Red Dead Redemption: Review
Format: PS3 (version reviewed)
Hits the Shelves: Its Out NOW!!!
Publisher: Rockstar Games
Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Site: http://www.rockstargames.com/reddeadredemption
To say that this game is small is ridiculous because its huge, and I mean HUUUUGGGGEEEE just like GTAIV is and if you have no idea how huge that game’s map is then you really don’t know what your missing.
From the minute you start the game you just know that its a Rockstar title and you really can tell that this is going to be one hell of a journey. 5 years have been spent on this title and it shows. It shows in every action, every person and in every animal that you skin. There is seriously hours/days/months of things to do and even more things to discover with great rewards too. For example just by linking your Playstation Account and the Social Club from Rockstar you can gain access to a new suit, just in-case being dressed like a cowboy is not your cup of tea and you prefer to place people on train tracks in a nice elegant suit.
The game runs on both Euphoria Physics and the Rockstar Advanced Game Engine. So when you shoot a bad guy in the arm, he’ll drop his gun. Or hit him in the left leg and he’ll limp off favouring his right.
One of the missions involves using TNT, which looks spectacular thanks to superb graphics.
Joining the Social Club is free by the way, check out http://socialclub.rockstargames.com for details.
You play the game as John Marston a reformed criminal who kinda reminds me of Dog the Bounty Hunter of the wild west. John Marston is sent across America to help kill or capture his former gang members, including his old “friend” and gang partner Bill Williamson, or his family will pay the ultimate price.
Along the way through frontier towns, deserts, prairies, and mountain passes, Marston is given work as he explores the free-roaming sandbox environments. The game features 36 species of animals that can be hunted including cattle, bears, rattlesnakes, wolves, vultures, bighorn sheep, owls, cougars and others.
If you can track down 3 breeds of horse and “break them” then you will be given a trophy for your efforts. – I am still trying to find time to get them horses because I am too busy exploring the vast landscape trying to get the trophy for killing every species of animal.
Some people are complaining that the XBOX360 of this game is a lot more superior to the Playstation 3 review, well I can’t comment on that as I haven’t had the different versions to compare but from comparison shots I have seen, I don’t think you would notice. As it doesn’t make you lose sight of the fantastic graphics at work here. Also if you are hoping for another version to “GUN” released by Activision back in 2005 then forget it, it does look similar to it as far as it has cowboys but that’s it.
The characters that you will meet are to me what you would expect to meet in the wild west, conmen, drunks, prostitutes and dodgy lawmen.
One of the great features I like to use occasionally is the Dead Eye. This allows you to slow down the game and mark certain things which you then press R2 to shoot really quickly. This can be used as an advantage if a group of 4/5 robbers try to get you off guard or if you just fancy shooting loads of people in one town in a sweep. Its like a bit of the Matrix in the wild west.
If you want to take one of the prostitutes back to your purchased home or rented room then forget it, John Marston is very faithful to his wife so that’s not possible. I think that this is mainly because Rockstar like to prove that despite sex being offered on a plate – it’s not always needed in games, even in GTAIV you see no “hot coffee”.
The music is also fantastic, one of the more popular tracks is shown below….I say popular because people have been asking what this track is on many forums.
If you want to keep listening to the music when you’re out and about then you can thanks to Rockstar releasing it via iTunes and Amazon
Despite the music being in the game there is no radio, its just placed there like a film score and – I quite like it like that, I’m sure you will.
OK so what can you do once you have gone through the story?
Well you can head out and get all them achievements and trophies your mates have or want, you can head online and free roam with randomers and do some little missions or just go hunting after someone. Yesterday I just went and killed everyone for no reason whatsoever, I was having an off-day 
Rockstar like to encourage multiplaying action whenever possible so there is plenty of modes to keep you entertained and if you want to attack a rockstar because you have some thing against them, like forgetting to add the moon in the PC version of GTAIV may have angered you in some way….well check out their twitter account as they constantly post about wanting people to play against, plus there is an achievement/trophy for killing a Rockstar Dev, or someone else who has – I have that trophy BTW.
The score for the game is shown below and the only reason its not a full 10/10 is because I’m keeping that for maybe the next Red Dead title and also I want to see what the DLC is going to be like before awarding a full 10/10
It has a Facebook game too: Red Dead Redemption: Gunslingers also check out the fan made Wikia page on Red Dead here: http://reddead.wikia.com
Rockstar not only have an ability to make great games, but they also go the extra mile to focus on every tiny detail and it shows.
