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Red Dead Redemption 2 IGN Review: The Score and the Case
2 min read
IGN gave the game a perfect score at launch. Here is what that rating actually covered, and how it lines up against the rest of the critical field.
The Red Dead Redemption 2 IGN review landed a perfect 10/10 when the game launched in October 2018, one of the outlet's rarest scores.
What the score covered
IGN's review assessed the PS4 and Xbox One release — the only versions that existed at launch, since the PC port did not arrive until late 2019. A 10/10 on IGN's scale is reserved for "masterpiece" territory, a tier the site hands out only a handful of times a year across every game it covers.
Where it sits among the rest
IGN's score was near the top of the field, not an outlier. The game holds 97 on Metacritic for PS4 and Xbox One, built from dozens of outlets in similar territory, so IGN's 10 reflected a broad critical consensus rather than a lone enthusiastic review.
Why people still search for it
Two reasons, mostly. Some are checking whether a launch-week score held up — critical reassessments of open-world games are common once the initial rush of coverage fades. Others are simply after a second opinion before buying, which is still the score's original job.
The PC version
IGN's original review predates the PC release, so it does not speak to PC-specific issues like the rocky first-week launcher performance. Treat the 10/10 as a verdict on the game itself, not on any one platform's technical execution.