Red Dead Redemption- Roleplaying Gone Bad, Lost En Route to California

Red Dead Redemption (2010) was developed by Rockstar San Diego and published by........ Rockstar R* :-0

Out of all possible ratings: Terrible, Bad, Average, Good, Great....

My rating, based upon my playthrough experience, is: Good!

When gamers think Westerns, they think Red Dead. There have been many Westerns over the years (Not enough IMO), but all failed to make the impact RDR did. Much like the Wild West, game developers were taming the wild gaming landscape, searching for new ways to deliver an authentic, story driven critique of the subject matter while balancing gameplay with it. This is no easy task. And while there are flaws, R* pulled it off.

The open world gameplay games are known for were first popularized by R*'s GTA series, specifically GTA 3. When a new open world game came out people would describe it as "Like GTA". Within RDR, R* falls victim to it's own design. There is a large open world to explore, but for no other reason than to explore... Herein lies the main problem with the open world layout. If you are going to build a big open world, give players shit to do outside of story missions. Once I figured out the fast travel, I didn't bother taking my horse anywhere because there was nothing to see.

Apart from some bugs, the somewhat desolate world was the main reason it couldn't rate the game as "Great". So, let's discuss what makes the game good!

Being set during the early 1900's, given my knowledge of history and my beliefs as an American Nationalist, I found R*'s critique of the American experiment refreshingly honest. No nation is without it's sins, and knowing those sins is key to bettering yourselves as a nation. This is why I abhor revisionist history, such as WW2 games showing men, women, blacks, and whites all fighting together. That didn't happen. Women served in the Soviet Union, nowhere else. Armies were segregated by color. Changing history to suit the ideals of the present makes us ignorant and dooms us to repeat our mistakes. Much to R*'s credit, none of that garbage was on display here. The horrible treatment of Native Americans is covered, the overreach and unethical behavior of the FBI is on full display, and Christian views of leading a better, morally driven life drive the story.

Graphics: Impressive. Being over 12 years old now and if upscaled to 4k this would look amazing. Some games don't look much different upscaled because of the base material, this isn't one of those games. R* did a hell of a job with the visuals.

Controls: Easy to pick up and play. There is a level of complexity but it's not a complex as GTA5. If you don't play for a week, you won't forget the controls. The aiming sensitivity could be better but having deadeye helps that out greatly. Occasionally an input won't register, but it's rare.

Gameplay: Here's where the game lost points. As I've said there is a massive open world, but outside of story missions, there isn't a lot to do. It's a waste of space. They could have made the map 50% smaller while retaining the same feel. Aside from that, the gameplay content of story missions varies quite a lot. Sometimes you'll be leading a Marxist (I just vomited in my mouth) revolution in Mexico, showing your son how to hunt, herding suicidal cattle from running off of cliffs, tracking down a cannibal, or talking to someone who could arguably be described as God. Also, if my horse runs past me one more time, I'm going to kill it and eat it.

Sound: Always a strong point in R* games and a must have in open world games. The sounds of nature are everywhere, while playing I often wondered why the birds were singing at midnight then realized it was the game world. Small details like this make-or-break immersion in open world games, and while just one example, you can find many more. Guns, voice acting, and audio cues are all very well done.

Music: Superb. The music sets the tone of the game, and right from the beginning you know you are in for a bleak, harrowing journey along the lines of the movie Hostiles with Christian Bale.

Story: Superb. I'm not getting into it as to avoid spoilers, but you will not forget John Marston's journey.

Stability/Bugs: I encountered one game breaking bug I managed to work around. While the workaround worked for me it may not for others and gets a score hit. There were quite a few bugs that had no effect on gameplay other than adding some humor, which is welcome.

Opinions: I would have given this a "Great" score had I not encountered a game breaking bug and there was more to do in the open world.

Red Dead Redemption is available on Xbox 360 (Backwards Compatible), and PS3.

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DHG played Red Dead Redemption on Xbox 360

Part 9