The ultimate winner of The Game Awards 2018 was God of War, but Red Dead Redemption 2 was also hugely popular. It won more awards than any other individual game, taking home Best Narrative, Best Score, and Best Audio Design. In addition to that, lead actor Roger Clark - who plays protagonist Arthur Morgan - won Best Performance, which is another point in the game's favor.
Red Dead Redemption 2's greatest strengths are its world, story, and characters, and its sackful of rewards reflects that well. It's not about expertly shooting the dude, it's about why you shot the dude and what that means for the rest of your story. It's not about the thrill of riding a horse, it's about loving your horse more than life itself. And it's not about just hunting a bunch of - well, no, I guess it is about just hunting a bunch of animals, but you get my point.
What's interesting is that this is sort of the opposite of what we saw at The Golden Joystick Awards 2018, where God of War took home four awards including Best Storytelling and Best Visual Design, while Red Dead Redemption 2 won the Critics' Choice award and Fortnite won Game of the Year. This highlights just how difficult it is to compare two undeniably excellent and impactful games, and it's proof of just how good a year 2018 was for games. And with Red Dead Online coming into form, Red Dead Redemption 2's legacy will carry well into 2019.
