Pull up that belt and let's see how fast your draw is, amigo. Red Dead Redemption will knock you off your feet.
With the thrill of traditional spaghetti-westerns as well as the new and inventive twists and turns of a true Rockstar masterpiece, you'll be hooked from the very first taste of this bloody, brutal, and gorgeous wild west opera. You step into the boots of John Marston – a former outlaw whose family has been taken into custody by the government in a world where the rise of industry constantly threatens to crush what remains of the old west's virtues of justice, order and most importantly, survival - and how far you're willing to go for it. In order to free his family and reunite with them once again, John must hunt down and subdue his former gang members, who left him for dead after he was injured in a botched robbery. But the hunt for these grizzled outlaws will be far from simple, as you'll be forced to enlist the aid of liars, thieves and plenty other of America's fine denizens in your travels across the barren west to reclaim all that you love, and all that you have left.
The graphics in the game are, as expected, extraordinary. From the excellent and creative character design to the beautifully captured deserts of New Austin and Mexico, RDR's graphics thoroughly encase the mood, look and feel of the wild west, generating a level of emotion and immersion that's extremely rare in games today. You ARE John Marston – you ARE riding your faithful steed through a treacherous canyon, and you DID just blow off an outlaw's face with your revolver.
The combat is much more imaginatively done (as well as more fun) that in games such as, say, Gun or GTA IV. While the game's graphics allow for amazing effects during intense shootouts, like gritty pools of blood beneath bullet-hole-dotted corpses or even a hole going clear through an enemy's head. From the explosions to the tension of your cover exploding against you during a firefight, everything is authentic and everything feels right. The "Dead-Eye" mechanic allows you to slow time to a near-stop, and place several strategic shots on your target, then blow them away in a spectacular slow-motion bullet storm. A small bar at the right side of your mini-map displays your Dead-Eye meter, which measures how much you've got left. It can be replenished by using certain (and often unusual) in-game items, like chewing tobacco. You can also mark several targets at once, and taking out 6 banditos in one meter makes you feel like a true desperado badass. There are WAY too many weapons to choose from, including a fully automatic pistol, a sawed-off shotgun, and even a Gatling gun.
The dueling mechanics are uber-satisfying and easy to learn. Once you become renowned enough, fellow and rival gunslingers will step up to try and take your place – you'll be able to challenge them to a classic Western standoff, where LT draws your weapon in slow-motion, and you'll then use Dead-Eye to mark your target and see who's left standing. It's tense, gratifying and awesome.
RDR features a Fame and Honor system, which is ever-so-slightly similar to Fable II's morality system. Winning duels, helping folks in need and accomplishing missions will earn you Fame, and your Honor is controlled by what you do as well – killing innocents, pulling off daring robberies and doing other dastardly things will lower your Honor, and you can raise your Honor by saving those in need from danger, aiding the law, and making certain choices during story missions, a la GTA IV.
Completing "Challenges" helps earn you fame and is a great addition. Challenges range from collecting plants, hunting game and other activities. You can also complete Stranger missions, which are much akin to GTA IV's stranger encounters, introducing you to an interesting (and often very strange) new face and giving you a simple task, or sometimes simply telling you to wait a few in-game days until another encounter. Many non-mission related strangers will also challenge you to a bird-shooting contest, ask for your help in picking herbs, etc. Animals such as bears, cougars and jaguars can be skinned, and their pelts sold for a considerable grab of cash. If you manage to come across wild horses, you can break them and claim them as your own – you can even get paid for it. In addition, there are other jobs such as keeping the piece in town at night and catching criminals and bringing them in for bounties. You can also enter bars, have a couple drinks, and participate in games like poker, blackjack and even arm-wrestling.
On occasion, it can get slightly frustrating when characters in the story constantly refuse to live up to their sides of the bargain, and the story can sometimes lead a bit too far in once direction without a significant change in pattern, which can become slightly monotonous. That small issue aside, Red Dead Redemption fully captures all the authenticity of the old west, while introducing enough new features to the GTA formula mixed with this western concept to keep you occupied for a LONG time. It's an outstanding example of technological culture's growing ability to instill emotion and provoke thought through video games, as well as a cerebral experience that'll make you laugh, cry, and will literally blow you away.
Truescore: 9.9
The Dark Wolf's Official Choice Award