The first Redemption didn't really do anything, but that was before GTAV so I'm not really sure how many of the people who bought that are interested in RDR2, probably not nearly as much though.
Not true at all.
Red Dead Redemption was released to critical acclaim. Review aggregator website Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating in the 0100 range, calculated an average score of 95 out of 100, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 73 reviews for the PlayStation 3 version and 96 reviews for the Xbox 360 version.[38][39] Commercially, the game has also been very successful. By August 2011, the game had shipped over 11 million copies, 2 million of which were retail units of Undead Nightmare.[51] As of February 2017, Red Dead Redemption has shipped over 15 million units.[52]
Many critics praised the landscape, environment and graphics of Red Dead Redemption. Erik Brudvig of IGN lauded the environmental details, noting the player can even scare a flock of birds from the bushes as they ride past. He also noted that the game's dynamic events, weather and ambient sounds provide a rich experience for players. He summarized by stating "you can also expect a fantastic game that offers the Western experience we've all been waiting for."[49] Game Informer called the scenery "breathtaking", and the cinematic cutscenes "vastly improved" over Grand Theft Auto IV, and named it the "best-looking Rockstar game to date".[44]
The music, sound and voice acting in the game was also widely praised and spoken about. It won the Best Original Music and Best Voice Acting awards from GameSpot.[54][55] When talking about the sound design of Red Dead Redemption, Game Informer said "From pitch-perfect gunshots to the daunting rumble of prairie thunderstorms, the remarkable attention to audio detail brings the world to life".[44]
Critics and reviewers spoke about the successful use of the game engine, and made similarities of the controls and physics to the Grand Theft Auto series. Game Informer said that Rockstar "[transposed] the Grand Theft Auto gameplay template onto a Wild West setting".[44] Good Game reviewer Stephanie "Hex" Bendixsen said that "[Rockstar] really looked at what people liked and didn't like in their game design from [Grand Theft Auto IV], and included it here".[56] Eurogamer's Simon Parkin felt Red Dead Redemption successfully "re-clothes" the Grand Theft Auto framework in an "exciting, distinct and expertly realised scenario".[43]
The multiplayer aspect of Red Dead Redemption received mixed commentary from critics. GamePro's Will Herring praised the variety of multiplayer modes and the open gameplay, but noted that it put more responsibility on the players for keeping the game interesting.[45] Justin Calvert of GameSpot also gave high marks for the game's variety of multiplayer modes, but felt that there was a lack in customization options for players.[48] In a more critical view of multiplayer, Scott Sharkey of 1UP.com noted that games can suffer from griefing[b] due to the open nature of multiplayer gameplay. He also criticized the leveling and unlocking aspects, noting that "The first few minutes spent as a toothless miner riding a balky mule can be pretty humiliating".[40] G4TV's Jake Gaskill echoed this sentiment. He noted that the game often respawns players in a similar location to their death, which allows the killing player to repeatedly grief the other player.[57] Rockstar has since added a feature which allows for players being griefed to transport to another area upon respawn.[58]