A long-lasting interactive spaghetti-western with style
First up, story.
Magnificent! Absolutely fantastic! Just like an old western. It's about a guy named Red Harlow looking for revenge against the people who killed his parents. During the main course of the game you unfold a plot about revenge, greed and backstabbing.
The story from Red Dead could easily be a movie, it's that good.
Graphics.
The graphics in this game are somewhat well done.
The whole game is made to resemble an old movie, and because of that the graphics seem a bit smudged, but not in a bad way at all. It adds alot more feeling to the game, because it really looks like you're watching an interactive movie.
It also helps to hide the somewhat ugly textures you might see in most places if you look carefully.
So if you care more about the details than the overall feeling, you wont like what see.
Sound.
The sound effects and music in this game are EXCELLENT.
Guns sound like guns, levels have just the perfect background noise, enemies grunts, yells and comments fit perfectly, and the music is superb as it is almost entirely taken out of old westerns and fits the action of the game very well.
Anyone who likes westerns will recognize the music.
Gameplay.
Very good. Not exactly the best you can have but doesn't screw up anything.
Controls fit perfectly, and make the shoot-outs a lot of fun. What I've heard people don't like the default controls for shooting, as you have to press one shoulder button constantly to aim and press the second one to fire the gun, but this can be changed from the options to easier controls.
As people have also said the game has many glitches, but none of them actually stop you from playing, more or less just annoy you. Most common glitch is when the opponents get stuck and you can go for an easy kill.
The game is NOT LOADED with glitches and the gameplay wont suffer from them, it's just something you might see from time to time.
The game is not free-roaming, the levels come in chapters.
I don't even see a point why it should be free-roaming, since with the chapters there's more variety in level design, and missions can be longer than in some other game *hint hint*.
The levels are also linear so you can't get lost while trying to find a marker somewhere. This is a pure shooting-game, so why spoil the action with pointless crap, right?
You can also control more than one character during the main story, and it helps to unfold the great story and gives you the chance to get to know to the other characters better.
The characters...GREAT! Everyone has a great personality, and you'll remember them for weeks even after the 3 minutes fight against them.
Only the basic goons that are there just for target practice might seem dull but either way they all fit in the levels.
Multiplayer.
Tons of fun, and addictive! 1-4 characters (human or computer AI) can fight against each other or in teams in 3 different modes in many different levels, taken form the main game. There are over 40 different characters, each individual with their own weapons and speacial abilities.
Weapons. Lots.
There are many different weapons from the basic revolvers to shotguns and bows, from rifles to fire-bottles and knives.
You unlock them as you progress further into the game.
You also get to use the unlocked weapons in the next playtrough, so they aren't there just for looks.
There aren't any automatic weapons (hey, it's the old west) but you do get to use a gatling gun (stuck on the ground) in some levels.
Stealth.
In some levels you are adviced to use stealth to pass them, but the mechanics for this are quite awful, since the game is a shooter.
But you can just forget that and go trough every level by shooting everyone.
It is quite satisfying when you actually get past everyone unnoticed., so it's worth trying.
Horses. Yes, there are some. They look odd but work very well in the fast-paced chases. Can't ask for more.
Overall, this game is a must for any western-fan,
and a good for anyone interested in a good, action-packed experience to get you trough those lazy Sundays.
Anyone who is more interested in awesome graphics and not-so-straightforward-shooting should stay away or atleast test it before buying.