Red Dead Redemption Game Review

The American West is the setting for many great movies and novels, but when it comes to video games this setting has been ignored or overlooked. Rockstar, the team behind the phenomenally successfully "Grand Theft Auto" franchise, have decided to give this setting the time and credit that it truly deserves by offering fans a Grand Theft Auto-like experience in the wild west. Red Dead Redemption sets the standards extremely high for future westerns, no developer has approached this time period in the video game industry with as much passion and heart as Rockstar clearly have and this is the reason we are looking at the best western game ever made.

One of the main achievement's Rockstar has managed to pull-off in Red Dead Redemption is the authenticity of America's history. Allot of delicate modern-day issues like racism, immigration, federal government power, and personal freedoms are in Red Dead and Rockstar has an uncanny ability to hold a mirror up to society and remind us all that these issues are deep within the history of America.

Rather than preaching politics to you, Red Dead Redemption places you in the shoes of the fairly neutral John Marston. Marston, a former outlaw gone straight has found out that history has a way of catching up with you. Those who were once his friends have now become enemies, leaving Marston alone in these cruel, harsh, lawless lands to fight for his and his family's survival. While this may sound slightly cliché, the game is anything but cliché and provides one of the most enriching stories and plot twists you will ever see in a video game.

The outstanding storyline of Red Dead Redemption will take you across a massive landscape that straddles the U.S and Mexican border. Along the way you will meet a cast of fantastic supporting characters as Marston attempts to see this world for what it truly is. These supporting characters are absolutely phenomenal at times and really give the land a unique variety of wonderfully well-thought-out life, to make this experience feel as real as possible. On top of this the voice acting and dialogue are as impressive as a top-budget Hollywood movie. Red Dead Redemption also provides a shattering climax which manages to force emotion onto the player and really makes you feel like this was more than a game you just spend countless hours of your life with.

The game is roughly 20 hours long, but with a huge landscape and so much variety in side-quests, exploration, creatures inhabiting the land, and just allot of extras outside the main storyline, players will likely spend over 100 hours with this game.

Red Dead Redemption simply offers one huge fulfilling package, rarely these day's do you see a game offer so much content. It's almost tradition in modern gaming to release a half-full title and then release the rest of what should have been in the starting content as DLC (Downloadable Content), more money is the most important thing on the game developers minds. The likes of Halo and Modern Warfare (Call of Duty) come to mind, but Rockstar have truly outdone themselves and given fans more than expected in this package and they really should be praised for supporting and rewarding their fans, it really makes you feel like Rockstar appreciate the fans.

Herding cattle and breaking Mustangs (a Horse), taking down outlaws for bounty (dead or alive), treasure hunting, sharpshooting challenges, playing horse shoes or poker, or Epic shootouts at gang hideouts are just a few of the side-missions and events that take place in the wild west of Red Dead Redemption. Yet again Rockstar have proved they are the king of sand-box games. There is also the Rockstar Social Club (a free online community which connects to the game) offering additional challenges and leaderboards to encourage even more replay value. If you are looking for a game which will last you months and months, this is definitely it.

Something i loved about the world of Read Dead was, as soon as you begin to make a name for yourself the world adapts and changes with your fame. Rather than having pre-set conditions which would make the game feel pre-determined, this allows for a much more personal experiences and makes you feel like your story is your own. The question of ethics and morality is left up to the player, if you want to be a drunk who robs stagecoaches and assaults women, that's entirely your prerogative. On the other hand you could do the honourable thing and help out the needy, while not beating women to a pulp, but that doesn't sound fun. Though some events can not be decided, the majority of people, places, and outcomes are all up to you so feel free to take the high or low road on your journey. There is a little morality metre, alongside a separate fame bar which tracks your actions and the citizens you come across will begin to react to your renown. It's a system which allows allot of freedom and rewards you for exploring it.

Just as with Rockstar's famed franchise "Grand Theft Auto" Red Dead Redemption is more than likely going to ruffle a few feathers. Several of the actions at your disposal will be considered indecent by some and cause allot of controversee, this is why i personally love Rockstar and stand by them. They constantly push everything g to the extreme and they are not afraid to show the reality of a situation or the truth behind a religion, country, or race of people.

But all this is left up to the player and as it turns out there isn't just allot to do, there's allot to see. With every corner you turn having a new surprise. Birds come squawking out of bushes as your Horse rides by, Trains whistle while storms fill the ground with puddles and turn the dry desert dirt and sand into pools of slushy wet mud. You might run into a gang of robbers in the middle of robbing a poor woman's carriage or one of those one-hit kill annoying Cougars might rush up on your Horse and knock you off, it's almost impossible to get up in time before the Cougar returns with a second deadly blow, this time on you. The world is simply bursting with believable life and events taking place.

Walking through town will deliver some sights of it's own. You might walk past a drunk assaulting a prostitute, as hilarious as this is, you can help her if you want to. You might also see a lynch mob dragging some poor soul through the dusty main street in the town, or someone who has caught wind of your fame and has come looking for a duel with you.

The most impressive thing though can just be hopping on a Horse and riding through this western sand-box, it's extremely addictive and down right fun to take some time off the main game and just go riding. Red Dead Redemption is an absolutely gorgeous game with an extreme attention to detail. The art direction, particularly the colour pallet and geology is superb and something to be admired and appreciated on it's own, I don't know how Rockstar managed to capture the wild west with as much perfection as they did but i am so happy they found a way. Exactly the right amount of red is used to make the dusty hills come to life, the sunsets look breathtaking, and the purple mountains call out with the majesty their known for. It's easy to stick a few hills in a video game and let players explore them, but what Rockstar have managed to do here is make players want to explore these hills because of the detail and presentation they have put into them. Very rarely do game developers spend as much time and effort on the game outside of the main focuses, but here Rockstar have yet again shown us why they are the best. The areas you can explore are dotted with towns, ruins, and other places which feel uniquely crafted to fit this landscape. Just ride towards a sunset while listening to the soundtrack and you'll feel like you've been transported to an entirely different world.

None of the animations in the game are canned creating some awesome outcomes every time you explore the wastelands. The animations also animate with almost near perfection, a bandit being dragged from a Horse by a robe or falling from a Horse and getting his foot caught in a stirrup looks fantastic. Shooting a bandits hat will cause it to fly off his head and if you shoot a specific body area which is not life threatening, the bandit will react by holding his arm or stumbling if shot in his leg ect.

Some people may describe Red Dead Redemption as Grand Theft Auto in the Wild West" and in some sense they are correct. Many of the same presentational elements used in the GTA universe are used in Red Dead as well, the included extended conversations while riding to a mission location, the layout of the mini-map, and the way the overall game controls feel extremely similar to a GTA game. However, all these familiar elements have been greatly improved and Rockstar did a fantastic job at selecting just the elements of GTA games which worked and adapting them to a western setting. GTA veterans will feel right at home here. It's a good thing that this game feels allot like a GTA game, not a bad thing and it's so much more than just Grand Theft Auto in a western setting.

The Dead Eye slow motion effect makes you feel like a real gunslinger. The confluence of a huge open-world setting and turn of the century technology offer the perfect mix of civilization and wilderness as well as a greater emphasis of ambient missions and random encounters make the west seem as wild and untamed as any actor could portray it in a Hollywood movie.

Outside of slightly dodgy Horse controls, everything here feels great. The Targeting Assist option when shooting can make gameplay slightly easy but without it the game would be too hard in certain areas. The cover system feels spot-on and shooting feels just as satisfying as a Call of Duty game.

Even after you have beaten Read Dead Redemption and completed 100% of the side missions there is still plenty to keep you entertained for countless hours. The game continues online with cooperative and competitive modes for up to 16 players simultaneously. The competitive action includes team and free-for-all game types including standard shootouts and a capture the flag style game. These can be quite fun and will keep you interested for a while, especially considering each match begins with a classic pistol-draw duel witch each player lining up with another standing directly across from you. These little shootouts were actually more fun than they competitive game modes on offer and it would have been nice to just select this as a mode on it's own.

The real reason to keep coming back to Red Dead Redemption for months and months, possibly a full year is the Free Roam mode. This is a sort of game lobby which has been turned into a game it'self, Free Roam allows up to 16 players to jump into and explore the entirety of the single-player world map, and the map is absolutely huge. If you stray away from a group of friends it can take a long time to catch back up to them again. You can form posses and take part in little skirmishes, Shoot each other in the face (or genitalia), assault bandit hideouts and forts as a team, or just ride across the countryside as a team while taking part in the various challenges on offer. I found it particularly enjoyable when 2 groups of friends who had formed a large posse each would attempt to attach each other and it would end up feeling like a real western movie, hunting down the other gangs in the world and taking them out one by one as they flea when they realise they are no match for you.

There is a wide range of distractions from the single-player game here, as well as a whole set of extra little challenges to complete. By completing these missions, killing other players, or playing in competitive games you can gain experience points to level up and unlock new modes and better mounts to ride from Horses to Buffaloes to Zebra Donkey's, the variety and depth on offer here is truly amazing. Free Roam is essential just a whole new game on it's own and it would be worth the full price of the game it'self, it's really that good.

There are new DLC packs which add even more variety, modes, missions, animals, weapons and items to this beautifully created game, but to be honest the starting package has more content than you ever need in a video game.

Overall Red Dead Redemption is just simply breathtaking and is a true gaming masterpiece. The world is alive with so much creativity and feels unique will capturing reality it'self. The characters and animations are perfection and there are not enough words to describe how great this game is.

Why are you still reading this, go buy Red Dead Redemption now 10/10