[360/PS3] Red Dead Redemption Review

[AgtFox]

Red Dead Redemption Review

Title: Red Dead Redemption
Platform: 360/PS3
Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Publisher: Rockstar Games
ESRB: Mature
MSRP: $59.99 (360/PS3)
Editor: Loren 'AgtFox' Halek

What's Hot: Graphics, especially the landscape, are stunning; Music and voices are top notch; the Old/Wild West feel is apparent; Controls are nice with some caveats; Lengthy game; Lassoing and hogtieing people never gets old

What's Not: Horse riding gets tiring, especially repeatedly hitting the A button to speed up; main character plays all sides of the fence; a weird series of events where I killed the same person twice in successive missions; problems ubiquitous to open world games; I could only handle this game in spurts

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ADDENDUM: Thanks to followup posters it was pointed out to me that I had totally forgotten about the camping ability after it was first shown off to you early in the game. I was either unaware or wasn't paying attention that you could use the camp to fast travel to locations around the map and not have to ride horseback across the map as I point out in the review. I'm not going to pull out the parts related to that, but it doesn't affect the overall score at all because I still stand by the whole repeated A button pushing being annoying while riding on the horse. Basically ignore the talk about the long treks that I could have bypassed, but the review below is the experience I had and I will certainly test the fast track stuff tonight since you can continue on after the game is over.
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Red Dead Redmption is a fantastic game, there’s no doubt about that. I never played Red Dead Revolver, but it is obvious from reading about it that there is no connection between the two games. Here you play the part of John Marston, a former gunslinger/outlaw/self-proclaimed Robin Hood, who is unwillingly hunting down his former “brothers” (gang mates) for the government. The only reason he even agrees to hunt them down is because the government is holding his wife and child captive until he completes his task..

At its most base level, this is Grand Theft Auto circa 1911 in the made up state (I think it’s a state at least) of New Austin. In the middle section you work in Mexico and towards the end you are in the “Great Plains”, but this may still be part of New Austin. If you’ve played Grand Theft Auto IV chances are you know the controls and should be able to jump right in. The biggest change is you have a “Dead Eye” bar where you can draw and click in the left analog stick to go into slow motion and use the right button to aim your shots when time comes back. You’ll use the Dead Eye mostly in draws and honestly I never used it outside of that. If you are not familiar with other Rockstar open world games, you will find that the controls are relatively easy to get the handle of, the aiming mechanic is fantastic and the overall mechanisms of gameplay are top notch.

You soon find out that the main characters here, from people John runs into along the way to his former “brothers” and the government people tasked with overseeing him, are almost all corrupt (there are some major innocents) in some way whether it be their former, current or future actions. Marston himself is haunted by the fact he killed hundreds of men and robbed lots of banks in a twisted Robin Hood “steal from the rich and give to the poor” mindset. Problem is this is the Old/Wild West and those are crimes, something which everyone that is cognizant of Marston’s past is only too happy to point out time and again to him.

During the game you have control over Marston being as honorable or dishonorable as you want. I always take the honorable or good path in games, but I’m sure the dishonorable way also has its advantages and something I may test out in another playthrough. As your fame and honor increase (or decrease) you receive bonuses usually tied to the shops that you can buy things in or how the law reacts to you, all of which is noted in a text in the upper right corner when the next bar is hit. Obviously you are more respected and are considered a friend of the law the higher your honor and fame; the reverse is probably also true and probably sets you up for some interesting run-ins with the law. There were some times I had a bounty on my head in the later stages of the game, but it is easy to get that expunged by going to a telegraph station and paying the bounty. I’m sure you could have a huge bounty if you like to live on the wild side, but generally I like to play games with my character on the good side of things, not the bad.

Mission structure is set up much like Grand Theft Auto which shouldn’t be much of a surprise. You see white letters corresponding to the main mission character on the map notifying you of available storyline missions. You can set waypoints, hop on your horse and make the (usually) long trek to your destination. As you move into newer parts of the map you start to see stagecoach taxis become available (shown as a exclamation point on the map) and there are always trains running through the area as well, but you need to be close to the location or you’ll miss the train. The horse riding contributes to one of the biggest annoyances I had with the game. I certainly enjoyed riding my horse early in the game, but as the hours went by I started to resent when I had to ride from one side of the map to the other sometimes without a stagecoach taxi, which you have to pay for, readily available. To add to the annoyance you can hold down the A button to keep your horse at a good stride, but to get to places faster you need to repeatedly press the A button to speed up. This mechanic worked for Grand Theft Auto (and somewhat here) when on foot, but why can’t I just pick top speed and not tire out my thumb? It would make the riding that much better as the story continues on and you’re flying back and forth on the map.

Along with the missions there are also side things you can do. Plenty of gambling mini-games are going on. You can play Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, Blackjack, Five Finger Filet (where you press buttons that pop up to slam a knife through your five fingers), Liar’s Dice, Horseshoes and Arm Wrestling. Every one of them is meticulously detailed and I often found myself sitting down to play Poker, Liar’s Dice or Horseshoes late at night while waiting for the game clock to hit 7am so I could start my next mission (yes, the mission givers do sleep). Hours could be lost playing these mini-games and it really shows how much care Rockstar San Diego gave over the 5+ years of development on this game. Other side stuff you can do is picking up bounties, helping strangers, read the newspaper that updates as you continue on, recounting some of your exploits and many other things. I played with the stranger stuff a bit in the first third of the game, but then I realized I was once again flying around the map getting to the next step of the mission string with the stranger, so I only did a few here and there through the rest of the game.

In a weird experience, I found myself only being able to play Red Dead Redemption in spurts because of the aforementioned long treks with the horse and the cutscenes that sometimes seemed longer than they should have been. I would purchase or rent property (signified by a blue house on the map, a green house is one you have bought or rented) wherever I could so I had somewhere to stop along the way to my next mission and save the game outside of the given autosave. This would allow me to step away from the game and come back to it later. You may not have this same experience, but it is just something that bothered me. I realize there are other horses you can buy, but is the diversity really that huge versus the myriad of cars available in Grand Theft Auto for instance? Maybe the sameness of the horse got to me and the fact I couldn’t speed up any more.

Sure, there are problems with Red Dead Redemption. I’m sure you’ve read all around the internet about the problems inherent with open world games popping up here again. I didn’t experience invisible enemies, falling through the ground or anything else, but I also know those problems are very real. One thing I’m sure I and everyone else experienced was being near a cliff, whistling for the horse (up on the d-pad) and watching the horse rush in and right off the cliff to their death. Another experience would be NPCs or horses getting into your line of sight as you fire off your gun, killing the NPC or your horse. Early on I was a bit more emotional about losing my horse than I was later. It was weird you could be almost anywhere and use the whistle and sometimes a new horse would show up. Man, those horses get a lot of miles out of them. They follow stagecoach rides and everything and are always close by to hop on.

The funny thing to me is that people bitch and moan about these bugs in open world games, but the fact is it is nigh impossible to eliminate all the bugs in a game like this. Think of it this way: at any one point there are probably thousands (maybe even millions) of things the player could do that the developer simply cannot account for. With a linear game the developer can usually cut any bugs out because you are basically going through the set path, but in a game like this they simply cannot guess at what we are going to do at any single moment. They do the best they can and in my case I never experienced any graphical problems or invisible enemies, but I did have a weird situation where I killed the same character in two successive missions. I’m still confused by that, but maybe the first one I killed was just a lookalike? I really don’t know.

Here we are toward the end of the review and I’ve spoken nothing about the graphics or sound in the game. The graphics are simply stunning, especially during early dawn and dusk. The game does have an accelerated clock on it and day system, so by hitting the Start button you always know what day and time it is so you can plan for your next mission and you can plan for the next beautiful image. The Southwestern and Mexico landscape is simply beautiful and there is very little pop-in that I noticed throughout the game until later when you get in more wooded areas. Now, I install all my games to the 360 hard drive, so maybe pulling the info straight from the disc would create more pop-in than I encountered. The landscape contained within Red Dead Redemption is probably some of the best I’ve seen in a game. Characters, horses and everything else is well animated and look stupendous as well. The music and sound is also excellent. Riding through a thunderstorm sounds like it was happening right in my home. The voiceovers are excellent and top notch like most of what Rockstar does, they excel at using their vocal talent to its fullest. There are swear words here and there, but far less numerous than in Grand Theft Auto IV by a wide margin. Although not a thoroughly educated man, Marston rides the middle between the totally uneducated and well educated. One thing that will really stay with me well beyond playing this game is the song as you move into Mexico, “Far Away” by Jose Gonzalez. Riding on your horse into Mexico with that song in the background just hits an absolute groove for me and will probably stand out as one of the most memorable moments I’ve experienced in gaming.

I played a bit of the multiplayer gametypes after completing the full single-player story. I was not expecting a 20+ hour experience as presented here, so I was only able to play a little multiplayer. Obviously it has been announced and there is an advertisement in the box for the upcoming co-op free download that will include six (6) gametypes in it. For the moment we are stuck with some standard multiplayer games with a little twist. I like the idea of a Mexican Standoff at the beginning of whatever type of game you’re playing (Deathmatch and multiple Capture the Flag offerings it seems) and for the little time I did play I enjoyed it thoroughly. I’m sure it would be that much better with your friends and hopefully the options will only expand as the days go by. There are also unlocks as you increase your XP by killing people and doing other things.

Red Dead Redemption ends its 5+ year development time as a fantastic game in the end. With a change in horse control, I have no doubt this game would stand in the halls of immortality in gaming. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the zenith of Old West games, one that will probably never be topped unless they plan another game in the series. I would even dare say this game is tighter and better than Grand Theft Auto IV and maybe that is because of the underlying morality and honor bound feeling of the Old West as it struggles to move into a more mechanical 20th Century that will dump its traditions by the wayside as it moves into the 1920s and beyond. Marston, as he is riding in an automobile later in the game says he could get out and walk faster. Sad truth is the horses are faster than the automobile, but as we know that doesn’t stay true for much longer after this game set in 1911. I highly recommend this game and it is good to see all those years pay off and for the rumors of Red Dead Redemption’s troubles to be untrue. A fantastic game that would be a masterpiece with a little more outside the box thinking instead of adhering to the company template with controls.

Score: 4.5 out of 5 CoGs


Loren says, ”Much like other open world games, Red Dead Redemption has its quirky bugs, but they only ding this fantastic Old/Wild West game dropped upon the general template of Grand Theft Auto. Buy this game if you have any interest at all in Westerns or previous Rockstar open world games, you will most likely enjoy your time…continuous horse riding aside.”

[SilentScreams]

You do know you can just put down your camp and fast travel to your waypoint if you want, right?

[menage]

Yeah, I do agree on the tapping A for horse riding, makes my arm hurt, but I usually take the coach or setup camp when it's very far. Only other complaint is the lousy "lobby" for mp.

Game does have the finest missions in any open world game imo. Full of variety and action, introducing new stuff every time.

Certainly a contender for GOTY, only ME2 and maybe Bayonetta are in the same league.

[Shieldmaiden]

I get the feeling they haven't explained the horse controls very well. You only need to tap to get up to full speed, then you can just hold the button down. You can tap again to sprint, but I've found that pressing every second or two is better than button bashing. You seem to go just as fast as you do with more rapid presses, but your horse's stamina doesn't go down so fast and there is much less wear on your thumb!

[SilentScreams]

Originally Posted by BigJonno

I get the feeling they haven't explained the horse controls very well. You only need to tap to get up to full speed, then you can just hold the button down. You can tap again to sprint, but I've found that pressing every second or two is better than button bashing. You seem to go just as fast as you do with more rapid presses, but your horse's stamina doesn't go down so fast and there is much less wear on your thumb!

That's how I do it too. The stamina bar goes down with every press of the button, but you don't get any noticeable speed increase from mashing it over pressing it every few seconds.

I think there were a few things in the game they could have explained better and also things that could be refined for any future games (not including bugs).

Duels needed to be explained better I think. I never thought your draw speed had anything to do with the bars in the bottom right (why would placing more shots make you draw faster?) but apparently they are all-important.

I would also like to see the animations for skinning and stuff shortened or at least made so you can skip them. It's okay the first few times. You get a few nice blood splatters and you hear Marston make a little quip, but when I've just massacred about 40 wolves that ambushed me the second I entered Mexico, I don't want to see the animation every single time.

[Wilkz07]

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

You do know you can just put down your camp and fast travel to your waypoint if you want, right?

figured that out after about 6hrs in.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by SilentScreams

You do know you can just put down your camp and fast travel to your waypoint if you want, right?

Ha...totally forgot about the camp thing after the first time it was used. And yes, I didn't button mash with the horse riding, but even hitting the A button every second or two and letting the stamina fall down and then holding down A until the stamina went back up and repeating that ad nauseum got annoying after the first hours.

I just think it could have been handled better. Not sure how they could have changed it, but this is a rather lengthy game and having constant repetitive pushing of one button throughout the whole game is just not a smart move.

So, did anyone else have the oddity of killing the same person in two successive missions like I did? Spoilers below.

I killed Da Santa twice in a row. I forget who the primary mission givers were at the time, but I killed him once and then was surprised to see him still alive, talking and proceeded to kill him again. At least I'm pretty sure I killed him twice in a row.

[aVaKus]

Originally Posted by AgtFox

I killed Da Santa twice in a row. I forget who the primary mission givers were at the time, but I killed him once and then was surprised to see him still alive, talking and proceeded to kill him again. At least I'm pretty sure I killed him twice in a row.

I'm pretty sure I know the missions you are talking about. The one where you are told they have captured Bill Williamson. You go there just to be betrayed (shocker) and knocked out. Once I was freed by Reyes and got my guns back I was out for De Santa's head but I never did find him. When I made it to the red skull on the map it turned out to be the general. Then I thought maybe he had gotten killed in all the chaos so I searched the bodies but never did find his. Maybe it was another character model that looked similar to his? I haven't play any missions past that but I'm looking forward to taking him out at the kneecaps.

[Druxk]

Yeah, I had pretty much the same complaints. The cover system in the game and horse controls are what pissed me off the most.

[Chris_D]

As someone who didn't really like GTA4, I'm wondering if I should check this out at some point. The main reasons for not liking GTA4 were the setting, main character and the lack of decent checkpoints. Also, I find it easy to get distracted in an open world and sometimes not in a good way. It seems like the Red Dead setting might be more appealing though.

[aVaKus]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

As someone who didn't really like GTA4, I'm wondering if I should check this out at some point. The main reasons for not liking GTA4 were the setting, main character and the lack of decent checkpoints. Also, I find it easy to get distracted in an open world and sometimes not in a good way. It seems like the Red Dead setting might be more appealing though.

I was the same way with GTA4. I tried so many times to get into it, I really wanted to like it, but it always ended up either frustrating me or boring me to tears. That said, I cannot put RDR down.

[Shieldmaiden]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

As someone who didn't really like GTA4, I'm wondering if I should check this out at some point. The main reasons for not liking GTA4 were the setting, main character and the lack of decent checkpoints. Also, I find it easy to get distracted in an open world and sometimes not in a good way. It seems like the Red Dead setting might be more appealing though.

Yeah, I'm exactly the same. I didn't like the setting (much preferred VC and SA's "period" settings) and I hated the protagonist. RDR, on the other hand, is ace.

[National Kato]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

Also, I find it easy to get distracted in an open world and sometimes not in a good way. It seems like the Red Dead setting might be more appealing though.

If getting distracted isn't appealing to you in an open-world game, you may want to rent RDR first. This game has more distractions than any previous Rockstar title, and most happen while you're on the way to doing something else, so you have to have willpower and restraint in many cases if you've set a goal for yourself and you want to finish it.

[Chris_D]

Sounds like a future purchase, thanks! (can't rent in Japan unfortunately)

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by Chris_D

As someone who didn't really like GTA4, I'm wondering if I should check this out at some point. The main reasons for not liking GTA4 were the setting, main character and the lack of decent checkpoints. Also, I find it easy to get distracted in an open world and sometimes not in a good way. It seems like the Red Dead setting might be more appealing though.

I was not huge on GTA4 and I wasn't huge on San Andreas either. I loved GTA3 and Vice City though. Even though the Rockstar template is obvious in RDR, I find it a much more engaging world and the protagonist isn't an outright unlikeable prick. He's a family man and former outlaw who is trying to find redemption (hence the title) for his past sins along with completing what the government is asking of him in order to free his wife and child. Family is big to John Marston, both those by marriage/blood and those from years past.

Also, I didn't find a character in the game I disliked (even though almost everyone is corrupt in some way) or whose portrayal was over the top like many in GTA4 were. There is no comic sidekick either. Marston builds real relationships throughout the game, adding people who believe in him and trust him because of his actions.

As I said in the minus category in quotes, John Marston does really play all sides of the fence, often helping both sides of an argument and certainly feeling the plight of all involved.

[opsin]

You're so right about the ride into Mexico. Just got there last night and by god, it's one of the most sublime moments of gaming I've ever had.

The only piece of advice I gave my friend who just grabbed this (apart from pointers on controls and such) is just to slow down. The setting not only lets them make a larger world but a slower paced one, compared to GTA. I haven't used fast travel once, despite the larger distances you have to travel, as I just want to spend time in the world, and see the random happenings that crop up on my way somewhere.
I am seeing very few bugs, I don't know how much I could forgive it if I was seeing some of the problems I've heard of, but it's looking like it will most likely be game of the year for me.

[menage]

This game craps all over GTA4 imo. In every way. i don't know what the magic is with this game, but somehow it just all clicks a lot better. Less artificial, less empty, less annoyance, better chara's, better story, better gunplay, more shit to do in downtime, etc. Just more organic, less constructed.

I'm also in love with the soundtrack. Which is simply masterful in it's atmosphere. I was chasing the train yesterday for the first time and the haunting organ tune really kicked in. Awesome. And that bit into Mexico, classic.

[Vermillion]

Like they said above, I wanted to like GTA:4, but I just couldn't. However, I LOVE this game. It's definitely an evolution over the previous title. My only real compliant is the skinning and the fact that I end up dying sometimes (which I refuse to believe is my fault).

And I can't say this enough, camp travel and save often.

[CptTripps]

I don't understand the long horse trek comments, I found that camping and fast traveling usually put me within one minutes ride of my destination (Being able to save other than at your house is a bonus too). I understand it can be lengthy but you did not even mention the alternative.

I do hear you on the button mashing though. I do the same "press it every couple seconds" but being able to gallop while just holding down "A" woud have been fantastic.

The cutscenes, some are indeed long but only in the beginning was I hoping they would hurry. The voice acting/dialogue is so top notch I usually enjoyed them quite a bit.

[AgtFox]

Originally Posted by CptTripps

I don't understand the long horse trek comments, I found that camping and fast traveling usually put me within one minutes ride of my destination (Being able to save other than at your house is a bonus too). I understand it can be lengthy but you did not even mention the alternative.

In a post followup I said I had totally forgotten about camping (or that it allowed fast travel) after it was first shown to me. Obviously it was a problem with me forgetting about it (I also rarely used Dead Eye for example). The constant button pressing problem still stands though.

You also have to remember I almost never read manuals, the fast travel aspect is probably explained in there as well.