Red Dead Redemption - Review

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.