Review: Red Dead Redemption
by Rob Vicars | Wednesday 7th July 2010
The Review
There is an irrefutable amount of fun to be had in donning an over-sized cowboy hat, a plastic gun and a strong Texan accent and diving
around a shanty town made of pillows, much to the annoyance of anyone trying to watch the TV, or ignore you. But sometimes the real thrill
of the West lies not in peculiar childhood activities you should have grown out of, but with your beloved digital entertainment output
device. Or your Xbox 360 if you like. And it looks like Rockstar have come up with just the ticket.
A ticket that, in fact, starts on a train, and with the journey of John Marston. The West is dying, and the age of automobiles and Starbucks and ringtones is teetering on the edge of fruition. Amidst this change is our hero, trying to leave a world of gang-running, bank robbery and people-shooting behind, but is stopped in his tracks when friendly Government types kidnap his wife and kid and tell him he's got some cleaning up to do, spurring Marston off on his quest to put an end to his former gang buddies. In his own words, it's him or them, and the way he sees it, it might as well be them.
After finally finishing this mammoth, sandboxing Western spiel, it is first for me to say that among the many things that Red Dead gets right, one element that perhaps surprised me most is the storyline, and more over John Marston. Whilst Rockstar have always prided the GTA series with an impressive cast of talented voice actors and a well-written, captivating story, Niko Bellic certainly seemed, to me, to be as two dimensional as a Rivta, and about as interesting. Frankly I expected more of the same, if not to a greater extent with this, a brand new IP. For the first chunk of the game, I half considered myself correct in that assumption, but suddenly, just short of half way through, Mr Marston's character begins to unravel, revealing a solidarity much further than skin texture-deep. He's a cynical man, jaded by the world around him into a stubborn view that nothing in this so called 'civilisation' can change, despite its seemingly overbearing need to do so. His comments reflect a state of social and self awareness in a world descending further into madness. Perhaps it's merely my own similarly constructed standpoint that incurs this affectionate empathy towards the character, but it clearly shows there is more to Marston than the typical would-be-tough-guy cowboy I was expecting. The story itself is relatively run of the mill, but is enough of a canter and less of a wild goose-chase to keep you compelled until the finale. The ending is something I can't talk about, because I'll ruin it for you, suffice to say the writers made this an angular, interesting finish, changing direction and, eventually, not ending quite where you think it would. It's good to see Rockstar doing a bit of narrative off-roading there, using the dynamic of the video game environment, as opposed to just giving you a giant day-crippling cutscene.
Gameplay-wise, this Wild West has stepped right out of Liberty City, shook itself down, rolled in the mud a bit and put on its leather tasselled cowboy jacket. Fans of the engine that drove GTA will be right at home here, but don't think that means they haven't given the old girl a few well-oiled tweaks. Immediately it feels slightly stronger, as if GTA was lethargically sitting down and Red Dead has stood up straight, and with the Wild West not being quite the sprawling urban jungle Liberty City was, the rendering is executed better and the frame rate, for the majority of the time, is much smoother. The layout and design of the world is strangely addictive, with certain landmarks, in the form of uniquely shaped mountains and paths, beacons with which you can navigate the map without the constant need for the 'follow the marker' routine all the way through. Which is an achievement because I can't usually go anywhere without a way point in most sandboxers. Technically, there's still occasional slow down, and questionable controls mean Marston sometimes would rather walk into the door frame than go through it. Scenery sometimes doesn't render properly and once or twice a horse in the distance somehow lost its galloping animation, meaning it just glided across the map like those horse racing games you get in arcades.
As usual Rockstar hit the nail on the head with the sandboxing, free-roam element that sets the game apart. Its world is compelling and fun to explore, and there is SO MUCH TO DO. Mini-games and events have been a factor of similarly structured games for a while now, but the living world of Redemption's West is unlike any other. Ambient challenges and events happen all the time, and it's so hard to leave its needy inhabitants alone whilst they're stood at the roadside begging you to catch the git that just stole their horse. Challenges that up your skills and offer rewards lead to you spending your time doing anything but the mission at hand. I once spent FORTY MINUTES picking bloody flowers. I'm sure Rockstar are going to release a flower picking simulator later this year on the back of this. Most activities are pointless in the bigger picture however, mainly due to the only reward being money, and money is weightless in this world really. Ammo is free and in torrents from dead enemies on missions, and the Dead-Eye (Matrixy, Max Payne-style slow-mo) meter refills of its own accord, along with your health, so supplies are unnecessary. Horses can be stolen as easily as they are bought, and new clothes rarely offer much in the way of advantage or even variance. It's just a good job most of the mini games are addictively fun. It's also easy to develop a strange fascination with shooting wildlife. Perhaps due to the large absence of random bunny-slaughter in video games in the past and hunting being a relatively forefront part of the games free-roam element. Animals you've popped can be skinned and their innards sold on for more of that pointless money. Again, it's addictive and you can end up miles away from your mission marker after spotting a peculiar looking creature scurry through the undergrowth, and you instinctively canter after it flailing bullets in all directions. The auto-aim feature makes the whole thing rather easy, and whilst you can turn it off, the default setting is for it to be on. The shooting mechanics don't feel quite solid enough for it to be used confidently without it; however it works so efficiently, with the combination of finding good cover, you need never be caught in a battle you can't overcome relatively quickly. For me though, this kept the pace of the game up and there are enough missions to warrant it. Upon completing it I'd spent 22 rootin' tootin' hours on it, although I'd managed to also do 75% of the entire game, which likely comes back to all the incessant unhinged flower picking. And bunny shooting.
The lasso is the most fun I've had with any video game weapon or item since the Portal gun. And that is all that shall be said. Yes it gets its own paragraph. But it's a mechanic you just have to PLAY. Its absence from the multiplayer modes can, on realization, be day-ruining. You have been warned.
Visually it's generally very pretty, and occasionally jaw-dropping. You'll reach the crest of a hill on your horse and suddenly be staring out at a stunning, picture-esque, thousand-mile panoramic view of the west. The weather is dynamic, and the sun looks piercing at its brightest, giving the sun-drenched open fields some real atmosphere that you can lose yourself in wandering around at the height of day. Even the dirt tracks that form roads and paths look good. Previously mentioned animation glitches and an occasional bit of shoddy texturing are the only real complaints here. That and in multiplayer it seems to lose a lot of its gloss.
The general sound isn't overly a standout feature, but it certainly does its job at giving the West a fitting sound track. Well placed touches with music (near the end, as you're riding back along a snow-covered path you're played a beautiful relaxing piece that perfectly accentuates the feeling of finishing that particular mission) and the rest of the sound effects wrap up the package. The sound of Marston walking across different surfaces, or the clip of hooves on the road are implemented noticeably well.
Multiplayer shines in its free roam modes, allowing you to create posses with friends and strangers and wander off in search of other gangs or complete specific missions together. The unique game type was the biggest allure of Live compatibility with GTA and this is largely repeated here. It encourages a type of unhinged multiplayer we often force of a game to supply us with, regardless of whether the developers intended on it being included or not. Competitively there's a few interesting game modes that will keep you coming back, all of which seemed to work seamlessly, despite my appalling connection.
Really though, Red Dead's appeal is all in its single player, in its believable, compelling vision of the dying West and in a cast of great characters and addictive story, as well as a bustling world brimming with a million things to do and see. Whilst that all might sound a list of generic buzzwords, Red Dead is without a doubt, a must-play. Heck, it's a must-own for any 360 owner, and it is in no way exaggerating to say this is the game of 2010 so far, without a doubt. There's more to it than I could possibly fit in here, and if you haven't already, get out there and buy it immediately if not sooner. You'll need to catch up with all the flower picking.
A ticket that, in fact, starts on a train, and with the journey of John Marston. The West is dying, and the age of automobiles and Starbucks and ringtones is teetering on the edge of fruition. Amidst this change is our hero, trying to leave a world of gang-running, bank robbery and people-shooting behind, but is stopped in his tracks when friendly Government types kidnap his wife and kid and tell him he's got some cleaning up to do, spurring Marston off on his quest to put an end to his former gang buddies. In his own words, it's him or them, and the way he sees it, it might as well be them.
After finally finishing this mammoth, sandboxing Western spiel, it is first for me to say that among the many things that Red Dead gets right, one element that perhaps surprised me most is the storyline, and more over John Marston. Whilst Rockstar have always prided the GTA series with an impressive cast of talented voice actors and a well-written, captivating story, Niko Bellic certainly seemed, to me, to be as two dimensional as a Rivta, and about as interesting. Frankly I expected more of the same, if not to a greater extent with this, a brand new IP. For the first chunk of the game, I half considered myself correct in that assumption, but suddenly, just short of half way through, Mr Marston's character begins to unravel, revealing a solidarity much further than skin texture-deep. He's a cynical man, jaded by the world around him into a stubborn view that nothing in this so called 'civilisation' can change, despite its seemingly overbearing need to do so. His comments reflect a state of social and self awareness in a world descending further into madness. Perhaps it's merely my own similarly constructed standpoint that incurs this affectionate empathy towards the character, but it clearly shows there is more to Marston than the typical would-be-tough-guy cowboy I was expecting. The story itself is relatively run of the mill, but is enough of a canter and less of a wild goose-chase to keep you compelled until the finale. The ending is something I can't talk about, because I'll ruin it for you, suffice to say the writers made this an angular, interesting finish, changing direction and, eventually, not ending quite where you think it would. It's good to see Rockstar doing a bit of narrative off-roading there, using the dynamic of the video game environment, as opposed to just giving you a giant day-crippling cutscene.
Gameplay-wise, this Wild West has stepped right out of Liberty City, shook itself down, rolled in the mud a bit and put on its leather tasselled cowboy jacket. Fans of the engine that drove GTA will be right at home here, but don't think that means they haven't given the old girl a few well-oiled tweaks. Immediately it feels slightly stronger, as if GTA was lethargically sitting down and Red Dead has stood up straight, and with the Wild West not being quite the sprawling urban jungle Liberty City was, the rendering is executed better and the frame rate, for the majority of the time, is much smoother. The layout and design of the world is strangely addictive, with certain landmarks, in the form of uniquely shaped mountains and paths, beacons with which you can navigate the map without the constant need for the 'follow the marker' routine all the way through. Which is an achievement because I can't usually go anywhere without a way point in most sandboxers. Technically, there's still occasional slow down, and questionable controls mean Marston sometimes would rather walk into the door frame than go through it. Scenery sometimes doesn't render properly and once or twice a horse in the distance somehow lost its galloping animation, meaning it just glided across the map like those horse racing games you get in arcades.
Game Images
As usual Rockstar hit the nail on the head with the sandboxing, free-roam element that sets the game apart. Its world is compelling and fun to explore, and there is SO MUCH TO DO. Mini-games and events have been a factor of similarly structured games for a while now, but the living world of Redemption's West is unlike any other. Ambient challenges and events happen all the time, and it's so hard to leave its needy inhabitants alone whilst they're stood at the roadside begging you to catch the git that just stole their horse. Challenges that up your skills and offer rewards lead to you spending your time doing anything but the mission at hand. I once spent FORTY MINUTES picking bloody flowers. I'm sure Rockstar are going to release a flower picking simulator later this year on the back of this. Most activities are pointless in the bigger picture however, mainly due to the only reward being money, and money is weightless in this world really. Ammo is free and in torrents from dead enemies on missions, and the Dead-Eye (Matrixy, Max Payne-style slow-mo) meter refills of its own accord, along with your health, so supplies are unnecessary. Horses can be stolen as easily as they are bought, and new clothes rarely offer much in the way of advantage or even variance. It's just a good job most of the mini games are addictively fun. It's also easy to develop a strange fascination with shooting wildlife. Perhaps due to the large absence of random bunny-slaughter in video games in the past and hunting being a relatively forefront part of the games free-roam element. Animals you've popped can be skinned and their innards sold on for more of that pointless money. Again, it's addictive and you can end up miles away from your mission marker after spotting a peculiar looking creature scurry through the undergrowth, and you instinctively canter after it flailing bullets in all directions. The auto-aim feature makes the whole thing rather easy, and whilst you can turn it off, the default setting is for it to be on. The shooting mechanics don't feel quite solid enough for it to be used confidently without it; however it works so efficiently, with the combination of finding good cover, you need never be caught in a battle you can't overcome relatively quickly. For me though, this kept the pace of the game up and there are enough missions to warrant it. Upon completing it I'd spent 22 rootin' tootin' hours on it, although I'd managed to also do 75% of the entire game, which likely comes back to all the incessant unhinged flower picking. And bunny shooting.
The lasso is the most fun I've had with any video game weapon or item since the Portal gun. And that is all that shall be said. Yes it gets its own paragraph. But it's a mechanic you just have to PLAY. Its absence from the multiplayer modes can, on realization, be day-ruining. You have been warned.
Visually it's generally very pretty, and occasionally jaw-dropping. You'll reach the crest of a hill on your horse and suddenly be staring out at a stunning, picture-esque, thousand-mile panoramic view of the west. The weather is dynamic, and the sun looks piercing at its brightest, giving the sun-drenched open fields some real atmosphere that you can lose yourself in wandering around at the height of day. Even the dirt tracks that form roads and paths look good. Previously mentioned animation glitches and an occasional bit of shoddy texturing are the only real complaints here. That and in multiplayer it seems to lose a lot of its gloss.
The general sound isn't overly a standout feature, but it certainly does its job at giving the West a fitting sound track. Well placed touches with music (near the end, as you're riding back along a snow-covered path you're played a beautiful relaxing piece that perfectly accentuates the feeling of finishing that particular mission) and the rest of the sound effects wrap up the package. The sound of Marston walking across different surfaces, or the clip of hooves on the road are implemented noticeably well.
Multiplayer shines in its free roam modes, allowing you to create posses with friends and strangers and wander off in search of other gangs or complete specific missions together. The unique game type was the biggest allure of Live compatibility with GTA and this is largely repeated here. It encourages a type of unhinged multiplayer we often force of a game to supply us with, regardless of whether the developers intended on it being included or not. Competitively there's a few interesting game modes that will keep you coming back, all of which seemed to work seamlessly, despite my appalling connection.
Really though, Red Dead's appeal is all in its single player, in its believable, compelling vision of the dying West and in a cast of great characters and addictive story, as well as a bustling world brimming with a million things to do and see. Whilst that all might sound a list of generic buzzwords, Red Dead is without a doubt, a must-play. Heck, it's a must-own for any 360 owner, and it is in no way exaggerating to say this is the game of 2010 so far, without a doubt. There's more to it than I could possibly fit in here, and if you haven't already, get out there and buy it immediately if not sooner. You'll need to catch up with all the flower picking.
Overall Score:
8.5