It's not Grand Theft Auto on a horse, I'm so tired of hearing that as the description for Red Dead Redemption. Now I can freely admit that this game is in no way a sequel to Red Dead Revolver other then in name and the fact its in the "wild west"; Red is no where to be found. This game is a very plot driven narrative and is as much story as it is game play. It's sooooo much more then a wild west GTA.
The characters in this title are multi-dimensional and very interesting. As you complete mission branches for them, their back story and reasons for doing what they do gets fleshed out. Even the sub-character side stories (not random "stop the horse thief" type ones) actually make you want to go out of your way to see what happens. I'm about 11 hours in, crossed the border to Mexico and the story just gets better and better...... It probably wont take you 12 hours to get this far, but I get distracted hunting animals and selling their meat and hides for profit.
We all know the story is useless if the game play makes you quit trying. Thankfully the controls are tight, the aiming is spot on, and bullet time errrr..... dead eye mode makes getting out of a jam that much easier. Riding a horse has never been this easy, but unfortunately you cant ride them backwards. My only minor gripe is sometimes the horses and the clifs dont get along well. I've gotten stuck and I have had my horse walk over an edge and land in the bottom of a canyon. I survived then skinned the dead horse for his hide and meat before pressing up on the D-pad to get a new one.
Lastly Achievements. I am a former Gamer Score whore, I used to totally flex my E-Peen but it just doesnt mean that much to me anymore. Yeah having a high score was neat, but playing hundred of hours of lame beach volleyball and gift buying in DOAXBV2 wasnt worth the 1k. Much to my relief, the achievements and rewards in RDR are spot on. Theres a mix of single player story , gun usage (X amount of kills per gun), mini games (toss a ringer in horseshoes), multiplayers ones, and a viral one just for good measure. Theres 5 avatar clothing unlocks to boot (2 men, 2 women, and 1 unisex item)
Apparently theres some multiplayer DLC coming soon, in the mean time I've gotta go hogtie a woman and put her on the train tracks for 5 gamer points.
~Malenko
1 comment:
While I'm enjoying Red Dead, I have yet to be sucked in like so many others. I blame this on my lack of fondness for the wild west. That and my brother-in-law blowing the suprise twist for me.
It's enjoyable, but the multiplayer feels tacked on. Running around and shooting other players with sometimes painful controls is not my idea of fun. It feels very empty compared to the story. The co-op missions are a great help, but they're finished rather quickly.
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