Pros:
Huge open world set in the wild west to explore
Great storyline and charecters
Great graphics and scenery
High replay value
Great online multiplayer
Lot's of content and variety
Freedom to play how you want
Good variety of guns and weapons that are fun and unique to shoot
Great soundtrack and voice actors
Good variety of different environements to explore
Cons:
Horses don't always listen when you call them
Controlls can feel a little stiff, especially in tight places
Online multiplayer can be a little rough for beginners
Hunting is unrealistic
Rockstar Games have done it once again, and if you were a little disappointed in GTA 4 then you need to set those fears aside because Red Dead Redemption greatly improves the open world genre and you do NOT want to miss out on it! Red Dead Redemption has SO much to do and SO much variety that to pass this up would be a HUGE mistake, you simply need to play this game. It's clear that Rockstar put alot of work and research into this game's setting, because it's pretty accurate and detailed to this time period in American history, and Rockstar has mad it fun. Rockstar has created more than just a game with Red Dead Redemption, they created a piece of art. And the game clearly shows it.
Red Dead Redemption takes place during the early 20th century in the year 1911 when the Wild West is dying and the Industrial Revolution and the expansion of the Federal Government is slowly growing and taking over the Old West. With this expansion comes some benefits but also brings new problems aswell, and the people of New Austin (where Red Dead Redemption is set) are growing more and more restless and worried every day. And many are wondering if this "new" lifestyle will be better or worse when it comes. This is the backdrop of the game's storyline, and this is where the main charecter John Marston comes into play at. John Marston is a former outlaw who decided to go clean and put his past behind him, John Marston makes clear that the things he did in his outlaw gang were pretty nasty, robbing and killing people and all the other bad stuff you can think of. But after Johns old gang leave him to die, he decides to hang up his gun. John get's married and has a son and buys a farm and simply forgets about his past and tries to move on with his life by rasing a family and trying to create a better life for himself and his loved ones. But the past doesn't want to forget about John, and when the Government takes his family away and tells John that he won't ever see them again unless he tracks down and kills his old gang, John has no choice but to accept it.
And it is here that you are free to choose how you go about getting your family back, will John stick to his new way of life? Or will he resort back into his outlaw ways? That is up for you to decide, and that's one of the great things about Red Dead Redemption. You get to choose how you want to play it, nobel gunslinger who defends the innocent, or fearsome cutthroat outlaw who will have nothing stand in his way. There is much more choice this time around compared to the other Rockstar Games in the past like GTA 4, where only a few times you got to choose what happens. In Red Dead Redemption you are constantly making choices and this makes the game feel more alive, especially with the fame system aswell. If you are known for your good deeds people will greet and praise you , however if you have a more sinister reputation then people will fear and be suspicious of your presence. All these things affect the environment in the game, for instance if your a sinister oultaw and you enter a town a person might come up to you and challenge you to a wild west duel because you killed one of their family members, conversly if your good people will welcome you into thier town and give you discounts on items and whatnot. It's all these little things that make you enjoy making choices in this game and the world of Red Dead Redemption makes the game come more alive.
There are a wide variety of environments to explore in Red Dead Redemption, you have deserts, plains, praries, forests, snowy mountains and more! Plus you even get to explore Mexico aswell later in the game, all these environments are unique and offer up alot of vairety to see. And in each of these environments you have different types of animals and plants so if your into hunting (more on that later) and living off the land than each environment offers you a different experience from the rest. And the enviornments are absolutely beautiful to look at, not just because of graphics either but because of art direction. It really brings out the detail in Red Dead Redemption, dust flows around the ground and tumbleweeds roll by in the desert, snow drops slowly in the mountains, the grass and trees on the prarie move slowly with the wind, deer jump through the meadows, birds fly high above the forest floor while you listen to the sound of the river nearby, coyotes and wolves howl as they approach their prey. All these details are spot on and make you truly feel and admire it, Rockstar really worked hard on all of this.
Another great thing that Rockstar has done with Red Dead Redemption is putting so much content and variety in the game, there is SO much you can do that it's simply awe inspiring. Out side of the pretty lengthy main storyline, there are a series of side missions that you recieve from random people called "Stranger Tasks". These are all unique from each other and each has their own storyline, and some even have branching missions of their own, for instance one has you meeting a strange man who knows John Marston, but he won't say from where. He gives John a mission where he is to go find a man at a brothel and convince him not to cheat on his wife, it is up to the player to decide wether or not the man should cheat or not. You can either convince the man that his wife loves and respects him and he should go home, or you can push him into hiring a prostitute. Once again making choices comes into play here, but the next time you see the strange man he will comment on your previos actions. This makes each mission unique and fun to experience.
Outside of the "Stranger Missions" there are a bunch of freeplay events and missions you can take part in. For instance you can hunt down dangerous outlaws and take over their gang hideouts, or you can be a bounty hunter and track down criminals and either kill them, or capture and bring them into town for justice. You can capture and tame wild horses, rob people and stores, or help innocent people who just got robbed. You can help prostitutes who are getting harrassed and hurt by men or just be an asshole and ignore them. You can go play poker (you can even cheat at this, but getting caught will cause you to duel) or liars dice or black jack. You can put on a bandanna around your face and rob trains and people, or you just ride the train like a gentlemen and sit back and enjoy the scenery. You can go live off the land and go hunting, which while it is fun because each animal behaves differently and some even fight back, but it's not very realistic. For instance you can just ride up to a pack of wolves with your horse and just empty your gun into thier face, you don't really track the animals like real life and some of the animals just attack you without reason, still that is a minor complaint and the hunting is fun and challenging in Red Dead Redemption. You are also free to kill whoever you want to aswell, if your in town and you don't like the shop keeper your free to pull your gun out and blast him, doing so however will cause a bounty to be placed on your head and bounty hunters and lawmen will chase you down and try to kill you, and the longer you go without getting caught the higher your bounty goes up. It's pretty fun and intense living the life of an outlaw and throws in a whole new gameplay style. Once again it's all about the choices you make and how you want to play the game.
The combat in Red Dead Redemption is solid and it feels similar to GTA 4, but much more improved and refined. You still aim in third person over-the-shoulder mechanic but it's clearly more polished and not clumsy like it was in GTA 4, you lock onto enemies with the dot but it's up to you to aim for the head and other viable body parts, for instance shooting a guy in the leg will force him to crawl or lim (you can turn off auto lock if you want a challenge) p which is good if your tyring to escape or capture someone. Shooting a guy in the arm will force him to drop his gun which renders him defesnless and the enemy will run away (the AI is much improved in Red Dead Redemption), this feels realistic and gritty especially considering how violent the game is. Blood splatters across the sand when you shoot somebody, throwing a molotov cocktail wil burn the person and they will roll around on the ground in a vain attempt at trying to put it out, it's definately an M rated game that's for sure!
There is also a pretty decent cover system that you can use to protect yourself and shoot out of easily, it works pretty well but there are times when it can get a little frustrating, especially when your in tight spaces as you sometimes take cover on the wrong side of the wall and it can feel a little clumsy. But once you practice some and learn the mechanics it becomes easier, overall the controls work great and everything feels realistic from the way that John walks and runs to the way he shoots a gun ect... but the controls do feel a little stiff at times and when your indoors in small places it's kind of clumsy to take cover and you often end up running into things and knocking people down, so it doesn't control aswell as games like Uncharted do. But like I said before, with some practice and larning the mechanics of the game these problems usually don't end up being an issue, but it would have been nice if they polished it a little more.
The guns in Red Dead Redemption all shoot and sound different and have different effects and stats. For instance one of the rifles in the game is called the Evans Repeater, which holds the most bullets in the game (22) and is the fastest shooting rifle in the game, however it's downside is that it lacks the power that the other guns have and doesn't have as much range as say the Bolt Action Rifle which only holds 5 bullets at a time and is much slower at shooting than the Evans, however it has better range and power. All the guns have thier pros and cons in the game (well except for the Cattleman, that gun just sucks) and it's all about what your weapon prefrence is. Anohter cool thing is that all the weapons have different sound effects, so each different type of revolver for instance has it's own distinct sound compared to the others, and it's like this with ALL the guns wether they be rifles or shot guns or whatever. It's details like this that make the game even more impressive. Another cool feature in the game is "Dead Eye", basically when you activate it, it turns the game screen all orange and slows everything down allowing you to pick off people and target them easily. It's pretty awesome and you'll have a great time using it, but you only get so much and you can only replenish it by going into combat or buying a Dead Eye drink. So use it wisely!
If you somehow run out of things to do in the Single Player (which trust me, will take a LONG time) then you can go ahead and try out the online mode. Red Dead Redemption online is unique in that it's "lobby" is a mode called FreeRoam, basically the giant world of Red Dead Redemption where you are free to run around and do whatever you want. You can go hunting with friends, or form/join a posse and be outlaws, or capture gang hideouts, plus ALOT more! Or you can just be an online jackass who runs up to other players and kills them for no reason, this happens alot in Red Dead Redemption online, and I mean ALOT! Which scares away new players as they don't really have any way to defend thesmelves, so there is a bit of a learning curve, thankfully Rockstar has made different types of Free Roams including one called Friendly Free Roam where other players can't hurt each other and have to work together. So I recommend new players stick to that until they level up more, there is also a Hardcore Free Roam for players who are of a higher level and are more skilled, so there is something for everyone.
There is more to Red Dead Redemption besides just Free Roam though, there are a variety of free-for-all and team based matches that you can play including gang shootouts or gold rush. There are also co op missions that you can play (co op missions are a FREE dlc) that you and 3 other buddies complete various missions. There is alot of vairety that offers something for everyone and keeps you busy. Of course it wouldn't be an online game without leveling up and unlocks, and Red Dead Redemption has this down perfectly. You can get XP from doing just about anything in the game, from completing challenges or just killing AI and getting a bounty on your head (other players will hunt you down and try to take your bounty it if you are an outlaw) to capturing gang hideouts or doing gang shootouts ect.... So there are many different options to leveling up in Red Dead Redemtion and you just need to find the one that works for you and the one you enjoy the most. And when you level up you unlock new horses/mounts and new weapons and charecters and modes ect... So there is plenty to keep you hooked. Plus if your up for it, you can also prestige a total of 5 times, with each prestige bringing new rewards for leveiling up, which will keep the more hardcore players happy.
Overall Red Dead Redemption is almost flawless, besides the slightly stiff controls/cover that take a little getting used to and the online being a little rough on beginners (again they should stick to friendly freeroam when starting out). And the hunting in the game isn't as realistic like I was hoping it would be, but hunting is still pretty fun overall in Red Dead Redemption. The only other flaw I noticed was that sometimes when you whistle for your horse it doesn't listen and wanders off instead, most of the time it works fine, but once in awhile it decides it doesn't like you and just takes off. You can whistle again and it will come, but it's still a little odd...But those are all VERY minor complaints compared to what this game offers, and you would be crazy to pass this game up.
Final Verdict:
Red Dead Redemption deserves your time and your money, and it deserves 5/5 stars!
BUY THIS GAME!