For the longest time, the Grand Theft Auto series was the only AAA title for Rockstar Games who were associated almost exclusively with the franchise. However, the Red Dead Redemption series proved to be a huge hit, as well, making it two franchises the developers are famous for.

With the second Red Dead Redemption game’s release, it officially turned into a series that will see new entries just like the GTA games. Since both of these franchises have received massive critical acclaim, many have taken to pitting them against each other. To this end, it’s worth taking a look at what one series does better and who the overall victor of this argument is.

10 Combat: Red Dead Redemption

The GTA series’ take on combat has always been on the funnier side with a focus on hand-to-hand. It gets especially comedic since it involves weak controls of punching. Red Dead Redemption’s combat has been on the wild side with the integration of the style and attitude of the Old West.

Shooting has felt more authentic since the guns involve have an aesthetic quality. This has allowed the combat aspect of this series to be in a class of its own. GTA games rely more on players going ballistic rather than honing their fight skills as in Red Dead Redemption.

9 Open-World: Grand Theft Auto

Getting lost in the GTA world is something everyone that gets these games wants to do. With the benefit of vehicle mods, coasting around these places is a blast. With so many diverse environments in view, navigating around the map is a sure treat.

Red Dead Redemption lacks in this area due to its theme of the Old West. Basically every area is covered by undeveloped land where there is not much to do but ride a horse, fish, or hunt. The GTA cities offer refreshing worlds to explore – ones that offer a lot more to do.

8 Story: Red Dead Redemption

It’s natural to find fans debating who between John Marston and Arthur Morgan had the better story. The characters had complete arcs that saw them overcoming their problems and meeting their ends to finish things off. The Red Dead Redemption series makes sure to place its characters in such scenarios.

The GTA series and its storylines are usually one-note with the main characters moving up the ranks in their life of crime. More often than not, the stories have heavy comedic themes that don’t match up against Red Dead Redemption’s emotional impact.

7 Replay Value: Grand Theft Auto

There are a lot of things to do even after finishing GTA games’ stories as the titles are prepared mainly to be enjoyed in free play rather than be tied down to the plot. With GTA V bringing as many as three protagonists, its replay value was off the charts since each character had something new to offer.

The Red Dead Redemption games will only be appealing after the main story is over to those who enjoy the themes of the Old West. Apart from that, there’s not much of an appeal there since the extra stuff has heavy elements of the period in which the story is set.

6 Graphics: Red Dead Redemption

The GTA series has never had graphics as its strong suit with the games before GTA V easily being much worse in appearance compared to games of the same generation. Red Dead Redemption has been quite the opposite in featuring character models and environments of high quality.

The second game has been well received in particular due to its visuals and gets compared to other games with high-quality graphics. Fans tout the game as something that brings the aesthetics together through the graphics on display.

5 Side Missions: Grand Theft Auto

Due to the quirky style of the game and the characters involved, side missions in the GTA series can be considered a secondary campaign of their own. These were greatly expanded from GTA IV onwards with the “Strangers & Freaks” aspect that brings further random missions to play.

The Red Dead Redemption games do have a lot of side missions of their own, but these are heavily linear. They often involve the protagonists galloping around from one place to another, for the most part, without truly bringing many interesting characters and scenarios.

4 Characters: Tied

On the surface, it might seem as if the Red Dead Redemption characters have more layers, yet it comes down to a difference in story execution here. Those who enjoy GTA’s style of moving up the crime ranks will enjoy the characters there more.

GTA characters also tend to offer more memorable scenes of black comedy, meaning that replaying their campaigns might be more fun. Still, Red Dead Redemption games are impressive in bringing forward even side characters with totally unique backstories. It’s an especially great character study for history buffs.

3 Music: Red Dead Redemption

The setting can’t be placed in the minds of the players without the music and the Red Dead Redemption games have incredible soundtracks. These bring the usual Old West themes forward along with crafting tracks specifically to the emotion that’s supposed to be felt in a particular scene.

The GTA series has some memorable soundtracks such as the one in San Andreas. But the series hasn’t really made this point shine compared to its other high points. The Red Dead Redemption games have been a masterclass in proving that music can change the perception of a game.

2 Dialogue: Grand Theft Auto

While the Red Dead Redemption games bring more emotional connections and consequences, the dialogue is on the quieter side with characters making statements rather than conversation. GTA benefits from the comedy that is injected into the script.

The characters’ personalities come out through their manners of conversation, and one can tell a lot about how a protagonist works based on how they talk. The exchanges between characters is also a strong point in GTA’s favor as the banter has its own appeal.

1 Winner: Grand Theft Auto

Overall, it’s a close contest between the two series that is decided mainly due to the bigger audience that GTA caters to. Fans aren’t limited to the setting of a cowboy theme and have more options in their navigation of the open-world. These successes are further complemented by the comedic elements and likable characters.

The Red Dead Redemption series has carved a niche for itself – something that’s actually supposed to be the point of the series since it gets set apart from other games. The franchise does great in this regard but doesn’t quite match up the reach of the GTA series.