, it’s nice to see all the main characters in the game while getting just that bit more of background on them. It’s also a nice change of pace from all the spreadsheets of info in the weapons and items area.

The biggest surprise to me was just how small the index is. This is a mere two pages in length. For the amount of content in this guide, the index is both helpful and unhelpful. It’s really up to the reader to understand where something might actually be located in the guide with the little bit of help from the index. It’s not a deal breaker on the guide, but an index with a bit more help would have been welcomed.

When the sun sets on the horizon, I can’t say I have much to gripe about on the Red Dead Redemption 2 strategy guide. Sure it’s a lot of page flipping. Yeah, with the boat load of stuff to do, it’s easy to get distracted by all the numbers and icons on the various maps scattered throughout. Okay, it has nothing of use for the online aspect of the game that has recently been introduced. However, this guide is chock full of help and instructions on how to complete the game. I can say that this is a solid investment, even if future patches might render some of the content inaccurate. As what is most likely my last guide review, I’m so thankful it was for the Piggyback guide for Red Dead Redemption 2. I mean, it’s always nice to end on a high note.

I sure do hope Future Press and Piggyback can gain support now that Prima Games is no longer making guides.

SGR Rating 4.5/5

Author: Louie Beatty, Vincent Pargney
Publisher: Piggyback
Editions Available: Paperback, Collector’s Edition
Acquired via Purchase