At the end of the day, I will always prefer games that aim for traditional conceptions of video game fun. 1993's Doom hit me at an impressionable age, and its patterns of instant gratification are imprinted on my brain. As much as I admire what Red Dead Redemption 2 for free does, it doesn't convince me that the way it makes characters move, stick to cover, and shoot, is "better" than the way Gears of War 4 does it. The former prioritizes animations that fit into the world realistically and the latter bends reality to make the same movements feel snappy and empowering.
Russia has launched a humanoid robot into space on a rocket bound for the International Space Station (ISS). The robot Fedor will spend 10 days aboard the ISS practising skills such as using tools to fix issues onboard. Russia's deputy prime minister Dmitry Rogozin has previously shared videos of Fedor handling and shooting guns at a firing range with deadly accuracy.
From tip to tail, Red Dead Redemption 2 is a profound, glorious downer. It is the rare blockbuster video game that seeks to move players not through empowering gameplay and jubilant heroics, but by relentlessly forcing them to confront decay and despair. It has no heroes, only flawed men and women fighting viciously to survive in a world that seems destined to destroy them.