Xbox 360's Red Dead Redone-it

Was I the only one who played the shit out of Red Dead Revolver?

Yes.

Was I the only one who thought Gun was too damned complicated?

Yes?

Red Dead Redemption: Rockstar's most recent fore' into gaming once again. Now, the game's been oot for a while, but I figured with the media pulse from the first DLC being released, it might be a good time to talk about this game.

It's good.

but.... let's not go crazy.

I'm not going to spend a ton of time talking about it's father, Red Dead Revolver, if you will remember back, that game was released to less that amazed masses. It was a pretty standard cowboy game, with lots and lots and LOTS of tunnels and caves to explore... well... not explore, be forced into. I loved it, I loved being like a 12yr old and using the Dead Eye to shoot my fathers murderers. (SPOILER ALERT? NO! THE GAME IS LIKE A DECADE OLD, OH PS, DUMBLEDORE DIES, TITANIC SINKS, AND THE TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS WON THE WORLD CUP IN 1926, geez, get with the times.... random person who hasn't played the game and is currently writing an email to complain about spoilers)

ahem.

It was a decent game, Rockstar was still finding it's calling.

Found it these last few years, open world basically sandbox games with a single focus, being a badass.

Red Dead's story is somewhat confusing, and almost annoying. (I really wanted him to get with this one girl, but he has a family back home blah blah blah).

So, you ask yourself "will he talk about the game?" yes. Played GTA4? Great. Did you like it? Great, you'll love Red Dead Redemption. Didn't play GTA 4....hmm.... play that first, then see.

Here's where the problem comes in, GTA4 has a beast of an engine, and Rockstar will use the hell out of it, to the point that it will take that engine, give it a fresh coat of paint, add horses and some better aiming, and call it Red Dead.

On the surface there is nothing wrong with the game. You play a lone gunman who wrongs the right, or rights the wrongs depending on how you live your life. You press one button and he runs, press one and he draws, another and he shoots. Done and done. Solid controls... at least once you get the hang of them. I've been mashing the lower center button to run for years, so it seems pretty normal now, if not a bit annoying.

Ok, old west, pretty open. No cars... a hmmmm, so I have to walk, ride a horse, or take a train/wagon (think subway).... that might get annoying. Luckily they have an autofollow option of sorts when you have to head out into the wild with someone, which'll happen constantly. More than that even. Get used to it.

Your missions will consist of cleaning house by killing everyone, catching horses, shootouts and duels, retrievals, and a mixture of any of the mentioned. Anything wrong with that? Well no.... but... it gets repetitive.

As with GTA4 theres a plethora of other things to do, gamble, train horses, run guns, buy things, women and guns... it's all good. But honestly, at the end of the day, you really have to love this world to play past the main mission. Mostly in part because the main missions require you to do some annoying things. (are you shitting me, I have to go back to where i just was? then to mexico, then back?)

20 hours will do ya. I've heard good things about the multiplay and I've played good things with the multiplay, so I guess I could address that.

You and your friends, or online strangers/future lovers, can accomplish missions online, shootouts, all kinds of things. It's fun, it'll lose it's appeal fast-like.

Well shit Doug, how does the game play? Graphics? Music? Controls?

Look, it's literally the EXACT SAME ENGINE as GTA4. The graphics are spectacular, the gameplay is solid and effective, if not repetitive and somewhat easy to master, the music is period and thrilling, the controls are the same as GTA4. It's all very good, but just feels like an expansion of GTA4 honestly. Remember when we all loved Half-Life, then played Opposing Force and loved it, but not as much as Half Life? That's Red Dead. A good game in it's own rights, but... eh... more of the same.

Here's the strange part, I STILL play it from time to time, making a little money, shooting some stray dogs. It's a sandbox game, so there. Enjoy it for what it is. A game to waste some time with, and enjoy for a bit, then leave. You'll probably keep it forever, or for a while at least until something else comes out. It'll stay on my shelf for the duration, mostly because I'm devoted to Rockstar (they were little once), and I love any game involving the old west. (YEAH, I DO HAVE BOTH CALL OF JUAREZ GAMES, I like them too, different feel, but still old west, and YEAH, I DID WATCH DEADWOOD).

Buy or Rent? Well, if you rent it, you'll never rent it again, if you buy it you might not love it forever. Base it on how you feel about GTA4 and how you feel about the old west. At any rate, it's a good Thursday-Sunday night game.