Red Dead Redemption Review

Though, on the surface, Red Dead Redemption may seem like nothing more than a Western-themed GTA, the game actually develops into a completely different experience. Sure there are similarities, and quite a few of them actually, but even beyond the obvious difference of being set in the Wild West nearly a century ago, the game introduces some great ideas and set-pieces of its own. In fact, Read Dead is arguably superior to its gang-centric Liberty City predecessor in many respects.

Red Dead Redemption is set in the early 20th century USA where the government’s presence in the east is threatening to bring regulation and order to the notriously wild west. You play as John Marston a hardened yet reluctant bounty hunter with a violent past. John is sent out to bring a couple of his old gang buddies to justice but in order to find them, he must help a myriad of strange and demanding individuals in exchange for aid and information. Marston’s endeavors lead him back into violence and he finds himself assisting sheriffs, outlaws, soldiers and revolutionaries as he attempts to seek his targets.

If you’ve played GTA 4 (or perhaps any of the GTAs on the PS2) you’ll be instantly familiar with Red Dead’s open world style and its mini-map system. At any given moment, you are free to accept missions from different people (marked by their initial on the map) or if you prefer you to just roam the countryside, hunting and skinning animals, you can do that too. Red Dead also features a good selection of mini-games such as poker, black-jack and liar’s dice and, much like in GTA, these games play pretty well… considering the overall scale. In general, there is much to do in Red Dead Redemption (as has become the norm in open world games) but the good news is that nothing really takes away from the story missions which offer a well balanced variety of gameplay and set-pieces. The game also introduces a random-event encountering system that presents you with mini-missions on-the-go such as rescuing a town folk from killers and rapists, or retrieving someone’s stolen horse. These are quick ways to increase your fame and honor (you can alternatively choose to lower your honor and be known as a bad-ass criminal…this is the wild west after all).

What I found very reassuring while playing the game is that the combat is fun and works pretty well. This is something I found to be an issue in all the GTA games I’ve played. Special attention has been paid to the targeting system which the user can toggle between casual, normal and expert. The default setting implies that, when targeting, the crosshair automatically snaps to the target closest to your line of sight. This is useful for moving targets and/or when on horseback however this auto-targeting system aims at the torso, meaning an enemy can take a number of bullets before he is neutralized. However, though the crosshair snaps, it does not lock. Which means you can manually adjust for an instantly fatal headshot. This targeting system helps quite a bit, given the game’s large open spaces however, for those gamers who shun automated assistance, the targeting mode can be set to expert making it completely manual. Another targeting concept introduced in the Dead Eye mode. On your hud, you’ll see a red bar which is your Dead Eye meter. This meter can be filled up pretty quickly by killing enemies. When activated, Dead Eye applies a special color filter to the screen and puts all the action into slow-motion. You can then mark the points you want to fire at and by pulling the trigger, John Marston unleashes quick-fire shots at the assigned points. Dead eye is especially slick when you’ve been ambushed and out-numbered, which happens quite often as it turns out.

Red Dead Redemption is, technically-speaking, not a visual masterpiece but it still looks great. The visual design choices capture the setting as well as as any cinematic western would and the weather effects are some of the best I’ve seen. Naturally, considering the game’s scale, you will encounter some technical hiccups, pop-ups being the main culprit but nothing that can really sour the overall experience. Some people have complained about more prominent cutscene related bugs that often cause the game to freeze though, personally, I am yet to experience such difficulties. One problem I did encounter though is a conflict between my Japanese PS3’s native control scheme (Where by O is proceed and X is cancel) and the game’s on-screen prompts but this occurred only in certain areas such as in mini-games and shop screens.

As we have come to expect from Rockstar, the voice acting and the dialogue are top notch. On some occasions I felt that a few lines of dialogue were not appropriate to the games period and setting but then again I am not much of a language history expert and I wont be holding the game to a few suspected anachronisms. The game’s musical soundtrack is also fantastic. I cannot imagine tunes more fitting for your solo horseback rides through the country. They set the mood and tone tremendously well.

Red Dead’s online multiplayer set-up is a fitting one. By loading up online multiplayer you are spawned into a ‘free roam’ situation which is effectively a kind of lobby. You can roam around, join up or kill fellow gamers, play a bunch of mini-games and do pretty much everything you can do in single player roaming. However, if you want to exchange your start-up peasant attire for some decent digs or your mule for a horse, you will basically need to work you way up. You can aaccess a bunch of classic competitive game modes (such as free-for-all or capture the bag) from the start menu. Your actions will naturally result in XP which you’ll need to level up your rank and status. Ultimately, multiplayer fans will not be disappointed as this aspect of the game is as expansive as the single payer campaign (and arguably more so).

In conclusion, Red Dead Redemption does more than swap cars for horses and I would argue that it is an altogether more balanced game than GTA4. As far as general presentation goes, this game ranks among the best with its flaws limited to some minor annoyances. Enjoying the game however is dependent on your opinion of open world games. Some may find the constant need to travel long distances annoying, despite the campsite quick travel option. Yet all-in-all, the game successfully blends the mood, atmosphere and setting with enjoyable gameplay and entertaining characters – resulting in one of the year’s best games so far.