The critically acclaimed video game Red Dead Redemption 2 officially launched its Online Beta recently to all users. After playing about 20 hours, and reaching about level 16, I can finally form a reasonable opinion.

The first thing to remember is that is a beta, and Rockstar Games has already released balance patches, and will continue to do so. The main gripe most people have with the online game is the incredibly strenuous in-game economy, where players can earn money and gold (which is the micro-transaction currency, think “gems” like in mobile games) to spend on weapons, outfits, camp upgrades, horses, and all sorts of upgrades and cosmetics. The economy was/still is incredibly broken, with players earning mere cents and the price of weapons to be 100s of dollars.

It opens with a scene of a sheriff’s office, and you create your character. It forwards to a cutscene where your character is being transferred from the penitentiary to the nearby town of Blackwater. You are freed by a man named Horley, who introduces you to his employer. She tells you that her husband has been murdered, and the person that did it is also the person that put you in jail. There is a 30 minute tutorial to teach you how everything works in online then you’re set to explore the open world and continue the story.

The online, in my opinion, is fantastic. I simply adore being able to make a posse with my friends and rob, steal, hunt, and do mercenary work with them. There are multiple Stranger Missions to do around the map, where you can meet familiar characters from the Story, and do an assortment of mini-missions for them to earn money, xp, and gold.

To put it simply, it’s a beta. There are to be some problems and balance issues, but I have faith that Rockstar will listen to the community and make some changes before the speculated release in January.