Every Red Dead Redemption game, ranked
All 2 Red Dead Redemption games we hold, spanning 2010 to 2018: 2 ranked by the GamingPickz Score and plotted below, the rest listed in release order so nothing in the series is missing. Together they carry 932,990 Steam reviews.
Where to start
- For the best-reviewed: Red Dead Redemption 2 (GamingPickz Score 8.7), the highest-rated entry we can score.
- For canon order: begin with Red Dead Redemption (2010) and follow the release-order timeline below.
The Red Dead Redemption games on the grid
Compare the whole catalogueThe same 2 games, plotted rather than listed. The two axes below are the ones the ranking is built from, so a game sitting high and right is a game the formula placed near the top. Change either axis to see the field a different way. Where we hold a publisher wordmark, the game is drawn as its mark rather than a dot.
2 games have both
Axes are fitted to these 2 games rather than the full 0 to 100 scale, because a filtered list shares a narrow band and would otherwise sit in one corner. End values are marked. A point on the left edge is the lowest of thesegames, not a low score.
Players. The share of Steam reviews marked positive, pulled toward the catalogue average in proportion to how few reviews stand behind it. A game with 200 reviews moves a long way toward the average; one with 200,000 barely moves at all. Without this a title sitting at 100 percent on nine reviews outranks Half-Life 2 at 98 percent on 278,000.
Popularity. A blend of two things that are not the same. Audience is how many people wrote a Steam review, which is a floor on how many played it. Reach is how many language editions of Wikipedia document the game, which is cultural footprint rather than sales. A game can score high on one and low on the other: a huge free-to-play title has audience without reach, and a landmark console exclusive has reach without a Steam audience at all. Where both exist they are averaged; where only one does, that one carries it.
- Mobile
- Multi-platform
Every point links to that game's entry. The value map and the reception map are fixed views of the same data.
How positions are decided
No paid placement, no favouritism, live third-party data
- Placed by the published method, not by us. Every coordinate is computed from the axis definitions and weights printed on this site. Nobody moves a point. See the axes.
- Nothing here is paid for. No sponsored placements, no promoted slots, no arrangement of any kind affects a position. If that ever changes it will be labelled and sit outside the ranking.
- No favouritism, including our own. The 16 games we have written full reviews of are scored by exactly the same formula as the other 1,510, from the same third-party inputs, and they land where it puts them. Our own opinion of a game does not enter its coordinates.
- A position is not an endorsement. It says how a game was received and what it costs, not that we recommend it. Where we do recommend something, it carries a written review with a name on it.
- Fetched from live third-party data. Player sentiment from Steam, critic aggregates as published on store pages, prices checked hourly, attention from Wikipedia. Each figure carries its source and the date it was read, and we do not adjust any of them.
2 best Red Dead Redemption games, ranked
Ordered by GamingPickz Score. Every figure links back to the source that produced it.
- 1
Red Dead Redemption 2
Best for: The safest bet on this list, by weight of evidence
8.7GamingPickz Scorehigh confidenceRed Dead Redemption 2 at a glance Released 2018 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 92% positive of 911,659 Critics 93/100 Price $14.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 150 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 92% shrinks to 92.0 on 911,659 reviews, then blends with the 93 critic aggregate, giving 8.7.
What the data supports- 92% positive across 911,659 reviews is a strong signal at that volume, where a few enthusiasts cannot move the number.
Worth checking first- Carries in-game purchases. Check what they cost before committing.
- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
- 2
Red Dead Redemption
Best for: A consistently well-received pick in this category
8.0GamingPickz Scoremedium confidenceRed Dead Redemption at a glance Released 2010 Studio Not recorded Player sentiment 92% positive of 21,331 Critics No aggregate Price $49.99 Steam Deck playable Install size 12 GB Accessibility 1 declared feature Raw 92% shrinks to 91.8 on 21,331 reviews, giving 8.0. No critics data, so that weight was redistributed across the rest rather than counted as zero.
What the data supports- Small install at 12 GB.
Worth checking first- Flagged for mature content on its store page.
Best and worst entry
The best-received Red Dead Redemption game we can score is Red Dead Redemption 2 at 8.7. The lowest is Red Dead Redemption at 8.0, a 0.7-point spread across the series. The GamingPickz Score is a composite of player sentiment, critics and popularity, computed the same way for every game.
Cheapest way in, and best value
- Cheapest right now: Red Dead Redemption 2 at $14.99. Prices are read live from Steam and move.
- Best value: Red Dead Redemption 2, the most GamingPickz Score per dollar in the series at its current price.
On a Steam Deck
Valve's own Deck compatibility rating for the Red Dead Redemption entries on Steam:
- Playable: Red Dead Redemption, Red Dead Redemption 2
Platforms across the series
Where the 2 Red Dead Redemption games have landed, counting every entry we hold:
| Platform family | Entries |
|---|---|
| PC | 2 of 2 |
| PlayStation | 2 of 2 |
| Xbox | 2 of 2 |
| Nintendo | 1 of 2 |
| Mobile | 1 of 2 |
The Red Dead Redemption series, game by game
Every Red Dead Redemption game we hold, in release order. Each description is the game's own, from Steam where it has a listing and Wikipedia for the older entries, never ours.
- 2010
Experience the story of former outlaw John Marston as he tracks down the last remaining members of the notorious Van der Linde Gang in the PC debut of the critically acclaimed predecessor to Red Dead Redemption 2. (Steam)
Plot
In 1911, former outlaw John Marston ( Rob Wiethoff ) is forced by Bureau of Investigation agents Edgar Ross (Jim Bentley) and Archer Fordham ( David Wilson Barnes ) to hunt down his former gang members in exchange for his family's return. John first pursues former ally Bill Williamson ( Steve J. Palmer ), who now leads his own gang that terrorizes New Austin. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical response PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 reception Red Dead Redemption received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . It is among the highest-rated games on Metacritic, and is ranked the sixth-highest rated PlayStation 3 and seventh-highest rated Xbox 360 game. IGN s Brudvig described Red Dead Redemption as "a must-play" and "one of the deepest, most fun, and most gorgeous games around"; GamePro s Will Herring… (Wikipedia)
- 2018
Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde Gang are outlaws on the run. With federal agents and bounty hunters massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal, and fight their way across the rugged heartland in order to survive. (Steam)
Plot
Setting and characters For a more comprehensive list, see List of Red Dead Redemption 2 characters . The world of Red Dead Redemption 2 spans five fictitious U. S. (Wikipedia)
Reception
Critical response PlayStation 4 and Xbox One reception Red Dead Redemption 2 received "universal acclaim" from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic . It is one of the highest-rated games on Metacritic, and the highest-rated PlayStation 4 and Xbox One game alongside Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto V . Reviewers praised the story, characters, open world, graphics, music, and level of detail. (Wikipedia)
Red Dead Redemption, head to head
Two entries side by side on score, price, specs and reception:
Red Dead Redemption vs other series
How Red Dead Redemption stacks up against other series in the same genre, as a whole:
Also: Red Dead Redemption vs Batman, Red Dead Redemption vs Just Cause, Red Dead Redemption vs Lego Star Wars, Red Dead Redemption vs Saints Row, Red Dead Redemption vs Serious Sam, Red Dead Redemption vs Wolfenstein, Red Dead Redemption vs Borderlands, Red Dead Redemption vs Crysis, Red Dead Redemption vs Dead Island, Red Dead Redemption vs Dishonored, Red Dead Redemption vs Lego Batman, Red Dead Redemption vs Max Payne, Red Dead Redemption vs Prince of Persia, Red Dead Redemption vs Red Faction, Red Dead Redemption vs Sniper Elite, Red Dead Redemption vs Sniper Ghost Warrior, Red Dead Redemption vs Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon, Red Dead Redemption vs Watch, Red Dead Redemption vs America's Army, Red Dead Redemption vs Bright Memory, Red Dead Redemption vs Darksiders, Red Dead Redemption vs God of War, Red Dead Redemption vs Homefront, Red Dead Redemption vs Lego Harry Potter, Red Dead Redemption vs Marvel’s Spider-Man, Red Dead Redemption vs Metal Gear, Red Dead Redemption vs POSTAL, Red Dead Redemption vs RAGE, Red Dead Redemption vs Sea of Thieves, Red Dead Redemption vs Shadow Warrior, Red Dead Redemption vs Slime Rancher, Red Dead Redemption vs Sniper, Red Dead Redemption vs Squad, Red Dead Redemption vs Thief, Red Dead Redemption vs Z1 Battle Royale, Red Dead Redemption vs Zombie Army
Common questions
How many Red Dead Redemption games are there?
We hold 2 Red Dead Redemption games in the catalogue, released between 2010 and 2018. 2 of them carry enough Steam data to rank; the rest are listed in release order below, including console-only entries with no Steam listing.
Which Red Dead Redemption game is best?
By the GamingPickz Score, Red Dead Redemption 2 rates highest at 8.7. That is a composite of player sentiment, the critic aggregate and popularity, computed the same way for every game, not our opinion. The full ranking is above.
What order should I play the Red Dead Redemption games in?
Release order is listed below, from 2010 to 2018. For most series that is also story order, but we list dates rather than telling you a canon; the timeline is read from Wikidata.
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