Red Dead Redemption
Producer: Rockstar San Diego
Release Date: May 18, 2010
Platform: Xbox 360
Rating: Mature
Genre: 3rd-Person Action Western
Welcome To The Wild West
Written by William Nadel
Red Dead Redemption. The name is laden with rich and intentional irony because this digital masterpiece is a true, red blooded redemption for Rockstar’s action western series. Rockstar San Diego has blown the cow patty out of the pasture with this incredible sequel to the middle of the road offerings of Red Dead Revolver. I consider this game to be a sequel only in spirit because of the unending attention to detail the developers employed and the effort the team put into distinguishing this game from any other before it.
Redemption is a bona fide open world western, played from a third person perspective that will be very familiar to anyone who experienced Grand Theft Auto 4. From start to finish, the game provides fresh and eye popping moments that illuminate the wonder of the old west. I have never seen natural game environments looking so beautiful on a console. From the rolling puffy clouds meandering along at sunset to the global lighting awakening the world’s inhabitants at dawn, Rockstar San Diego has summoned the stunning vistas and soul of the western frontier in a way that’ll make you long for real life adventure.
The game world is open and massive and will remind folks of what they loved about the GTA: San Andreas level design. Whilst traversing the varied terrain on your beautifully rendered horses, you’ll encounter a breathing landscape ripe with living creatures, big and small. Hunting and gathering is a major source of money and progression. You can hunt and skin animals such as elk, bears, and buffalo to use for trade in the different general stores throughout the land. You can also gamble at games like poker, blackjack, and horseshoes for big bucks.
This would all mean jack sh*t if they hadn’t provided us with such solid gunplay. You’ll have a good time battling big bad posses on horseback, surviving difficult gunfights utilizing the game’s cover system, and you’ll see some of the most realistic death animation physics in any game due to the adoption of the Endorphin animation system. They brought back the useful Dead Eye aiming mechanic that slows time and allows you to paint red x’s of death on multiple targets. Learn this mechanic and use it often. There are a few combat and mission related bugs, but only once did I have a mission busting screwjob bug where it didn’t register that I had successfully killed and looted my target during a bounty hunter mission.
The online multiplayer suite is what you’ve come to expect from the house that GTA built. They gave us the ability to roam the entire game world online with 15 other human players through multiple game types. I really enjoy teaming up with a posse full of my compadres and raising a Rukus online, pitting ourselves in Free Roam against other bands of brothers. Toss in the well-crafted story, creative cutscenes and convincing delivery by the voice actors and you have a no-brainer purchase on your callous thumbed hands.
For the unaware, my Xbox Live Gamertag is X Trippopotomus. You should pop this game in your still functioning Xbox 360 disc drive, invite me to an online posse at high noon and we’ll go wreak some raucous justice upon the bloody hillsides of Red Dead Redemption. That is, if you’ve got the guts. Well, do ya… Punk?