Red Dead Redemption is a superb game, great story, characters, missions and beautiful environment. Rockstar succeeds!
The Gameplay : This is Grand Theft Auto 4 with slight tweaks and even deeper gameplay set during the decline of the American old west. The weapons are authentic and fun to use. Various animal and game can be hunted for sport, money, or challenge completion. The world map is littered with side missions (Stranger Tasks) and other activities to do inbetween missions. Overall, I felt the game was too easy though and the towns/City were not as fun as they could've been. As soon as you start hitting Mexico a little less than midway through the games story, it starts to lose its steam and you are already becoming overpowered. By the time you enter Blackwater at the last third of game, you're probally severely overpowered and the games missions pose little challenge. Although it loses steam really fast, its not a big deal as the story remains immersive (if you can stay awake through the long, drawn out horse treks during missions that don't allow you to skip to destination).
The Environment: Rich, beautiful, and large. Full of various animal and plant life to interact with. Beyond that, theres not much to do. It looks good, serves its purpose, but unless you go out into with a goal, theres not much more. The towns/cities are too few and all contain the same thing : minigames to make money, places to rob, bounties, stagecoachs for travel, a bar for drinking, and a place to save/change outfits. I felt the cities were not as good as they could have been but they serve their purpose and are enjoyable for the most part. Beautiful graphics and nice audio keep the game fresh.