The sun is setting in the distance as I casually trot along the dusty trail. I’m admiring the scenery when a damsel in distress comes running out of the underbrush, wearing nothing but a negligee and begging for help. Could I give her a ride into town? Wait! All is not as it seems. As soon as she reaches me, she throws me to the ground, leaps onto my horse and gallops away laughing. But all is not lost. I quickly rise and whistle for my trusty steed. He immediately bucks her off and trots back to meet me. I leap into the saddle and the chase is on. I quickly lasso and hogtie her, place her on the back of my horse and think about what to do with her. Decision reached, I ride to the nearest train line, dump my protesting captive onto the tracks and step back. It doesn’t take long for the train to arrive and my would-be horse thief explodes into red mist. My ‘Dastardly’ achievement is proudly announced and I can’t help but smile. Life was hard in the Wild West.
Red Dead Redemption is an open world western adventure, GTA meets Pale Rider if you will. You play John Marston, a former outlaw who is blackmailed by government agents into hunting down the other members of his gang. So begins a classic tale of revenge, absolution and violence. Marston pursues his targets from New Austin to Mexico, meeting some interesting characters along the way, such as the Gollum-like gravedigger Seth (a personal favourite), the con man Nigel West Dickens (who I wanted to shoot in the face), gunslinger Landon Ricketts (Marston’s childhood inspiration) and sassy ranch owner Bonnie MacFarlane. He also encounters some interesting Strangers, who have quests and storylines of their own. Of course I can’t tell you how it all ends but if you’re a fan of westerns I’m sure you’ll appreciate it. I certainly did.
Despite his shady past Marston is a likeable character, so I was inclined to play him as a ‘good guy’ and accrue as much Fame and Honour as I could. These are the morality system stats used to determine how the NPCs react to you, and I found it almost addictive in my need to gain more of them. The best example of how much it was affecting me was when I lost Honour during a random event and was not pleased. A man was running out of town with a woman hogtied and slung over his shoulder. I quickly shot the villain, but because it was in the back I lost Honour! And the woman didn’t even thank me! Grrr. With that in mind Read Dead Redemption also caters for those players with a more, shall I say dastardly, demeanour, leading to a different path through the game and allowing little things like shooting thieves in the back. When playing this way, negative Honour and Fame is a good thing. Choices, choices.
If playing the straight and narrow, you’ll want to avoid being Wanted. Doing anything bad in the presence of witnesses will put a Bounty on your head and the lawmen will be summoned. Much like the GTA system, you must then escape and stay out of their range until the Wanted meter disappears. However, managing to avoid the authorities is not enough. The Bounty remains until you pay it off. Get a high enough price on your head and Bounty Hunters may come after you.
There is always something happening in the world of Read Dead Redemption and always something to do. The landscape is teeming with wildlife, NPCs go about their business and there are all manner of employment opportunities such as Nightwatchman or Bounty Hunter to keep you occupied. Not to mention the games, like Blackjack, Poker, Dice, Horseshoe throwing and my favourite, Finger Fillet. There are also stat building side activities like Sharpshooter and Survivalist. The Sharpshooter missions involve increasingly difficult objectives like shooting the hats of a target without injuring them. The Survivalist challenges involve killing and skinning a ridiculous amount of animals. This game is obviously not endorsed by PETA.
Combat is traditionally western, with Marston proving competent with a variety of weapons, including revolvers, rifles, knives, shotguns, and even cannons. Shooting is done in third person, and is an improved version of GTA’s. With this in mind I should mention the difficulty levels. From what I can tell the three difficulty settings only affect how you aim. On Easy, the target is automatically selected for you, but on Normal you have to manually aim. I recommend the Normal setting, as auto targeting doesn’t work in all aspects of the game, actually making it harder. There is also a bullet time-like mechanic called Dead Eye. This allows Marston to slow down time and shoot multiple targets or several points on a single target.
The landscape is extremely impressive, with sweeping vistas, canyons and a sky that goes on forever. Travel is done on horseback, with carriages and a train available for longer journeys. Your horse is easily replaceable but I grew quite attached to mine and didn’t even upgrade him when I had the chance. There are occasional graphic glitches when travelling but they are rare. The sunsets alone make up for them.
In addition to the single player campaign Read Dead Redemption also offers online Multiplayer. Up to 16 players can mix it up in a Mexican Standoff, with the survivors fighting over reward crates scattered around the landscape. In what is becoming a staple of multiplayer these days, players can even level up and also complete special challenges in return for rewards. There are also deathmatch and capture the flag modes. One of the highlights is the free roaming mode where players can form posses and attack other gangs and NPC enemies.
Red Dead Redemption is a must-play game. Not only does it appeal to lovers of Westerns, but it also offers an almost flawless example of an open world done right. It contains countless hours of things to do and it has style to spare. It is purely and simply a triumph and should be in every gamer’s collection.
