New 'Red Dead Redemption 2' And 'GTA V' Video Compares The Two Games' Graphics

Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the most technically impressive games of all-time and is unsurprisingly also one of the best-looking games of all-time. Meanwhile, the same exact thing was said about Rockstar Games' previous project, Grand Theft Auto V, at the time of its release in 2013.

That said, YouTube channel "CandyLand," has gone and cooked up a pretty neat video comparison of the two games that dives into and compares each from a graphical and technical perspective. The video gets pretty granular during the comparison -- comparing things like mud and fire effects -- so if you aren't into the nitty gritty details it may not be for you. But if you do like pouring over this type of stuff, or just want to see how the two games compare, then this is definitely worth a gander.

As you would expect, Red Dead Redemption 2 looks better and demonstrates the difference of what five years worth of improvement in tech can do. However, the difference isn't as big as you may expect, and in some ways GTA V is actually better.

First, it's important to note that the video compares GTA V on PC with max details turned up and 4K enabled with Red Dead Redemption 2 on Xbox One X. In other words, the tech GTA V is running on gives it a slight boost over Red Dead Redemption 2.

That aside, one of the first things you'll notice is that there's no drastic difference between the two. Rather, it's improvement via refinement. Combat looks smoother and animates better. Fire looks more realistic and acts more realistic. And new deformation effects brings things like mud and snow to the next level. Oh, and there's also the sweet new dismemberment system in Red Dead Redemption 2, which many people overlook, but that creates for some impressively grueling and gory sequences.

Elsewhere in the video, you can see that Rockstar Games, who has been a master in lighting for awhile now, has only gotten better in this regard. Meanwhile, environments look and behave a bit more realistically.

However, beyond these finer details, there's not a substantial difference, especially when you consider the time that separates the two releases.

Interestingly, GTA V actually looks a bit sharper where Red Dead Redemption 2 is a bit blurrier. But this is simply down to the tech.

GTA V was a looker for its time. And Red Dead Redemption 2 is no different. In fact, the latter borderlines on realism -- particularly in environmental design propped up by masterful lighting -- to the point that I caught myself frequently stopping and taking in the views that looked plopped straight out of real life.