REVIEW: ‘Red Dead Redemption’ alive and kicking
RedDead Redemption is a video game for all gamers! Red Dead was released this past summer, giving me ample time to explore all the different incredible aspects of the game. Rockstar, who also developed Grand Theft Auto, is the developer of Red Dead. Rockstar did not skip a beat when they decided to switch scenes from modern-era to the old Wild West.
When you first begin to play Red Dead Redemption you get a sense of the Grand Theft Auto series influence on everything in the game.
Rockstar holds true to developing a free-roaming world in Red Dead Redemption were you can go wherever, whenever and do whatever you want. You are free to ride your horse for hours on end, play poker, fool around with a harlot, save a damsel in distress, pick flowers, hunt animals, and pretty much anything you ever imagined doing in the wild west.
In Red Dead Redemption you play John Marston, a former leader of an outlaw gang that has gone straight. Marston has been sent out by the federal government to round up some of his old gang members causing problems across the wild west.
While trying to find and capture his old gang members, Marston has to complete a bunch of side missions from a cast of very colorful and entertaining characters. You help out these side characters so that they will provide you with materials, shelter, and information on the old gang.
In the game you will have personal decisions to make in situations that will cause you to question your morality and ethics. You are free to take the high or low road in most situations. You have an honor bar that shows whether you are a decent, helpful human being or a crusty, mean man that likes to get into trouble; the choice is all yours.
As you push to one side or the other, people in the game will start to react differently toward you. If you are mean, people will stay out of your way, but if you are on the other side people will approach you and ask for your help.
In conjunction with the honor bar, there is a “Fame” bar that shows how famous you are becoming. You will become famous because you are bad or famous because you’re honorable.
The environment and graphics are unreal! The game is set along the United States and Mexico border, and you get a sense of that atmosphere. Rockstar does an incredible job of making the environment come to life around you while you’re playing. Birds may come out of the bushes as your horse thunders by. Trains whistle while storms come blowing in to fill area with fresh puddles.Around the next bend there may be a carriage being robbed by bandits and civilians crying out for help. There may be a cougar or bear about to attack you and your horse.
The graphics are exceptional from the mountains and deserts to the plains and plants. The in-game dialogue videos show close-ups of characters that have scars and bruises, each with a story to tell. Rockstar got realistic voice actors for the characters who do an amazing job.
The fight scenes in the game are incredibly fun to play, but I would say they are not very difficult. In the game you have an action called Dead Eye which turns you into a top-notch gunslinger ready to shoot down a whole army of enemies. Dead Eye allows you to slow the game down, select a number of enemies, and Marston will shoot them down at full game speed. “Dead Eye” is extremely effective while riding on a carriage or horse.
There is also a cover button that allows Marston to slide into or jump behind cover, but I did not use this very often since the gunfights were not too difficult.
Read Dead Redemption is a must-buy game that you will fall in love with. If you stick to the main story line you could probably complete it in about 20 hours, but with the side missions and exploring, it could take closer to 100 hours to complete.
The game has a gripping storyline and a lead that you will mold into your own personal character. Rockstar gives the video gamer freedom to do whatever he or she would like.
Positives: Great storyline, great graphics, fun characters, open-play and fun gunfights.
Negatives: Once you start, you will not want to do anything besides play this game.
–billy.harlow@aggiemail.usu.edu