‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Review Creates Controversy With ‘Gamer’ Statement

Reviews for Red Dead Redemption 2 started to go up very early this morning, with unanimous praise for the sequel across the board. Many gaming sites — us included — consider this to be one of the most defining games of this generation, and for good reason.

However, one particular review has left a few people somewhat miffed by a statement included within it, based on the tweet from Metacritic below.

An EGM reviewer noted about the game that it’s “One of the most gorgeous, seamless, rootinest, tootinest games ever made, and if you voluntarily miss out on it, you’re either not a gamer or in a coma.”

That’s a rather bold statement, as some folks feel that they can still define themselves as a gamer even if they don’t pick up Red Dead Redemption 2. And some of the responses on social media have been interesting, to say the least.

For instance, I threw my two cents’ in rather early.

The infamous Jim Sterling also sounded off on the matter with a pretty good GIF.

Other notable responses can be seen below.

Since then, however, it appears that the EGM reviewer, Nick Plessas, has sent out a follow-up statement explaining why he said that.

“The summary on my review seems to have struck a chord with a number of people, so I’d like to take a second to address the more valid — and less venomous — arguments,” he started.

“In the excerpt in question, ‘and if you voluntarily miss out on it, you’re either not a gamer or in a coma,’ I didn’t mean to gatekeep in the sense that you have to like the same genres as I do. It was hyperbole, pure and simple, meant to convey that I consider it a must-play. I subscribe to the opinion that gatekeeping culture is stupid as much as the next decent person.

“And if you’re a PC player, the game isn’t out on your platform, meaning missing it would not be doing so ‘voluntarily,’ so even if this was meant to gatekeep, it still wouldn’t apply to you. Let’s all just enjoy this great game!”

That said, there are still those that are likely to remember this statement.

As for our review, we took a much more general stance. I wrote, “Some of you may just be coming in to see how things built up for John Marston. But Red Dead Redemption II is more than that, and Rockstar Games once again lives up to a potential level that we can all aspire to. I hope this one goes on to sell nearly 100 million copies down the road like GTA V has — its tireless development team of former and current employees deserve as much.”

Red Dead Redemption 2 drops later tonight for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.