Reviews of Not So New Games: Red Dead Redemption

I think I'm gonna start up a new thing to post about every once in a while. As you can tell, the videos are on an indefinite hiatus, partially because I'm lazy and partially because my computer has started running slower than a lizard in Antarctica. As of right now, every one minute spent making a video would come at the cost of about two minutes waiting for this machine to do what I tell it to do. This is by no means an ideal situation.

So, in the spirit of giving people something even if it's worse than what they're used to, I'll be doing a lot of text posting on pretty much anything I decide to, perhaps even with some recurring features. These features may even continue on once my computer decides to cooperate again.

The first of these features stems a lot from personal experience. It's very common that I'll wait and buy video games several months (or even a year or two) after their release date. Why? Because I still get to play the game, the price has usually been knocked down between ten and twenty dollars, and the online play generally has a fair amount of people without being overcrowded. This also gives the added bonus of having more time to figure out if you think the game will be good or not. And so, in case you want to take this option as well but aren't sure what to get, I present to you, Reviews of Not So New Games. The first subject of these reviews is Red Dead Redemption, which, as I said in a previous post, I picked up a couple weeks back. The game was actually released back in late May, and I contemplated buying it, but decided, as usual, to wait a while. And here we are.

I won't go much into the plot of the game, considering I have no spoiler tags at my disposal and I don't want anybody targeting their death rays at my house because I ruined the story for them. What? I'm the only one with a death ray? Well, still. Better not to take chances.

Basically, Rockstar Games has done what they do best. They've taken a game that goes above and beyond your standard M-rated fare where you shoot people, steal things, along with occasionally doing both at the same time, and they've moved it into the Wild West. This also adds the perks of people not always running away screaming when you pull out a gun, as well as being able to hear the hilarious but seldom-used word "wench" on a semi-regular basis, sprinkled around some more colourful language. While the GTA creators have swapped out cars for the more time period-fitting horses, the addition of a few fast-travel systems à la Assassin's Creed II allows you to get pretty much anywhere you want, provided, of course, you know where you're going.

And knowing where you're going is, indeed, more difficult than it sounds. The RDR world is literally sprawling, with miles of land for you to pillage and plunder throughout the game. While this land is, as you would expect, primarily open desert, there are a few towns filled with people, along with randomly appearing hunters and cowboys that you can encounter during your travels, so the only sense of scarcity that you get is one that makes sense.

Speaking of people encountered during your travels, every once in a while you'll run into people who could use a hand with something. Usually the favour is more pressing than simply giving them a cup of sugar to help bake a cake. One of the commonly occurring problems in towns, for examples, seems to be stopping people from stabbing prostitutes to death. To answer the question you might be asking, no, it doesn't happen to anybody else. Just prostitutes. Yeah, it's a little odd. Also, if you're hoping I'm gonna make some "stabbing/penetration" joke, look elsewhere. I mean, I have to draw the line somewhere. Probably. Anyway, these events usually have a couple different ways they can play out, largely based on how you react. For example, in our previously mentioned example, you can either stop the person from stabbing the prostitute, or not stop him. This obviously results in the prostitute either dying or not dying, both of which can have benefits. These events typically dole out some minor rewards: a few dollars; an increase to your notability, which makes people recognize you more; as well as altering your "honour", which can be either positive or negative. This basically acts as the game's karma system, as people with negative honour will have much more trouble with sheriffs and such coming after them, whereas those with positive honour can get discounts at stores and will find it ironically easier to bribe the law enforcement to leave them alone. Negative honour is, as usual, easier to gain, with the most effective method seeming to be just pulling a gun and shooting anyone who gets in your way.

The game's combat is also pretty easy to get used to. While the cover system can be finnicky at times, leading you to be caught on the wrong side of both a wall and a shotgun, the main character's "Dead Eye" ability (which is effectively your run-of-the-mill bullet time) quickly tips the odds back in your favour. As the game goes on, you uncover new and exciting ways to dispatch your foes with reckless abandon, including the cartoon-y and always fun method of lassoing them, tying them up, and throwing them on a train track. Note that this method is not limited to killing enemies, and, as shown by numerous Youtube videos, also works on nuns. No joke.

The plot seems to be standard Western fair, and pretty much takes a backseat to the scope of the environment and different opportunites to just mess around. That being said, don't write this off as another game you play just because of the open world. The characters are all individual and well-developed, and the plot is actually pretty engaging. As I haven't played through it all, I can't offer too much of a scope as to how long it is, but my bet's on somewhere around 20-30 hours; if, that is, you do nothing but play through story missions.

There are plenty of ways to get distracted in this game, with optional sidequests available from certain characters, various challenges to complete at different ranks such as sharpshooting and hunting, and even the temptation to just go out and explore the world. This is the first open-world game I've played where I legitimately wanted to take some time away from the missions to just go and look around.

The multiplayer experience is also quite well done, with the multiplayer lobby being composed of the entire single-player world. While online, you can ride around and link up with other players to from "posses", and from there you can start a variety of standard multiplayer games, such as deathmatches and CTFs, or just ride around, partake in some hunting or other pastimes, or even do some specifically adapted missions similar to those in the similar campaign. The newly added downloadable "Liars and Cheats" pack even adds in the ability to play poker and liar's dice with your friends online, along with some other features. I was a little disappointed by the lack of split-screen, particularly in the campaign, as the game design could lend itself very well to a co-op experience, but I can understand that the plot wouldn't fit the idea.

The tech specs of the game are also done very well. The animation of characters is about on par with what we've seen from previous Rockstar Games: nothing incredibly special, but pretty decent. The environments, however, are done quite well. Likewise, the sound quality is good and the characters' voices all fit their subjects, making it a very good experience.

All in all, I'd say Red Dead Redemption is well worth the money. It's one of the best open-world games I've ever seen, and if you're a fan of Rockstar's other works, buy it. No question.

***

And, there you have it, the first edition of Reviews of Not So New Games. I know it's long. Very long. But bear in mind the others will probably be more to the point. Like it? Don't? Too bad.

Keep going nowhere.