Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Platform: Xbox 360 (also available on PlayStation 3)
Genre: Action/Adventure
MSRP: $59.99 US
ESRB: Rated M
Release Date: May 18, 2010
Review By: Eduardo Zacarias
When it comes to games about the Wild West, there were some hits and there were plenty of misses but this hasn’t stopped Rockstar Games from trying their hand again in the Western genre and you will be more than please with the results. It will only take you five minutes of playing Red Dead Redemption to recognize that this is the Wild West game that sets the bar high for other Western-themed games to come but also a game that will impress even the Grand Theft Auto crowd that thinks they’ve seen it all.
The reason is simple: the world seen in Red Dead Redemption is expansive and there’s no shortage of things to see and do whether you like to ride into the setting sun as a good guy or a no good dirty killer. The game leaves it all up to you and with a world this big the possibilities are nearly endless. If you want to string up some poor stranded traveler, drag them across the flatlands then leave them so a cougar can maul him to death you can do just that. If you want to help a family fend off a group of rowdy bandits to become the hero you can do that as well.
There’s a story to this free-roaming, open-world game as well and it’s a good one filled with all the elements typical to a GTA game. You assume the role of John Marston, a man whose past as a member of a dangerous group of outlaws that betrayed and left him for dead during a botched robbery. Sure, he survived the incident and decided to leave that life behind by taking a wife and starting a family. Of course, a law enforcement group calling themselves the Agency brings up said past and now Marston must cooperate in taking arms against the very outlaws he once called friends.
From the very beginning you’ll be drawn into the era and your surroundings that will not fail to take your breath away. Do you remember that moment you first step out of your Vault in Fallout 3 or the minute our silent hero first got a hold of a car in Grand Theft Auto 3? That’s how breathtaking the moment is when you finally take control of Marston in this game.
The territory is a wide one that covers a massive range of land that makes up the U.S./Mexican border. It’s an open world with dusty flat plains, grassy hills and a few towns and cities. Like the GTA games, the environment is alive. Buzzards fly overhead as you’ll catch sight of a mountain lion or even a grizzly going about its business. The weather changes so one day you’re looking at a particularly sunny day and the next you see dark clouds and lightning flash in the horizon. Travel out into the wild and you’ll even find travelers making their way across the wild. See the billowing black smoke moving over yonder? Why, that’s a train traveling to the nearest big town.
With untamed land stretching before you much in the same way that the land of Tamriel did in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Marston’s first stop is the town of Armadillo and for there you are free to explore the territory or tackle the game’s main story mission or even the numerous side missions that await you. You are free to do whatever you like although you should consider one thing … your actions have consequences that have a somewhat lasting effect on your surroundings. Sure you can go on a GTA-styled killing spree and yes you can expect the local law to be gunning for you but raise too much hell and you find that townspeople won’t be so trusting and shopkeepers won’t be so quick to do business with you. In some cases, some side missions won’t be available because there’s a price on your head for the mayhem you caused.
The story missions take about 20 or so hours to complete if you decide to simply stick to the story and it’s a brilliant story filled with colorful characters that are hard to forget. Anyone who has ever played a GTA game will know what to expect from the characters and smart dialogue. You’ll also know what to expect from the missions, which have you performing the usual set of tasks minus the vehicles of the modern sandbox game. While some tasks start to feel the same, you can’t deny how fun it is to complete each mission your own way with a good guy/outlaw mentality this time. That means you can either help the nice lady by saving her from a bandit or save her just to hog tie her and leave her out in the wild.
There are side missions aplenty as well, many of them found by exploring the large stretch of territory. You can spend your time collecting bounties by hunting down no good killers and bandits. You can lasso them and drag them along on horseback or gun them down in cold blood. You can participate in card games with the option to cheat if you like and yes you will even be called out by a gunslinger trying to make a name for himself, which will lead to a duel out in the streets.
The shooting mechanics is similar to that of Grand Theft Auto IV and so is the cover system but Marston does things his own way and this is mainly because of the weaponry of the times. You can even targets specific body parts with a variety of realistic outcomes. Shoot somebody in the leg and watch them hobble their way to cover. Shoot their shoulder and they’ll spin in the direction of your shot or fall off their horse in true rag doll fashion. Marston has a cool slo-mo “deadeye” targeting feature that slows down time for you to target various body parts before you pull the trigger in a better way than what was seen in Red Dead Revolver.
Riding on horseback is also handled well, although it takes some practice. Still, it’s surprisingly better than the horseback riding in games like Assassin’s Creed II. This is good news since you’ll often find yourself traveling across the land on horseback. You’ll need a horse to chase down enemies, escaping a tough scrape or for herding cattle when you decide to take on a cow herding side missions.
When you’re tired of playing solo, there’s the online multiplayer experience that is basically like a separate game altogether. We’re talking a whole new social network where you create an avatar (options are limited, though) and freely explore the entire massive map while encountering other players. You can participate in duels or go nuts in a deathmatch-like free-for-all. You can even level up your character so the more you play the more you can move from a pistol-wielding gunman to a rifle-slinging desperado.
My only real complaint is that there are a number of glitches that pop up while playing the game and most of them are cosmetic. Parts of the environment pop up during conversations so instead of looking at a character speak you’ll be looking at dry weeds. Sometimes you’ll have a conversation with characters that appear almost see-through as if you were speaking to a ghost. Of course, we’re expecting Rockstar Games to fix these problems with an update.
Visually speaking, Red Dead Redemption looks amazing on the Xbox 360 and not bad on the PS3. The environments is the main visual attraction, of course, because the open territory is alive in ways that even overshadow places like Liberty City. The character design is also excellent, especially during cut scenes. The music is true to its Western theme and the dialogue is among the best thanks to the great voice acting in the game.
Red Dead Redemption for the Xbox 360 not only sets the bar high for Western-themed action games but it also pushes the gameplay elements that made Rockstar’s other franchise such a fan favorite. There are a few bugs here and there but I’m certain these will be remedied with an update soon. The multiplayer aspect is like a second game rolled into one hell of a ride. Really, there’s no reason you should miss out on a grand epic like this unless you’re allergic to fun or horses.
GAME FRONTLINE RATING
Gameplay: 9.5
Graphics: 9.0
Sound: 9.5
Appeal: 10
Overall: 9.5
Review copy provided by Rockstar Games
