IAHGames

I’ve always been a devout patron of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto series. The notion of being able to go anywhere and do anything in any way you want made for a rewarding and amazing experience. And being someone who loves a good story, I kept going back to GTA for more.

Therefore it was only natural that I waited with much anticipation and excitement for this sequel or spiritual successor to Red Dead Revolver for the next-generation console. I'm the guy who purchased a Playstation 2 just so he could play Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas; you can only imagine just how impatiently I had waited to get my hands on the game!

Suffice to say, the moment I got it, the world of Red Dead Redemption had me lassoed and tied to the proverbial horse the entire time…

My experience through RDR was a lot smoother than that poor sod's

While the GTA story had many twists and turns, Redemption has opted for a much more linear plot. As one-time outlaw John Marston, you're tasked with the straightforward task of going after your former gang members by order of the fledgling Bureau. Of course, in typical Rockstar fashion, Marston's family is 'looked after' by the lawmen and used as leverage against our anti-hero. While not thrilled about his arrangement, John acquiesces and prowls the Wild West looking to complete his mission, return to his family and retire on the farm he built.

Naturally, his journey is littered with difficulties. John Marston finds himself riding from America to the dusty plains of Mexico where he gets embroiled in a bloody revolution that had nothing to do with him before he gets to ride off into the sunset.

Following the single-player story won't take long. I dare say that the entire campaign feels like its 50% shorter than GTA IV and it is possible to complete it within 20 hours without bothering with the side quests or other activities you can get up to. That said, Rockstar has developed the game so well, that it is nigh impossible to ignore the world that is reacting to you.

Most times, while riding from one mission hub to the other, I get sidetracked by the world of Redemption. Sometimes it's a hunter with a challenge to kill five birds the quickest; at other times, it's a damsel in distress.

Once a frantic rider gallops up to me, begging me to help his friend who was about to get hanged by bandits. We rode in and with remarkable efficiency thanks to the awesome Dead Eye targeting system, make short work of the bandits. However, in the swirl of things, I had accidently painted the friend and shot him dead in the scuffle. The rider was beyond consoling as he walked up to his dead friend, now hanging limp by the noose, the horse that was keeping him up long since frightened off, and began to cry.

With a heavy heart, I simply rode off and left the grieving man alone.

Keep in mind that you may never meet this man because there are hundreds of randomly scripted events that can occur anywhere and anytime. With the exception of the damsel that is perpetually in distress, such events break up the expected routine of missions and infuses the world of Redemption with a reality and believability that I felt was missing from GTA IV.

Plus, a random scripted event sometimes leads to a pivotal character helping you make headway in your mission.

Nigel West Dickens. Bet he was beaten up in school a lot

The game teaches you to expect the unexpected and more times than I can count, forced me to use all my skills on the fly, making everything feel like cohesive units dependent on one another.  Even at the start, you're taught the mechanics through gameplay. You learn to ride in a group, aim and shoot, herd cattle and most importantly, lasso and break horses.  That's important because it gives you the lasso and allows you to bring bounties back alive. And while playing, the game constantly ensures you know how to use every tool at your disposal.

Lassoing horses are serious business…

…so is herding cattle

For instance, accepting a bounty hunter mission offers you two options. One is go in, guns blazing, and kill everyone, including the leader of the gang and bring back an item of his for a reward. The other is: go in, guns blazing, kill everyone, then cripple the leader, hogtie him, secure him on the back of your horse and ride back into town all the while fending off gang reinforcements. Dead Eye comes in real handy here so keep watch on your meter.

Just remember that the leader can still be killed, so don't ride too hard or too carelessly, like I did the first time. Bring him back alive and you get a bigger cash reward, plus more honour and fame.

Not all events require violence though. You might meet a nice old man who's out gathering flowers for his wife and requests your help. Or you might prowl the country for said flowers to sell for cash. Other times, you might chance upon a camping party and choose to sit with them and listen to their stories by campfire. While it doesn't add anything to gameplay, it does give a much-needed break and real sense of immersion into the game itself.

Where was the option to sit and enjoy the sunset in GTA IV? You can do that in Redemption. Besides, you might get lucky and hear the campers trade stories about a certain Red Harlow from Red Dead Revolver, tying that game into this one.

Rather be out, skinning bunnies

And if you're the gambling type, head on over to the various poker, blackjack, or five finger fillet joints you can find in towns and partake in some friendly games. Of course, don’t let them catch you cheating. But if they do, there's only one way to settle it – the old Wild West standoff.

The gun duel is fairly simple: draw your gun when the word 'Draw' appears on the screen, pull back your right stick and move it forward to simulate drawing your gun, paint your target and let the bullets fly. If you're a pro, you can shoot his hat or gun off and that'll gain you some nice points. I'm not that pro though, so I'll settle for staying alive.

Contrary to popular belief, you do NOT get a flash flight attached to your pistol

Unlike the sprawling metropolis of Liberty City, complete with locals walking around with groceries that are so easily knocked out of their hands, the vast expanse of America in Red Dead Redemption offers little save the occasional stagecoaches and wildlife that prowl the country as you make your way from town to town. There are no car horns blaring, crashes or constant jams to impede your progress or get in the way of a pursuit.

The lands are open and while peaceful, are not empty. Riding through the countryside offers a unique reward. Over the hills, you see the sun setting or rising, casting a beautiful orange glare on the world. Your horse leaves footprints in the sand as it gallops by, a trail of dust in its wake. When it rains, the skies darken and puddles form over uneven ground. The roads are slick and wet.  Thunder rumbles in the distance and your vision is obscured but never do you feel the danger of slamming headfirst into a horse that's somehow appeared in front of you.

With the lack of perpetual vehicles on the road to perpetuate life, the draw distance of Redemption is much higher than that of GTA IV. Things rarely 'pop up' on your screen without you having noticed it ahead of you first.

It's impressive how shadows of trees shift and move according to the time of the day and how they're reflected on the side of a building or the ground. Fire casts harsh shadows against the darkness and character textures are gritty and rugged, keeping in with the tone of the world.

That's for taking my hat!

Controls are easy enough to master and far more intuitive that GTA IV. The cover system is also less complicated as the camera rarely gets in your way. However, be careful of taking cover behind boulders as attempting to move Marston might make him circle around the boulder, putting you in plain sight. While I'm not a fan of the manual targeting system, it's simple enough to get a hang of the auto target. Simply release the draw and click it again for the game to target the nearest opponent. Of course, in Dead Eye mode, it's far more satisfying to paint your target with tiny reticules and let the bullets fly. Watching a fallen enemy get caught in the stirrup and the spooked horse speeding off with his foot tied to it never gets old.  

While the action is seamless and exciting, it also ties into a lot of the other things you can do without engaging the main story. As mentioned above, there are options like blackjack, poker, randomly scripted events and of course, the acquisition of the many outfits.

One of the things I had loved about GTA: San Andreas was that it introduced character customization by way of mix-matching clothes. It gave you a sense of belonging to an otherwise static character. In GTA IV, while the clothing options were… less flamboyant but appropriate, it continued that trend.

With Redemption, that trend sees new life, albeit in a different form. Now, there will be some people who love it, and there will be others who don’t.

Love this outfit. Didn't like how I had to get it. Neither did those guys

To obtain different outfits, you need to first unlock them, either by entering a new city, talking to someone or being engaged in a totally random event that may happen at the start, middle or end of the game. And once you get it, you unlock a series of challenges you are required to pass before you get the outfit. Each outfit has a number of challenges you need to complete and they range from bringing back a certain bandit alive (easy enough), acquiring a piece of cloth for the outfit to performing night watch duties at certain ranges or towns. Yet most of these outfits require you to win at some gambling game.

And that's where my problem with it comes. See, sometimes you're expected to win games like horse shoe or blackjack. Those are simple enough and require less time tinkering. Others require you to win at poker, or win a certain number at poker. To do so requires you to obtain the gentleman's suit that allows cheating. Now being called a cheat, immediately engages you in a duel which is an easy and smart way of earning you some extra cash.

I have no idea how many times I've been called a cheat. And oh, did I mention, I wasn't about to learn how to play poker to get an outfit. I couldn't learn it with four uncles teaching me, there's no way I'm going to learn it now.

What's worst is if you're going for the 100%, then you're going to have to learn poker. Now I've spent more than five hours just playing blackjack and doing random things because the world stood between me and my mission (in a good way) but with a game that was already packed with things to do, it would be nice to be able to purchase your own outfits and mix-match them. I for one, would love to change Marston's hat.

Still, there are some outfits that are simpler to get and you get a handful of free ones just for entering new areas or doing a particular mission. Being able to customize your character however you see fit is the draw factor in a lot of games and in a game as ambitious as Redemption, it's a little disappointing I didn't get to doll Marston up the way I like. The worst thing is graphically, the outfits are so well done you're going to want to equip every duster and poncho you can just to watch it sway realistically in the wind.

How I feel about learning poker

For a game that is so beautifully crafted, these gripes are minor at least. I can ignore the occasional graphical glitch or sudden clones of NPCs that pop up. I can ignore how the camera sometimes gets in your way while targeting and turning during Dead Eye.

I can ignore all of these things because the game is so completely worthwhile and satisfying that you'll be hard-bent to see it through to the end. Not to mention that graphical flaws are far and few. You may even never encounter one in your play-through.

The voice acting is great, the characters come alive, the plot is simple but effective and every nuance built into the game makes the Wild West a much more believable world than Liberty City.

Maybe it's the bias talking since I do love me a good old Western, but I can tell you the praise is warranted. It is good that Rockstar created a game like this because any other company would only screw it up.

Non-believers will be shot

After plowing through the single player missions, it's gratifying to know that your adventures do not end there. Hop onto the multiplayer and get thrust into an escapade game unlike any other.

To describe this as multiplayer seems a little underwhelming. The online version of Redemption is more like an MMO. You begin with a low level character riding a donkey (I swear I run faster than the thing), and as you clear out gang hideouts and kill other players, you'll level up, allowing you to choose other characters  you'd like to play. New weapons and mounts become available too.

However, in my playtime in the online world I haven't seen much action going on. In the game lobby where you roam and cap gang hideouts, maybe at any one time there were only four of us in the world. Sometimes we helped each other, other times… well, you know.

But getting into specific matches, now those are fun. You have numerous challenges you can do either as a posse or alone. Take my advice though: ride in a posse, you don't want to be the Wild West's most wanted man. Or woman.

See what I mean?

Game play is exactly the same, only far more frantic as this time you're playing against other people, possibly children at home during school break. They've harnessed their trigger finger and are out to kill you. They do it on WoW as part of the Alliance and they'll do it on Redemption. And when you kill them, they cry and whine to mommy.

So ride in a posse and go old school on them. No pun intended.

If you're considering getting Red Dead Redemption, stop thinking about it and go get it. Those who already have it can attest to what a work of art this is. I can't properly put in words the myriad emotions I feel while playing. Calm, serene, anger, excitement… these are some things I associate with Red Dead Redemption now. There's just something about riding for miles under the naked sky that puts things in perspective. And judging by how I'd probably get thrown off and trampled to death if I ever tried to ride a horse in real life, I'm more than happy to live vicariously through John Marston.

Rockstar has once again given us a game that's only going to push the envelope for open world design. Many developers are going to mimic Redemption but none will come close to capturing the magic and authenticity of that period. While most will flood their games with violence and sex, Rockstar understands that it is the narrative, it's strong characters that makes the world come alive .

So join us in the game and we'll show you just how the West was won.

The silver lining at the end of a beautiful day