[Categories: playstation3, Review, xbox360]
[Tags: Red Dead Redemption]
Red Dead Demption
I was going to pass on this title, I had had my fill of sandbox games after Assassin’s Creed 2, and Just Cause 2, but after reading a lot of reviews that put this in the 5 star and high 90 scores I figured I would be doing myself a disservice to pass up a game that is so highly regarded. Was I fooled by the media? or is this game really that good?
The story is told in much the same way as in Grand Theft Auto, through dialog while enroute to some form of blood bath, with the occasional cut scene (more so early on while they set the stage). Rockstar is truly the master of story telling in sandbox games… the atmosphere in this game is extraordinarily convincing the characters feel authentic even the most ridiculous of them (more on that in a bit), are believable in their design, mannerisms and voice work (mostly). In this sense, and as the reviews scores from the major outlets suggest, this game should be a benchmark for those who follow them. They also do some interesting things towards the end… honestly, I felt like I was at the end 3 distinct times, only to be presented with more quest markers which sort of frustrated me at the time, but I do understand why they did it this way, it was pretty well executed at the end too… (hard to talk about without spoiling so I won’t, suffice to say it’s worth playing it out if you’re like me and were thinking of quiting there).
You travel between US and Mexico but not a whole lot changes environmentally between the two, aside from one little snow area at the top of the map. I was definitely tired of the scenery by the time I was finished. It was sort of neat seeing the technology creeping into the world as would have been the case in that era, it was a subtle but nice touch. I still could have done with a lot more variety given the size of the map.
There are some crazy folk in Rockstar’s interpretation of the old west… the delusional, cannibals, necrophiliacs, as well as run of the mill swindlers, all make an appearance here (amongst others)… It clearly adds some color to the drab dull palatte of the western setting. Over the top is a bit of an understatement, but each of the people you meet are clearly unique and everyone seems to have some dirt on them, if not the kind that comes off with soap then some other brand of filth. The odd part is that the ‘hero’ is compelled to help these folks regardless…what is interesting about helping these folks who can be considered little more than fiends is that Marston’s patience for them does eventually grow thin and it’s evident in the voice work and dialog. The people you meet are also served with a thick thick helping of cliché for instance, a drunk named Irish, and a poor fella (perhaps feller would be more appropriate here?) with tourettes called shaky, I won’t spoil them all but even with the cliché they are still charming in their own way, and you actually build the semblance of a relationship with them in a sense. In my eyes this is the greatest strength of this game, big kudos to Rockstar in this regard. The unfortunate part is that it really feels like you’re introduced to people and you help them along their own little sub-plot, while they entice you with their carrot on a stick to progress your own story, which inevitably leads too someone new and a new sub-plot. Again it doesn’t suit Marston’s character to play around with these folks who are clearly leading him on when he is so swift to plug a random guy for putting the beat down on a hooker. I’m reminded of a Rev Rant (this one specifically) when playing this game.
There is always something going on, someone who needs help, for instance, someones wagon, horse, or wife has been stolen, or perhaps it’s just a whore (literally) trying to steal your horse that requires some immediate and swift retribution. I am an easily distracted player, so the amount of spontaneous quests that come up is a bit overwhelming, and my tendency to react to any blip on the map, or critter crossing my path, is getting to me and the animations to go through the motions of getting on and off the horse, skinning and looting kills and hogtying folks is all starting to feel too slow and tedious. I learned in the end that most of these blips should be ignored entirely, it pains me to do it… it’s just less painful than actually doing the task.
There are “Ambient Challenges” in Sharpshooting, Hunting, Survivalist (finding herbs), and treasure hunting. All of which are pretty self explanatory, the highlight for me was treasure hunting… with genuine treasure maps that gives you clues as to where the shallow pile of rocks that has some sweet loot hiding within. This made me laugh, you literally move 2 rocks and there is treasure inside. Its actually challenging and kind of neat. It’s the first time I ever whipped out the map that came with a game to try to figure some stuff out (PS it worked!). The rest of it felt more like make busy work because I was actively seeking them out as opposed to getting them passively as their title suggests… my bad I guess.
Combat feels good with snap targeting (your cross-hairs lock to targets chest when you pull up your weapon, from there it is a simple nudge to get a head shot), and dead-eye (bullet-time meets mark & execute) mechanics work well, and you need them when you’re being swarmed with baddies. The only thing that I’d probably change is that the dead-eye meter refills so quickly, that it almost feels infinite. I might have died 5 times in the 30 or so hours I spent with the game. The horse riding is tedious at first (rhythmically pressing ‘x’ to spur your horse to move forward), but then it gets to be second nature, and you don’t notice it so much. You also have fast travel from a camp you can build from your inventory nearly anywhere on the map, odd that you can’t do that from safe houses but whatever.
All you really need to know about this game I guess is that if you can get into a sandbox game like GTA, and that formula works for you then there is a lot to enjoy here. Personally I was hoping this game had been some kind of departure from the traditional sandbox formula, and it simply doesn’t, and overall was disappointed with it because of it. Apart from that however, this is a very, very good game and certainly something for the folks at Rockstar to build on, and something for competitors to try to copy.
