The Western genre is something that has historically not been explored often or well in corporate made games. There are a few notable exceptions here and there, but for the most part people that love gunslingers are left playing make believe with their siblings, screaming “I got you” over and over again over your brother’s un-yielding protests to the contrary. Thankfully, off of the framework of what was originally Capcoms; then Rockstars Red Dead Revolver rises Red Dead Redemption; allowing you to finally take the role of gunslinging knight or villain correctly.
There are a couple things to be noted about this game. First and foremost its setting is completely atypical of Rockstars flagship series, Grand Theft Auto. Not for the obvious reasons, I get that there are not many horses in GTA IV. The reasons are because while every Grand Theft Auto is set firmly in its time, typically at the point that it seems the way things are will stay that way forever and then brilliantly satirizes it, riffing on common threads anyone that experienced anything relating to that time can identify with, Red Dead Redemption takes place in an extreme time of change and uncertainty, a dying time to be more precise.
Red Dead Redemption takes place in the year 1911, the first mechanized war, World War I is three years away, the mass production of the Model T has been underway for three years and the telegraph is being swiftly replaced by the telephone. The little slice of wild west that the game takes place in is quickly being tamed. There are signs of this everywhere you look, the stereotypical one street dusty town, Armadillo has electrical lines running down the street and electrical lighting in its Saloon along with a movie viewing room , the trust y six shooter is being replaced by the brand new semi-automatic Colt .45 1911 and the last true gunslinger shoot out took place eleven years prior to this games beginning in Moab , Utah.
However, in placing this game in this time period it is possible for the audience, in my opinion to truly see how the west was. Being able to have some sort of touchstones to familiarize us in the world helps us accept and digest exactly how alien the rest is. There is no other time or place in history across the entirety of the planet that is like the American Old West, and it has been white washed so much that knowing anything of true western life is almost impossible for the lay person.
Also to be noted is the maturation of Rockstars writing. While Grand Theft Auto is typically left feeling like a cross of a cartoon and a movie, Red Dead Redemption comes razor close to feeling like a proper movie experience. This isn’t to say there aren’t funny moments, or surreal moments but those experiences are far more rooted in reality than most anything you would do in a Grand Theft Auto game.
However, while in a Grand Theft Auto game there are many people to like or sympathize with; Red Dead Redemption leaves me searching for more than a couple likable characters. The main character , John Marston, is supremely likable, the first real person you are introduced to, Bonnie is lovable , Armadillo’s Sheriff is respectable and then the games other characters become a blend of loathsome and undependable. Typically only doing what you want them to do because you point a gun at them and even then they are still trying to find a way to stab you in the back. The few that do things for you with out being threatened are typically reprehensible wastes of human beings using you to their own ends. I’m not saying they are flawed characters with redeeming qualities like most GTA games have, these are just unlikeable people. This doesn’t detract from the great story however, though it does leave you feeling like you are alone in the world. Which could have be en Rockstars intentions all along.
Speaking of the story, this one delivers in spades, touching on all the typically western themes and clichés all the while also serving up a few large surprises. Clocking in at around twenty one hours for my play through with minimal side tracking it offers plenty of play too. While the game doesn’t have a true co-op experience, it does offer an online mode called free roam allowing you and fifteen of your friends roam around the world. Sadly besides some gang hideouts there is very little to do in this mode, though just riding into town and shooting anything that moves has proven to be amazingly fun. If you want to delve deeper into multiplayer there is a structured system for you to explore. This mode can however be frustrating to some since head shots are still one shot kills here with any gun, and so there will be times when you can die in ways that feel cheap.
Graphically this game is in my opinion the best looking game of its genre, bar none. The vistas are amazing, the foliage looks great and the weather effects will drop your jaw. There is however a strange effect that might just be me or my setup, but at first when I would look around I found it extremely hard to see or focus on anything on the screen until I stopped moving. This problem cleared up mostly as I played, but I still find myself sometimes unable to see things clearly while moving. Character models are great and besides some poor facial animations at times, really keep you in the moment, unlike some games when they go for up close character moments during dialogue.
Which brings me to what I think is the one real glaring issue with Red Dead Redemption . Long sections of most missions take place on horse back, either going to or coming from, and during those scenes there will be dialogue, terrible dialogue. The best example would be Bonnies character, who is voiced quite adequately every other moment of the game, but the couple times you are on horse back riding along with her she suddenly sounds like a high school drama student, who is getting a C minus in the class. This wouldn’t be much of a problem if the issue didn’t seem to persist across multiple characters and if there wasn’t so much voice work being done while the characters are on horseback. This is definitely not a deal breaker, but it is also very noticeable.
Over all this game is the definition of AAA title; great graphics, amazing story and rock solid mechanics along side a fun multiplayer experience leaves me being unable to do anything but recommend it to everyone that has a PS3 or XBOX 360.