Summary
- GTA Online updated more - bursting with content and variety, making it a more complete and engaging online experience.
- Red Dead Online's dedication to realism and story missions offer a unique and immersive Wild West experience.
- Overall winner: GTA Online offers a more diverse and extensive multiplayer mode, despite both games providing days of entertainment.
Both Grand Theft Auto 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 have incredibly long single-player campaigns filled with tons of content. As if that were not enough already, both games have an extensive online component: Red Dead Online and GTA Online. The two are almost polar opposites, having just as much in common as they do things that set them apart.
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One might find themselves in love with both, but with only enough time to dedicate to one. Which of the two multiplayer modes will take the crown as the best Rockstar online mode, then? They are both magnificent, but one must be better than the other in the end.
Unfortunately, neither game has crossplay, which is a minus for both of them.
7 GTA Online Is Better: Updated More Often
There Are Dozens Of Additional Content Packs For GTA Online
Red Dead Online made an honest go as a living multiplayer mode, but it did not take long for Rockstar to announce that they would not continue with content updates for it. The servers are still up and plenty of people still play, but it apparently was not enough to make it a living game.
GTA Online is bursting with content. Players will spend hundreds of hours doing everything there is to do in GTA Online, and those who have been playing since the beginning should not find it hard to have enough in-game money to purchase the neccessary properties to activate the many added quest lines. The amount of content Rockstar has added to GTA Online since its launch in 2013 is staggering.
6 Red Dead Online Is Better: Dedication To Realism
There Are Few Game Worlds That Are More Realistic That Red Dead 2's
Red Dead is a slow series by design. The developers want players to feel the long treks across the map on horseback. This philosophy transfers over to the online component as well. While it might seem counter-intuitive on the surface, it ultimately works to its benefit.
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Players will feel fully engrossed in the Wild West as they tackle missions and build up their character. Compare that to GTA Online, which feels like a playground of destruction. It has its advantages, but there is something about seeing players blow each other out of the sky on hoverbikes that breaks the immersion.
5 GTA Online Is Better: Next-Gen Version
The Lack Of A Next-Gen Red Dead 2 Is Frustrating
It is certainly more complicated than it seems, but it feels like Rockstar is leaving money on the table by not releasing a next-gen version of Red Dead Redemption 2.
The game is so beautiful already, and it would only look better running at a higher frame rate. It would also make Red Dead Online a smoother and more enjoyable experience, and might draw in some new players. At least GTA Online has made its way to PS5 and Xbox Series S and X, giving those fans the most up-to-date version of that game.
4 Red Dead Online Is Better: Less Griefing
Some Players Take GTA's Power Fantasy Too Far
Griefing exists in both online modes, but it is far less of a problem in Red Dead Online than in GTA Online. In the former, players can shoot each other and maybe cause a little distress, but in GTA Online, griefers can pilot absurdly overpowered vehicles and hunt other players for sport easily.
When one of these players gets on a map in GTA Online, it simply ruins the fun for everyone else. It does not make it competitive or turn it into a game when the griefer can easily blow people up from far away. At least in Red Dead Online, there's some sport to the chase, and while griefing was a concern early on, it has been dealt with effectively, as Rockstar has implemented anti-griefing measures like Bountines.
The shark cards add an element of pay-to-win for these expensive vehicles that are popular among griefers, which is not as prevelent in Red Dead Online.
3 GTA Online Is Better: More Variety
Red Dead "Vehicles" Consist Of Horses And Carriages. GTA Has Rocket Cars
GTA Online is not quite the "everything game" since shooting is the main mechanic, but there is a lot of variety available with the many vehicles players use. There are also multiple competitive modes that take advantage of the wealth of cars available in the game.
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Red Dead Online missions often involve a long horse ride followed by a gunfight. It is usually a hectic gunfight filled with excitement, but it is a gunfight all the same. The competitive modes are similarly predictable, even if they are still a lot of fun. GTA Online's are simply more diverse.
2 Red Dead Online Is Better: Story Missions
There Not Much Of A Plot In GTA Online
Red Dead Online actually has story missions that players can go through. It is not an extensive plot line, but it at least provides a solid introduction into the world and feels like players are accomplishing something.
GTA Online has some narrative sprinkled here and there, but the opening hours are pretty bare. It becomes more interesting once players start acquiring properties, but that can take a while for newcomers, whereas Red Dead Online offers a story right out of the gate, complete with an ending.
Some quest lines in later updates feel more like proper story missions, like The First Dose update.
1 Winner: GTA Online
The Added Content Packs And Variety Of Gameplay Push GTA Online Over The Top
It certainly did not start out strong with its various technical hiccups and lack of content at launch, but GTA Online has grown into one of the most successful multiplayer modes available today.
Even if griefers can grow tiring, and it can take a while to get some capital before engaging with the more interesting content, it still offers a more complete experience overall. Red Dead Online will still provide players with days of entertainment, and should not be skipped, but it is just unfortunate that it was not supported in the same way and has no version available for current generation consoles.
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