Red Dead Redemption (PS3)

Red Dead Redemption has become all I expected it to be. The year 2010 with games like Final Fantasy XIII, God of War III, Bioshock 2, Heavy Rain and Red Dead Redemption is already one of the best years in gaming land.

To start, Red Dead Redemption has a great atmosphere. Of course there are not many free-roaming Western games anyway so it's already a kind of unique game. However, Rockstar has thought of everything. The vast areas, villages, wildlife, sound, etc. After some days playing the game I was beginning to feel like the Wild West is my second home. It all looks beautiful. Up close I sometimes had to get used to the graphics and textures but especially the big picture is sublime. The large fields for miles, the mountains and the views when you stand on top of a cliff with your horse are awesome. Rockstar did a great job at mimicking the Wild West. After a while playing I knew that I would really enjoy the Red Dead world.

Comparisons with GTA IV in terms of gameplay are unavoidable. The hud, controls, missions and combat are all relatively similar. But I think they are all a little better in Red Dead Redemption. The cover system, aiming, shooting and changing cover works very smoothly. The combat is very addictive anyway because of the simplicity and Dead Eye. When you activate Dead Eye the time slows down and you have plenty of time to focus on your enemies. If you press the shoot button your character will shoot everything that you've pointed in the Dead Eye, it looks great and gives great satisfaction. The missions are fun and a lot more varied than GTA IV I think. There are plenty of games to participate in in the villages, there are also a lot of side-missions to take. The value of the game is very high. When you ride your horse through the large area you can encounter lots of stuff, for example people being chased by wild animals, people in a carriage with haste and people who need your help. This help they need is very varied. From picking flowers for someone to saving someone hanging from a tree. You can also choose for the infamous road instead of the hero one by just killing anyone and doing bad things.

At times you see how much detail Rockstar put into the game. For example, when you shoot an animal, birds fly over to the dead beast to get a chunk of meat. Other animals may run away scared because of a gunshot. Add to this the details in sound and some graphic details and the atmosphere is perfect as I said.

Where Red Dead Redemption really sticks out is the story and how it is told. The game starts easy with missions to be described as tutorial missions. Later missions are bigger and more difficult. The missions steadily increase in those things. Also, be prepared for some (good) story twists. The perfect cast of characters also helps the interesting story. Marston, the cowboy that you play, is a very strong and credible character.

Outside the single player there's the multiplayer mode. This consists of the standard modes like deathmatch and capture the bag. You can also create a posse (sort of clan) in the online free roam with friends and do missions with them. So you can play against others but also with others to storm bandits camps for example. Online is fun and addictive. It simply gives a good feeling when a clan of six men on horses or chariots ride toward a bandit camp. Probably also because it is not a kind of game released monthly.

I could write a much longer review for Red Dead Redemption. There is so much in this game. I have not even mentioned the dozens of challenges that significantly extend the value, also not mentioned the lasso, taming horses and many other things. If you really search for small weaknesses in this game you can always find something. Occasionally there is some bug or you are just stuck behind a rock or something with your horse. But this does definitely not stand up against the fun that the game delivers.

 

Overall score: 10/10