Red Dead Redemption Review.
So the wait is over, Rockstar have finally released Red Dead Redemption, yet another huge sandbox game for Xbox360 and PS3. Set in 1911 this Western Grand Theft Auto has a few surprises in the game, with lasso’s, horses, shootouts and loads more.
You start the game as a ex-gang member John Marsdon seeking the gang that are threatening your family. The first thing you notice about the game is the big open environment, with vast views you will be left with your mouth open, having said this it can be a bit like someone has dragged the clone brush across the entire map. You start off in a ranch and get taught in a friendly way how to do certain things in the game.
The big thing you will notice and love is the horse riding, very easy to do and a fast way to travel this has to be the best way to travel. Rockstar have made an effort with making all the muscles move on the horse which looks amazing and a little creepy at the same time. While on the horse you can do many different things, at first you won’t have a lasso but you get it a few missions and then can lasso people while riding. You can also use your gun on horseback which is surprisingly easy to use.
There is a feature called “dead eye” which you gather by killing others, when this is full you can unleash hell on your enemies, when activated the screen goes into slow motion with a sepia overlay, you can paint crosses on your enemies and then press fire to machine gun them down. This can be very useful when surrounded by multiple targets.
There are really two ways you can okay this game, you can be the nice guy who helps everyone out and becomes famous or be the bad guy who kidnaps people, kills, steels.etc there are two bars which help you with this, the first one is called Honour, you gain honour by helping the people with certain tasks which then gives you the second thing called Fame which when fame is in the plus people recognise you and talk/ call out to you, if your fame is in the minus then people run away from you and are hesitant to talk to you. You can purchase a bandana early on, which when put on disables your fame and honour bars.
The “police” system is again like grand theft auto in many ways, if your seen committing a crime then you will be chased down by the familiar circles which you have to escape from, your wanted bar will then go down and you will have a bounty on your head which you either pay off yourself or acquire a letter of pardon from certain people.
We now move onto the multiplayer aspect of the game which is fantastic, you join a free roam lobby of about 15 other people and can create or join gangs, do missions, mess around, explore, loads to do. This is a good place to make new friends and have a chat with people around the world. There are also game modes you can walk into, they all start with a stand-off last man standing shootouts.