
Your Wife and Son have been Kidnapped, and the only way to get them back is to track down and kill the men you used to call family.
Welcome to the life of John Marston, a former gang member turned farmer who has been tasked with the unenviable task of tracking down his former running mate Bill Williamson and Gang leader Dutch Van der Linde. Along the way you'll meet a ragtag band of miscreants who will both be of help and a hindrance to you. Some, like Irish, are as much for comedic relief as they are for plot advancement but each is memorable in their own right and feel very much like part of the world in which you find yourself thrust. The whole game is in the same vain as GTAIV, no bad thing since it's been based on the same engine as the most recent entry of that successful franchise.
The world in which you initially find yourself is what most of us would term as classic Wild West America, circa 1911. You won't stay there for long though as you travel south of the border into Mexico and eventually venture north into the snowy reaches of Tall Trees, an environment that feels and sometimes looks a lot like Colorado. The level of detail in these settings is astonishing, on more than one occasion you will find yourself slowing your horse to a slow trot as you take in a beautiful sunset or gaze in wonder at the huge explorable Vista in front of you. Rockstar have combined the three environmental settings of Red Dead extremely well, considering that, geographically, these three places are nowhere near each other in the real United States.
While exploring you never feel any form of disconnect from one area to the next, each one bleeds naturally into the other.
Where necessary, for plot reasons, Rockstar has no problem separating them with a variation on every sandbox game makers favourite structure, Railway Bridges. While there are many side missions to get your teeth into, the real meat of the game is in the main story which while not necessarily the longest seen in a sandbox game is certainly one of the more emotionally involving. The whole "Family have been kidnapped to force you into something" story might not be the most original, but it's realised in a way that makes it interesting throughout non the less.
Music is important in any game, at best it can be the final piece needed to suck you into a story making a half hours fly by before you know it, at worst it can completely ruin a game by not suiting the goings on or completely distracting you from what's happening. Rockstar have a good track record where it comes to in game music, although normally it's listened to through a car stereo and can be toggled on and off. In Red Dead Redemption the music is treated like the score to a film, changing depending on environment and situation. Each track is perfect for the situation and blends into the background to create a rich and vibrant world. The only time you truly notice the music is when you're meant to. Upon entering Mexico you're treated to a beautiful song by Jose Gonzalez entitled "Far Away" it's a true stand out moment in the game as you'll be tempted to slow your horse and simply enjoy the ride with that song playing you onward.
Another area where Red Dead excels is your equestrian friend. "Gun" attempted the sandbox western a few years ago but never quite managed to get horsemanship or gun fighting down, and since you'll be spending as much, if not more time on your horse as you will off of it (drinking your milk optional) this is obviously a very important part of the game. There's a feeling of connection with horse riding in Red Dead, you feel like you are in total control of the animal underneath you which is just as well given how huge the environments are, and how often you'll be riding one.
Gun play is very similar to that found in GTAIV with the addition of something called Dead-eye, Red Dead's version of Bullet Time which allows you to become the biggest bad ass in New Austin, taking out six assailants at a time with well placed head shots before they even squeeze a shot off.
As mentioned earlier, this game is based on the same engine as GTAVI, the graphics are sharp and at times jaw droppingly gorgeous. Character models are full of life, each one is brought to life by some excellent voice acting. As is the usual with any Rockstar title there isn't a bad performance in there, each actor has put in some excellent work. Cut scenes use the in game engine so you're never taken out of the experience, the animation throughout is superb. The map is the same as the one found in Nico Bellic's adventure in Liberty City, again not a bad thing since it works quite well and is not too obtrusive when you don't need it. It would perhaps have been nice to see the map tweaked to reflect the games turn of the century feel.
There are some small niggles to be mentioned though. Small bugs throughout the game made the auto aiming work intermittently and there was a point in the game where Marston couldn't change out of his rancher outfit. This might have been part of the games design, but nothing was mentioned on screen or in the menu about costume options being suspended.
These are all really minor complaints, none of which affected the gaming experience to any great extent and the positives in this game far outweigh any negatives that you may encounter.
A great game with a wonderful story and excellent game play and graphics. If you haven't already, play this game. You won't regret it.
Trust me to open my big mouth.
A few days ago i waxed lyrical about the new FIFA and how unless Pro Evolution Soccer upped their game i would be jumping ship to the long running EA franchise. How on earth was i to know that the new Pro Evo, the demo for which i finally played for the first time today, would have improved quite so much?
The new passing system that i was so worried about is actually just a better implemented version of FIFA's own 360 degree passing system, allowing you to power the ball along the floor rather than any pass i attempted with FIFA 11, which was tempered by the player aids so that it only just about reached the desired player.
PES this year is as graphically stunning a football game as i have ever seen, replays of the action blur player movements so that they look even closer to the real thing and the level of fidelity in general has been greatly improved. FIFA also looks the part this year and as always has slick front end design and in game menu systems that are quick and easy to use. PES has trumped them this year though with a new approach to menu design, everything in the demo is swish and minimalistic, the Vs screen has beautifully rendered images of the two teams star player in their kit and when you delve into the game plan menu things take an even more impressive turn.
This year Konami have given the player complete control of their teams tactics. Drag and drop any player into the position you desire and that's where they'll play, admittedly you could do this last year but it took some trawling through menus to do. This year the tactics are right there up front for you to alter. drag, drop, play.
FIFA has the option to create your own team, complete with club crest, just like Pro Evo. Where the two games seem to differ this year is the level of customisation you can apply to your new club. While you can create a kit and club crest for your FIFA team, Pro Evo allows the player to create their own stadium, right dow to the cut of the grass and the cladding on the stands (which you can also choose from). While i would never want to do so you can even give your players Spartan helmets or Pumpkin heads, have them play with a wrapped sweet for a ball and surround the ground with an 8-bit style landscape.
This year will be a difficult year for anyone unsure about which side to support, it looks like i'm still one of them after all. my best advice? Play each demo to death, rent both games out if you can so you can fiddle with the editing functions that both games have on offer this year, and go with the one you had most fun with.
That's what games are all about after all...
Robinho
If you're willing to ignore the fact that Japan saw the release of the Playstation on December 3rd 1994 then this month is very special in the life of Sony's first computer console.
September 9th and 29th 1995 marked the release of the Playstation in the US and EU respectively, which makes it 15 years old this month.
The Playstation wasn't my first gaming console by any means, that distinction belongs to the Nintendo Gameboy and Sega Master System (i wanted an NES). Along the way i owned a SNES as well, spending many a happy night playing Mario All Stars, but it was the Playstation that stole my heart and took it's place as my favourite games console.
Sony had such a wide array of different games available on the system that any gamer could find something to play and enjoy. Puzzle Fighter, Worms, ISS, Resident Evil, Ridge Racer, Destruction Derby, Gran Turismo, Final Fantasy VII and Grand Theft Auto. All these disparate games have only two things in common, first they were all available on the Playstation and secondly i owned them all. There is just a snapshot of how diverse the games library could be, and similarly how random my taste in games became once i switched to Sony's system.
My favourite game on the Playstation, and still one of my favourite games of all time was released two years after the systems launch. Final Fantasy VII came out just a few short months after i became the proud owner of my own Playstation. The opening cinematic, accompanied by Nobuo Uemastu's stirring soundtrack blew my mind. I never thought a video game could rival movies as a form of visual entertainment, yet here i sat watching, not playing the beginning of a game that would go on to swallow months of my life. I was so obsessed by that game that i spent a whole week in bed (I assure you i really was ill) playing through the final stages of the last disc.
Sony's Playstation was the first system to truely embrace three dimensional gaming. Tekken, Battle Arena Toshinden and Driver spring to mind as examples of developers taking advantage of the systems power to deliver a more immersive gaming experience.
I'm taken back to a time when Grand Theft Auto was the game all my friends were playing, i bought the new issue of PSM as i always did and opened the page to read about a new game being released soon by the name of Driver. My mind once again exploded, this time at the thought of driving around in a 3D environment with absolute freedom. No need to follow tracks, no caption flashing up on screen informing me that i was indeed "Going the wrong way", in fact there were no real rules at all. Half the fun i had in that game was when i was trying to break it, The monster Truck cheat was great fun, jumping over bridges with suspension jacked up to three times the normal height was an obsession for me, watching replays of my stunts afterwards made it all the more addictive.
The graphics of the PSOne (as the smaller yet similarly powerful update was known) pales in comparison to the later PS2 and PS3, yet it retains it's appeal to me based on the strength of the games and the feelings attached to them. I still play destruction derby and worms from time to time, but dare not touch FFVII for fear of losing my social life to it.
Now that they have made FFVII available on PSN i might risk my social life by downloading it again, i still own my copy of the game from back in 1997 but haven't got the room to set up the old PS2. On second thoughts it would give me a chance to play ICO and Shadow of the Colossus again...
Happy Birthday PSOne, I still love you x
Robinho.
After what seems like an eternity i have returned to the world of the Blog, in the hopes that i can once more be ridiculous for a moment.
Today is a landmark day in my life, for today i have finally turned the corner and realised it's time to make a change. Many a year i have revelled in the creative freedoms that Pro Evolution Soccer has afforded me in the editing suite, but that is no longer enough to keep me faithful to Konami's version of the beautiful game.
Wednesday September the 8th saw a bunch of listeners attend the 50th IGN UK podcast recording and i was fortunate enough to be amongst the lucky few. At this event we were treated to a demonstration of Playstation Move (It didn't work) and also had the chance to play FIFA 11 against each other.
For as long as i remember there have been two camps in the football simulation market, those who play FIFA, and those who play ISS/PES. ever since ISS 98 i have fallen into the Konami camp, preferring how a game played over the official licences it held. When ISS became PES it added something else to the mix which cemented my loyalty to the brand, Full kit editing. Last year i played both games at the demo stage and was sorely tempted by EA's game because for the first time in a long time it was more fun to play and actually felt closer to the real thing. Despite this i maintained my loyalty to Pro Evo more out of blind faith than logical reasoning.
This year will be no different in as much as i will play both demo's to see how they are to play, however there is one big difference that could play a vital role in which game i purchase. This year I'm buying the game i enjoy the most and leaving blind faith at the door.
Now onto my thoughts of the game i played today.
FIFA 11 plays beautifully, the passing is crisp and precise when you get it right rewarding you with a defence splitting pass that puts the opposing goalkeeper at the mercy of your centre forward. That's not to say that the computer does the work for you, you still have to direct the pass and choose how hard to strike the ball with the familiar power gauge.
Tackling is challenging but satisfying, meaning that you'll get as much out of a clean sheet as you will scoring at the other end. When playing with the ball at the feet of Marouan Chamakh or Robin Van Persie i never felt like being barged off the ball as easily as you can be in PES 2010. Trickier customers like Andrey Arshavin were easier to barge off the ball in a physical tussle but nippier and more nimble in and around the penalty area.
Graphically this years FIFA is a definite improvement on last years entry, players looked spot on in the game i played (Man Utd were emphatically beaten by a rampant Arsenal 3-0) The shirts looked as vibrant as they do in the real thing and the Stadiums are painstakingly duplicated in all their majesty. Pro Evo has had the edge as far as looks are concerned for the last few years, but now that FIFA has bucked it's ideas up in that area it'll be interesting to see how PES responds.
Finishing chances off has long been a gripe of mine when it comes to EA football games, but on the limited play time i had with the next one it would appear that the chances of pulling a Chris Iwelumo and skying the ball from 2 yards out have been drastically reduced. Great news for me, less so for my opponents.
Oh and as far as commentary is concerned, even though the game i played had commentary turned off FIFA has always beaten PES hands down in that department so i'll take it as red that Mark Lawrenson is still putting through Konami's own net
So how are we doing for reasons to buy this game?
Graphics - Check
Game play - Check
Official Kits and Licences - Check
Commentary - Double Check
The only thing that has me slightly reserved is that EA have still not really come up with a Master League killer and as i understand it you still can't play as your own imaginary team in FIFA. True, you had to edit PES United or Winning Eleven FC if you wanted to play as Brentwood FC in last years Pro Evo, but you could still design your own shirt, crest and sponsor.
I guess old habits really do die hard...
Robinho.

At the risk of turning this Blog into a collection of football related articles, i would like to take the time today to reflect on the latest news coming out of Old Trafford.
It was announced today that the level of debt that Man Utd's owners find themselves in has risen to £1.1 Billion. That's a whole £400 Million more than was previously believed, and a great deal more than any Football club should be saddled with. I should point out that not all of this money is secured against The football team, but if Glazer defaults on repayment they may well be the first port of call for creditors looking to get their money back. A spokesman for the Glazer family has since come out and stated that they hold over £2 Billion in assets (First Allied shopping Malls and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), however Andy Green (a disgruntled Man Utd supporter and City analyst) has discovered that 63 of the 64 First Allied shopping malls have already been mortgaged and most are likely not making enough money to cover the interest on the payments.
Simply put, Glazer mortgaged his only viable business, and secured money against the Football Club he was yet to buy at the height of the financial boom. The bubble then burst and he's been playing catch up ever since.
Last summer Cristiano Ronaldo was sold to Real Madrid for £80 million, sparking the Green and Gold protests which have now garnered 158,000 members and also seemingly been given the support of David Beckham. The importance of this sale to the club is now self evident. Man Utd wouldn't be getting any money from the Glazers to invest in new players, and so they had to sell one of their prized assets in order to develop the team.
The outlook is bleak for a Glazer controlled Manchester United FC, at best they sell up and the new owners clear the debts attached to the club, at worst they default on their massive repayments and the creditors move in. Man Utd are in a terrible position at present, and it is only their continued success on the field which has kept them from slipping. Unfortunately with only one major asset at the club (Wayne Rooney) and no other way of raising significant funds for squad development they may find themselves quickly slipping down the league.
Lets contrast this with the situation at Arsenal. No major trophy for 5 years and seemingly about to sell the club captain and heart of the team Cesc Fabregas to his childhood team, Barcelona, for between £30m and £60m depending on who you ask.
On the surface you would say that they are underachieving, that Arsenal should have won something in the last 5 years. Everyone says that the fans will grow restless, and that the Manager will soon have to win something or leave. What a load of rubbish! Here's some points to explain my position.
- Cesc Fabregas will most likely leave this summer, but the club will make pure profit on a player that cost them nothing and has given his best every time he played.
- If Fabregas does leave this summer Arsenal have a number of alternatives to replace him. Rosicky, Nasri, Diaby, Ramsey, Wilshere, and interestingly if the rumours are to be believed Joe Cole.
- Arsene Wenger has developed Arsenal into consistent top four contenders, and a credible threat to win the champions league. The fans that were there when he was appointed have faith in him, and can understand the importance of running a club as a proper business that is sustainable.
- Arsenal FC are in debt, but unlike man Utd it is a manageable amount that is being payed back quickly and on time thanks to the new stadium that the borrowed funds helped build.
- Of the traditional big 4 teams in England two are owned by Americans that have heaped massive debt (un-related to the actual running of the clubs) onto their new play things, one is owned by a Russian Billionaire that has decided to stop spending his own money on the team, and the other is Arsenal, a team with one of the lowest proportional wage bills in the premier league and a sustainable financial plan for the future.
If the price of a sustainable future for my football club is a trophy shortage then i will gladly pay it, If you ask the same question to Crystal palace, Southend or Portsmouth fans they would agree. They would break your arm off to be in the position that Arsenal find themselves in. Chances are however that Man Utd, the team that wins things every year, will be out of business within 10 years.
In the end i'd rather have a club to support...
Robinho
It's currently 3.38pm, we're 38 minutes into the championship play-off final between Cardiff City and Blackpool, and so far it's the team from Wales that are leading 2-1 in the glorious sunshine of Wembley stadium.
Scratch that, Blackpool have just equalised, it's 2-2 now. This pretty much encapsulates what the play-off system is all about. It takes four teams whose seasons might otherwise be over, and injects some interest into the last few weeks of the season for them. This game has so far been an end to end affair with each team giving as good as they get.
It's now 3-2 to Blackpool with 46 minutes gone...
A friend of mine is a Nottingham Forest supporter. He recently complained to me that the newest member of the English Premier League family will either be Welsh, or a club with a three sided stadium. Sour grapes you might say, especially since it was the club with the three sided stadium that knocked his beloved Forest out of the play-offs this season. In truth this is regularly one of the best games of the season, and not just because the winner gets a place in the English Premier League and all the financial bonuses that come with that (approximately £90m). It's a day out, it's the sort of thing that years later you can tell people you were there.
As of this moment Blackpool look as though they will be in the Premiership next year, if the championship didn't run the play-off system they would have been 9 points short of 3rd place and have nothing to play for. Is that fair on Nottingham Forest who finished 3rd this year? No, but it makes for a much more entertaining end of season and gives 6 sets of fans across 3 divisions a memorable day out at Wembley, a place that is hard enough to get to with the premier league's dominance of cup competitions.On a side note, the Champions League Final should never have been moved to a Saturday, now i have to wait until Monday to talk about it around the water cooler...Robinho
If skype is to be believed then i want to wish a very happy birthday to Evan O'brien, the owner and creator of fromheadlockstoheadlines.com.
I had the honour of appearing on one or two of the early podcasts to come from that site and have always known Evan to be a friendly and genuine guy.
If you're reading this then i hope you had a great day.