Monday, October 4, 2010

Red Dead Redemption Review

Red Dead Redemption Review
By Rita S


This is the Wild West! Rockstar games have been highly successful over the years with Grand Theft Auto and this game is highly loved by countless fans all over the world. Critics have not been able to say too many bad things about the Grand Theft Auto games and it’s thrilling to see Rockstar take a leap into the unknown to see if they can pull off something so triumphant yet again. So now as the curtain closes on Liberty City we now take a giant step to the Wild West and take on the name of a new hero. This is Red Dead Redemption.




 An overview of the storyline - Red Dead Redemption is set in the western times (obviously) and is about a past lawbreaker by the name of John Marston. John is on a mission to ensure the safety of his family from a meticulous form of government. To do this he has to hunt down the members of his former gang for a swapping of his family’s freedom.

Rockstar have done an amazing job of putting this game together and making it feel so real at the same time, much more so than Grand Theft Auto. The storyline is much of what you would expect from a western game or more so of a western movie. The character bonds are superb and for everyone there will be some memorable characters that you are most likely to never forget. It’s a nice touch how some of the characters felt like they had come from Liberty City, Vice City or San Andreas... It’s a plus for diehard fans to have something in this game alike Grand Theft. Having said that for all the people that are new to playing a game from Rockstar, it’s a whole new slice of cake or so to speak; therefore it shall not matter whether you have played Grand Theft before or not.

The storyline of this game is somewhat conventional in places but that is not an issue as the storyline fits together nicely without being over intricate. To be honest this game is like no other, in the end you feel like you are playing an interactive western movie rather than a video game. If you picture the Wild West in your mind, chances are it will be very much like this game and that is one of the most addictive parts about it, it seems so real and true to the western times. The graphics in Red Dead Redemption are amazing and it has an astounding eco system for you to experience firsthand, from wild coyotes to an array of wild birds you will experience them for sure when they try to attack. If you kill them you can acquire parts of the animal for a purpose such as the skin and even sell it for a nice bit of cash. The only let down is that there are a few buggy bits in Red Dead but these are being fixed in due course.

Each town you experience in Red Dead Redemption is vastly different from the next which gives the player a bit of a different experience for the storyline missions. There is the typical western town of Armadillo to the calming Chuparosa, Rockstar have covered all the bases. All the voicing of the characters are amazing, each character actually suits their voice unlike some games along with the western music and perfect sound effects it all adds to Rockstar’s spectacular gaming design.

The storyline of this game will take a good day to complete but that is nearly impossible as there are so many other things to take a look at in the game. Instead of the cars in Grand Theft there are now many different breeds of horses to ride which can either be purchased or captured in the wild. Riding a horse is generally the easiest method of transporting yourself from one town to the next however there are stage coaches that work like taxies or you can also catch a train. There are fame and honour metres and throughout the game you get many opportunities to build these up, they are fairly self explanatory when you play the game, you do good deeds then good things happen. Do bad things, well you may have guessed it... bad things happen. What is good is that there are so many different types of side missions from helping someone out to find something or to track down a crim from a wanted poster and surrender them dead or alive to the Sherriff.

In this game, which will give many gamers a sigh of relief is that there are many more checkpoints in missions, so therefore for once the rage quitting percentage should drop heavily. For those who have played Grand Theft the controls are virtually the same with some minor adjustments but for some reason they can seem a bit clunky at times. The most difficult thing in this game is to ride horseback whilst trying to shoot someone down and for those who have trouble aiming then it might prove to be a bit difficult completing such missions. Also as the area is quite vast sometimes you have to spend twenty minutes travel time and although its showing a sense of reality it can become a tad frustrating. With that said, there are some fast travel options but sometimes they are not to the destination that you wish to go to and also you have to earn fast travel, which can be quite tedious.

The multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption is rather fun to play and once you get into a game it becomes all too hard to put the controller down. There are many different online multiplayer game modes to choose from. One game type is ‘Free Roam’ in this game type you occupy a simplified version of the map in single player and you can do as you wish with up to sixteen people, it makes for a fun gaming session but it doesn’t stop there! You can act upon some side missions such as death match and in this game it does have a ranking system so you can aim to be the best if you want to. Many people also form gangs and have shootouts on a vast stretch of map and as stated it is really hard to put the controller down once you start, believe me.

Summary:
Whether you are newbie to a game from Rockstar or are a diehard fan, Red Dead Redemption has everything you could want in a Western game. The game has so much replay value in the storyline yet the multiplayer is crammed with western action. Overall this game has taken Grand Theft Auto and adapted it to be even better; the strange thing is that it has worked so well when many thought it wouldn’t. The storyline is gripping and effortless to follow and is mixed with a vast landscape of discoveries and other things to do but it not once detracts from the main story. Although the controls can get a little annoying at times you never really take the time to complain about it too much as all the fun and brainpower is put into playing the game itself. It’s something different for sure but Rockstar has really let us have something that will help us fulfil our wildest dreams of being a gunslinger in the Wild West.


Rating: 9 / 10

37 comments:

  1. Red dead was an awesome game! Kill horse recieve meat haha.

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  2. hrmm not really my type of game...i played a demo, seems kind of...gta ish for a western game.

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  3. I love this game so much...spent hours shooting bears, classic rockstar game. Nice review! And love your blog design

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  4. everyone keeps telling me i should play this game... hrmmm

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  5. This game is absolutely amazing. It has one of the best single-player narratives I have ever experienced. So many of my friends purchased this just for the multiplayer. However, you won't truly appreciate the work that went into this game until you experience the campaign.

    Also, I'm still amazed that riding a horse from point A to point B for a five-minute stretch is somehow entertaining every time I do it.

    Excellent review!

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  6. Wow, I hadn't really heard much of RDR till now. This game sounds much better than had originally had imagined.

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  7. I loved red dead. Rockstar makes impressive games. :)

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  8. cant say ive played the game / own a console but your cute and play games so im sure your blog will go far :P

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  9. I'd really like it if they'd release it on PC, because I don't get to play my 360 nearly as much.

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  10. This game would be awesome for PC, however, very thorough and informative review nevertheless. Great job.

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  11. I'm very sceptical to this game.. Somehow just.. :E

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  12. Very nice review been wanting to play this game forever.

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  13. reddead is an awesome game! good review!

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  14. Nice review, i've been wondering whether to buy this game or not.

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  15. Not a huge fan of Rockstar games, but might try this one.

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  16. i love this game, same with any kind of rockstar games, GTA4 etc.

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  17. I'm gonna be looking into getting this once I get my Xbox back.

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  18. nice read, i didnt hear about this game until now.

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  19. I've been looking for this for a long time!

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  20. been hearing tons about this game but haven't tried it, thanks for the review :)

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  21. I've really wanted to try this game out. I think after reading this I'm definitely gonna!

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  22. good read thanks, i think i'll buy the game finally.

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  23. cant wait to see your newvegas review.

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  24. Awesome! I'm totally gonna have to check this out!

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  25. I have to agree with you here. Check out my other TS blog, Swift Fanatics!

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  26. you've got an interesting point here, good job with the post

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  27. still cant wait to see the next review!

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  28. I really liked the original GTA's might pick up this game if it goes on sale.

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