Rock Star Games
Red Dead Redemption (RDR) is an open world game set in the dying ages of Americas Old West. The story line takes place in the year 1911 and focuses on John Marston, a former outlaw, who is exploited into hunting down former gang members by the government who has kidnapped his wife and son.
The game play is very much like that of Rock Stars later GTA releases, in which the player has basically unrestricted rooming ability and to progress in the story certain missions activated by markers must be completed. First arriving at the small town of Armadillo via a seemingly long winded train ride we are not left with a lot of information concerning the exact details of Marston’s awaiting adventure, a short accompanied horse ride later and a little of the shroud surrounding this story is lifted as we find out where the first outlaw is hiding out. After an unfavorable outcome for Mr Marston, he soon finds himself in the care of Bonnie MacFarlane, a humble cattle rancher, where basically the tutorial for the game play begins.
From here on in one can choose to continue the storyline by travelling to the appropriate markers or can choose to explore the massive open world at his own leisure finding places to play poker, hunt or scavenge for provisions, or simply be at the wrong place at the wrong time and face a old west style dual. Riding around on this widely spaced world would seem to become tedious however this is countered by the frequency of random events that can happen just about anywhere, from rounding up prisoners for unlucky lawman and saving innocents from hanging by outlaws, to bird, skeet-like, shoot offs and outlaw ambushes.
Along with the many story missions and random events there are also location specific events triggered upon arrival that can involve things like clearing out an abandoned mine of bandits or helping out the local law enforces rescue a fellow lawman from outlaws. RDR includes a set of ‘Stranger’ missions which are triggered by talking to strangers marked on the map, these missions are not so start and stop but can consist of many parts that are completed in sequence and often involve two or more ways of completing that can affect how stranger missions will be discovered later in the game for example killing a man for his property deeds instead of buying them from him will have other characters waiting for payback later on.
One thing that RDR does a little differently to the signature GTA series is the challenges left for the keen trophy hunter. Previously GTA would have us wasting hours searching for 100 hidden packages that no matter how systematical one was would just become extremely tiresome. Instead RDR has a series of multi tiered challenges that can be complete at any time from collecting 5 or so of a particular wild flower to hunting down and skinning wild animals. For those that like a little detective work there is a series of treasure hunter challenges that first get unlocked when a good deed sees a stranger give you a small map to a hidden chest. One must use the clues on the map to locate the chest which when found contains not only a hefty bar of gold but another clue for finding the next chest.
Multiplayer offers a range of team based matches from a standard death match to a capture the flag variant involving bags of gold. Matches can be entered as a free lance on a random team or posse’s can be formed prior allowing for tight teamwork. Free roam is a bit different to the GTA version, location triggered missions allow one to level up their character without the pressure of competing against other players and can also be completed together in or out of a formed posse.
The graphics for RDR are simply stunning, every character is uniquely detailed and the landscape is at first overwhelming in its size and complexity. Climbing to a high point is well worth the effort since graphics are generated to beyond the edge of the map, from open cacti filled planes, mountainous outcrops and snow covered pine forests. The wildlife is also detailed to a high level whether it be a rabbit hopping around or a giant grizzly pounding after you, the motion is smooth and emulates life like actions very well.
The detail included for the sound effects is also at a high standard. Gunfire, dialogue and game sounds all complete the package RDR has to offer as well as ambient sounds reflecting weather or location specific terrain such as thunderstorms, waterfalls and nightlife critters chirping away all add to the feel of being out in the Wild West.
The core missions could be completed in probably less than 10 hours of game play but when you factor in the side missions, random events and the sheer size of the map, one could spend several days worth of play completing the single player. The added advantage of having a multiplayer aspect in RDR definitely provides plenty of value plus with continued add on packs such as Undead Nightmare there are plenty of reasons to keep this one in your collection.
Score: 9/10
