Red Dead Redemption Review
For me, GTA was a fun series a few years ago, but I had dropped out of it since it seemed to be getting too repetitive & too similar. So, I was super-excited when I heard they were making Red Dead Redemption, but then disappointed when the release date kept getting pushed back. Thankfully it has been worth the wait!
The missions for the most part are good & action-packed. Generally they involve shooting a lot of bad guys, who are all displayed with red dots on your map. The red dots make it easy to find them/ count how many are left to shoot. A few of the Bonnie missions are dull, slow, boring and involve general farmhand stuff, but thankfully that's pretty early on in the game.
Something as mundane as riding around in the desert from town to town is actually fun. The scenery is beautiful and epic. I can waste hours just riding around the countryside helping people out, hunting down escaped prisoners, or hunting animals. The hunting aspect is surprisingly fun & addictive, and hunting is a very entertaining way to rack up some money if you need it.
Normally side games are lame and not-interesting, but here in RDR - Poker, Blackjack, Liar's Dice, Horseshoes, Arm Wrestling - are fun and pretty realistic. Liar's Dice is a game I'd never heard of before, but it's really fun, and I think would be a great drinking game with friends.
For my first play-through, I've been trying to be as honorable as possible, but occasionally an innocent bystander will get whacked (sorry about that). Another thing to note is that you can't use cheats in this game if you want to save & progress on the storyline. I haven't found the need, though, to cheat like in GTA with full ammo, full health, reduce wanted level, etc. If you are interested in the cheats, search online for more details.
For some people who complained that the targeting was difficult, if you double-tap the L2 button, the game does a great job of locking right on to the target - actually almost too good of a job. There is no overall easy/medium/hard Difficulty setting on this game. I'm generally so-so at video games, especially as I'm now in my 30's and can't devote hours-upon-hours to gaming like I did in college. Thankfully RDR is not a throw-down-the-controller-because-you're-so-angry difficulty. In fact, if you're a hardcore gamer, you might think it's too easy (?).
I haven't touched the online multi-player yet. The single player is so engrossing right now, and I'm generally not a fan of online shooters - and also because I suck at them. So if you are really into that genre, you're probably better off sticking to Call Of Duty or Battlefield 2. I assume most people aren't buying this game for multi-player though.
For a few of my negatives, the cut-scenes are slow-moving. The talking & overall flow of them just seems so s-l-o-w. I wish there was a double-time option for it. But you can skip them altogether, and then review the dialogue in the journal later if needed. Also, I wish you could just press select to get to the Map instead of having to go through Start -> Map. I've only had the game lock up on me once; once isn't bad, but glitch-free would be ideal.
Also, I'm a big fan of customizing your character, or better yet, creating your own guy altogether. I wish we'd have had that option in this game. As it is now, you can really only change your outfits as you unlock them. A huge Rollie Fingers mustache would be an awesome choice.
For the full price of admission, I am definitely getting my money's worth on Red Dead Redemption. It is literally hours-upon-hours of fun. I have been staying up way too late playing RDR, which unfortunately leads to a rough time going to work the next morning! Highly recommended.
Red Dead Redemption Feature
- The Dead Eye targeting mechanic, allowing the player to slow down time for shot accuracy, as well as ridable horses and more than 40 kinds of animals that you can hunt or be hunted by.
- Expansive open-world gameplay set in the final years of the American Wild West.
- Massive play area filled with NPCs, made up 3 unique regions composed of towns and outposts filled with characters with varying looks, accents, etc.
- Morality system based on honor and fame generated by the players actions throughout the game.
- Western themed mini-games including showdowns, gambling, hunting bounties, cattle herding and five finger fillet; and an assortment of period specific weapons.
Red Dead Redemption Overview
Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic, set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age. The story of former outlaw, John Marston, Red Dead Redemption takes players on a great adventure across the American frontier.
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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Jun 06, 2010 14:00:05
