John Marston was born game and he intents to go out that way!!~!!
Cons: Some graphical glitches.
Rockstar Games is highly known for its GTA series of games and with Red Dead Redemption they have tried to explore a wild west American setting this time. You play as John Marston who is eager to get rid of his shabby past by assisting the law in bringing down his former associates. His motivation, he is promised protection for his wife (Abigail) and son (Jack) along with his freedom. The game begins as you "implore" one of your friends to reconsider his decision of running away and in the process manage to get shot. John is then rescued by some of the locals who help him get back on his feet and thus begins your quest for redemption. The story runs pretty deep and you'll meet and be-friend a lot of interesting characters along the way. The voice acting and dialogues are superb and when mixed with top notch visuals create that feeling of immersion, which only few games can deliver. The Climax is probably one of the best ones to be featured in a game till date.
If you are familiar with earlier Rockstar's third person shooters like GTA, you'll feel right at home with Red Dead Redemption's control scheme. Analog sticks control the movement and camera, shoulder buttons help selecting the weapons, trigger buttons help with aim and shoot and then there are buttons each for interaction, jump/roll/run etc. The control scheme suits the X360 and PS3 controllers very well and is fairly easy to learn.
There's tons of stuff to do in the wild west apart from pursuing your redemption. There are number of varying side missions such as hunting exotic animals, bounty hunting, horse/cart racing, assisting the locals, performing night watch, playing bar mini-games, Duels, arm wrestling, raiding criminal hide outs etc. The story missions will have you protecting a train from bandits, escorting missions, attacking mansions and getting you involved in many gun fights. These activities differ from each other so much that it never feels repetitive. Completing side missions will reward you money and XP (fame) which can be used to purchase upgraded weapons, health items, safe houses, transport and horses etc. These also unlock many new outfits for you to sport both in campaign and multiplayer. There's a nice balance here between pricing of the items and your income, at no point (except may be towards the end) in the game you'll find one more than the other.
The shooting in Red Dead Redemption feels satisfying thanks largely in part to Dead Eye. With the press of a button time slows down to a crawl which allows you to mark areas on your opponent which John will fill with bullets with deadly accuracy. It's extremely satisfying to do so in duels and will reward you with high XP (fame) if you're able to pull it off successfully. In duels for example you get more XP for shooting the gun out of your opponent's hand than for killing them. The concept of fame is cleverly used throughout the game, getting you discounts if you're famous and having law-men chase you or put bounty over your head if you're seen committing a criminal act. Your notoriety or fame doesn't affect the story however. You have a large variety of weapons to choose from and each one has its own merits and demerits.
The multiplayer shines as brightly as the campaign itself featuring tons of content. Each competitive mode starts out with a shootout and these modes are subtle variations of Death match or capture the flag. Raiding mansions and hideouts with friends is a lot of fun in freeroam mode and you'll find yourself spending many hours doing just that. There's gold rush where you compete against a bunch of players in getting as many gold bags as you can. You can also declare a land as your own and other players can challenge your authority by trying to take you down. As you level up a number of other characters, outfits and rides become available for you to choose from. There's little to no lag while playing and the gameplay in multiplayer is as smooth as the campaign.
The Undead Nightmare DLC is included in the game of the year edition and frankly it can be considered a separate game on its own as it features around 8-10 hours of gameplay. In Undead Nightmare, John wakes up one day to find that an unusual plague has spread across the land that has turned everyone into a zombie. His own family is infected and he must find a cure before it's too late. The story/characters and voice acting remains deep and engrossing like the campaign itself. Though fighting the undead is not as fun as fighting the bandits but the undead make up for it by sheer numbers. There are just so many to shoot and with the Dead-Eye mechanism in place, shooting undead in the limbs and head remains as satisfying as ever. It also introduces a new multiplayer mode called Undead Overrun where you and your friends must fight off zombies for as long as you can.
The world of Red Dead Redemption is vast, beautiful and packed with rich features. The wild west spirit is ever present with its sleepy towns, shabby bars, beautiful sunsets, mountain ranges etc and all of it is visually stunning. The areas you can explore are numerous and each feels unique in their own way. There are however some minor technical glitches and texture popping here and there but it's nothing when compared to detailing found everywhere else. Red Dead Redemption is an excellent shooter and a faithful re-creation of western America. It's a game that no fan of third person shooter should miss.