I need to preface this by saying that I have never played Red Dead Redemption or its second iteration.

This, of course, did not stop me from enjoying this literary analysis of an open-world, sandbox game from Rockstar—a company that helped cement the genre with Grand Theft Auto. Even if you have little or no idea about open-world style games or resent GTA because of its emphasis on crime and debauchery, Matt Margini has you covered.

He makes a strong case about the influence of the American Western on Red Dead Redemption and how the game both reinforces the genre's themes and political undertones while also challenging them. The only game that I personally played that is similar thematically is West of Loathing, but even so, if you have ever read or watched a Western, you'll appreciate the attention to detail that Margini brings to his analysis.