Red Dead Redemption Review

Rockstar has returned to the playing field to show everyone how it’s done in open world games with Red Dead Redemption.  In Red Dead Redemption (RDR), Rockstar brings us the story of John Marston an ex-outlaw trying to look for redemption in the old west.

Unfortunately for John, this isn’t the heyday he grew up in. Civilization is now encroaching on the west making him appear as a relic from a bygone era. John’s quest in RDR is to search out his old gang mates and bring them to justice. If he does this he will have his wife and son returned to him by the government agents holding them. Along the way you must ally yourself with all kids of scum to complete a variety of tasks.

The central plot mechanics follows the Grand theft Auto conventions of going from person to person working off objectives to drive further toward your end goal. This is where I find RDR has a tendency to lose steam with its story progression. Most missions are as follows, shoot these guys rinse and repeat. But more often than I expected I was asked to herd cattle, shoot targets, and participate in piss poor hand to hand combat. I do appreciate the idea of variation but it falls flat when it takes away from my enjoyment of a great game. The travelling to and fro missions is actually enjoyable as you get to listen to the banter between John and the other characters. This leads to my biggest gripe with the story, its characters. I have never enjoyed many of the characters in the GTA games and I guess this now translated over to RDR. Aside from the Macfarlane’s and the Marshall every other character in the game seems to be over the top crazy (like in all GTA games). I ended up actually wondering how they survived before I came along. It takes away from the believability of the sweeping epic to have characters that are more of caricatures of the old west. The voice work as always is spot on but this is to be expected from Rockstar and because of this little change in character types would have been nice.

Your means of transport is your horse. Though the controls take a bit of getting used to, it adds to the great atmosphere of the game. You are able to set up camp and fast travel to any place you have been prior. Buying maps of new areas allows you to travel there immediately. The gunplay in RDR is so easy to pick up that you will find most enemy encounters a breeze. Your auto-lock on is seamless as you jump from enemy to enemy without problem. Once your behind cover you are completely invisible and can bide your time getting the most precise of shots off. And lastly there is “Deadeye”. The feature that lets you slowdown time and mark as many targets as you have bullets. The “Deadeye” can be replenished by killing enemies and through certain items. It lets you clear out a room in record time. Some may find these detracted from the game experience but I believe it’s the first step to Rockstar making workable controls for their games. Also you can turn auto aim off if it becomes that much of a hassle.

If you’re wishing to put the story aside, RDR welcomes it by filling the game with an ass-ton of extras. Heading into towns you can participate in games of poker, blackjack and liars dice – a game of easy money. Five Finger Fillet allows you to pull a Bishop from Aliens for some decent cash. All around the game world are strangers that require assistance weather it be retrieving a lost horse to grabbing some opium. No task is too meaningless for John Marston. These tasks provide a nice change of pace as you get little tales of interest in this expansive world. Wanted posters are around town and can provide great bits of action that allow you to bring the criminal back alive for a higher bounty but come with more risk.

For a world that is set in mostly a desert it’s certainly alive, and bustling with things to keep you busy. Animals are constantly roaming the lands you travel and can range from passive to aggressive. All of them seem to be alive in their own way, whether it’s a couple of coyotes chasing a pair of bunnies or handful of horses eating some grass. Some animal’s like the ever silent cougar can actually kill you with great ease. You can kill every animal and sell its parts for either profit or story purposes. Picking flowers is also part of the many things you can do along with buying property for easy spawn points. John is also able to change up his outfits based on certain tasks that the game asks you to complete. There usually a combination of one of the many extras stated above.

Upon further delving into the world I found great moments of procedural narrative where I would be walking into a set of actions I had no part of. Whether it’s a suicidal nomad in the desert or duel between individuals. There always seems to action to be had in the world of RDR.

The online has two modes, free roam and competitive multiplayer. Free roam matches up to sixteen people in an identical world to you single player campaign that can do anything from wipe out gang hide outs to decimate entire towns in groups called posses. Destroying gang hideouts unlocks mounts, character modules and other unlockables.

Competitive multiplayer has shootout a deathmatch game that can be played solo or in a posse. Gold Rush is a solo mode is where you are to grab gold and drop it at points but be wary as you are slowed when you are carrying the bag. Hold Your Own and Grab the Gold is like capture the flag except with a bag of gold as your flag.

All in all Red Dead Redemption is a beautifully made game. It however still has many of the inherent flaws that are true to the Rockstar experience. But if you’re looking for the best western game look no farther because Red Dead Redemption has what you have been craving.