Video games exploring the Wild West have always been good, not great and nowhere close to phenomenal. This trend has been swiftly shattered as I can easily say that Red Dead Redemption is not only the best Western to grace a console, but one of the best games release this year so far. RDR revolves around the bloody story of John Marston a retired outlaw who picks up his gun one last time to hunt down the outlaws he used to consider his brothers. There are plenty of side stories interwoven into John’s hunt, with each showing us more of John’s background or the fall of the West and the rise of the technology. The tale of John Marston is a good and tightly woven story, unfolding over a consistent pace. The team at Rockstar San Diego definitely pull some good punches, changing the flow of the story more than once with all of it culminating into an a very unexpected and endearing finale. In all honesty, the ending is quite possibly one of the best finales I have witnessed in a gamer in years, an ending which I can hardly wait to discuss. I fell in love with his story and I would have a tough time believing that anyone else would feel differently. The game follows John between the US/Mexican borders and finally into an industrial city where the West no longer exists as he works towards the goal of laying his gun down for good. My main complaint with the plot is the fact that the game seemed to revolve heavily around everyone other than John. I often found myself wishing that I could see more of his story and understand more of his background. Overall, John’s hardships rank up there with some of the best westerns, something R* should be extremely proud of.
Red Dead really takes the crown with its well knit game play. John controls well, with the snap targeting system that allows you to quickly drop bandits on the horizon. Not to mention the great Dead Eye targeting system that allows you to slow down time, select multiple targets and ends with a ball to the wall sequence of John dropping 5 or 6 foes in a matter of seconds. Dead Eye works well, but it sometimes isn’t worth the time since you have the snap targeting. There are plenty of guns to lull your foes with, ranging from revolvers, rifles, dynamite as well as a sniper rifle that often feels somewhat to clunky to control. For the most part, the weapons a well varied with the option to purchase variations and some upgrades for each. John also handles some tools of the trade, such as the notorious lasso which can be used to tame a wild stallion, or to yank a fleeing bandito to the ground. Lassoing a fool to the ground never became old and the lasso is very easy to operate. R* carried over the great cover system that was implemented into GTA4 and it works wonders. Since you are a cowboy, the main mode of transportation is obviously by horseback. You can call your horse almost anywhere, which is nice when you are stranded in the middle of nowhere after a mission. The biggest downside to riding a horse is how you’ll often find yourself plummeting off a cliff, taking you and your steed to a painful death due to extremely realistic handling. Not a major complaint, but I found this to be one of the main contributions to failing a given mission. If you’ve been searching for a game worth the money, look no further since RDR is packed with plenty to keep you busy for the next few months.
The main story missions alone easily take 15 hours and that is without doing anything on the side. You can hunt animals and sell their entrails for cold hard cash or you can round up some of the most wanted men of the south for a handsome reward. You can be a “do-gooder” and save some lass from a beating or stop a “grand theft stallion” or you can kill a town in cold blood and have the entire state hunting your murderous ass. Most of the side missions and “mini-events” will pull your attention from continuing on the plot as random encounters occur often. R* has done a great job in pulling you into these scenarios, as they stray away from being distractions and make the world feel all the more real. There are also plenty f mini-games to be played throughout the game, usually within each city or town such as poker and horse shoes that will gain you some small cash on the side. All these elements combine to make a very realistic depiction of the West that pulls you in and doesn’t let go. I found it hard to go from one mission to another without getting distracted with something along the way and I can’t imagine someone being able to ignore everything that is going on around them. With so much to do and see, it’s easy to say that there are 50+ hours for diehards. When you finally reach the conclusion of John’s blood splattered travels you can hop into a 16 player multiplayer bout. Game types include Team Deathmatch, Free Roam and a few others that are sure to extend the value of the game for those itching to explore the map with friends. You can gather up a posse to ride with, or go gunning alone. In my opinion, the best game type is the Free Roam which allows for skirmishes and other wild encounters and shootouts worth bragging about. The content within Red Dead is immense. Enough to keep even the best of the best busy for weeks at least, that is to say if you can avoid not hunkering down and playing it all for days without blinking. Something I considered as I played through this masterpiece.
The south is a beautiful place, with unforgettable vistas and sunrises/sunsets and these are transitioned masterfully into the game. I never grew tired of riding across the desert with the sun setting on the horizon. It would be hard find a reason to call RDR’s visuals anything other than striking and beautiful. Of course, with the size of the game there are occasional hiccups and bugs including the game freezing a few times. Luckily the game auto saves after almost every completed event/mission. There are also a few characters here and there that are pretty fugly in terms of design, but again, nothing that you’ll lose sleep over. The soundtrack is the cherry on top, with songs that will rally you in battle, as well as chords that will pull at your heartstrings when the game touches on some emotional plot points near the end. Design, visuals and music make RDR the whole package, really driving home the idea that you are riding in the final days of the illusive cowboy. Red Dead Redemption is one of the best, if not the best game to release in 2010. It’s beautiful, epic, and the only truly great Western video game released to date. I will be appalled if Red Dead is missing from some of this year’s GOTY categories for most every outlet out there. My time with John Marston was well spent, easily worth $60 if not more. It will be extremely disheartening if Rockstar does not make a prequel/sequel over the coming years, but I can bet my eye patch that this isn’t the last time we will ride with Mr. Marston. I could go on and on about how great Red Dead Redemption is and what it does for Westerns on a console, but to truly understand you need to get on your finest horse, go pick up a copy and play it until your eyes bleed. Even if Red Dead Redemption doesn’t make your top ten favorites it will at the very least be a tale of outlaws, dead men and deceit that will remain with you for years. Here at PlanetXbox360.com only one other game besides Red Dead Redemption has received a perfect score of 10/10, without question this will be a contender for Game of the Year and is worth every cent of the price tag; go pick up a copy of the best Western available on the Xbox 360 now.
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