World 1-1 review
Red Dead Redemption review
Overview
"Red Dead Redemption" is the sequel to 2004’s “ Red Dead Revolver”. Developed by Rockstar San Diego for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, It follows a former outlaw, John Marston in 1911 as he must apprehend his fellow former outlaws for a shadowy government agency, Blackwater, dead or alive.
Gameplay
"Red Dead Redemption" is an open world sandbox, that allows you to openly traverse the fictional state of New Austin as well as Mexico. This sets a great feeling of exploration at the beginning of the game but it quickly becomes a burden. Buggy and unresponsive horse mechanics and vast and bland landscapes make traversing the land towards objectives long and boring. There are small side-quests that dot the western deserts but there is little or no reward in doing so.
Red Dead has a morality system called, fame and honor, which changes the reactions with the ambient NPC’s in the town. I personally didn’t see any differences in gameplay or interactions that you normally see in most games morality systems and it doesn’t live up to its potential.
The 3 person shooter mechanics fare much better. Red Dead sports a cover system which is pretty standard, it doesn’t do anything wrong, but it doesn’t do anything exceptionally well either. Breaking many modern shooter conventions you are allow to carry a full arsenal of weapons, rifles, shotguns,and a sniper rifle, but most of the weapons are typical of most shooters. The weapons all feel great to control and the ragdoll effects are fun to watch.
“Deadeye” is a function similar to Bullet Time and is supposed to represent John Maston’s quick and keen eye, able to mark and fire on multiple targets. This works very well, especially on horseback and helps balance out the fact the horse can be a hard to control. The main issue is that it can sometimes make the game too easy, taking some of the challenge out of the gameplay. Another unique gameplay element are duels. You will stand off with another outlaw in a quickdraw to the death but this is not as fun as it sounds, the mechanics are sloppy and convoluted and are not satisfying.
Summary: The basic structure of the shooting feels satisfying but nothing really stands out. The same can’t be said about the Horse controls whose physics are buggy and controls stiff and unresponsive.
The solid core gameplay pulls it through.
0.5 points.
Graphics
The vast open spaces are a bit bland to travel through, but are amazing to look at. The lighting in the overworld can be amazing especially at dawn and dusk. Having the Sun setting with the sound of hooves buckling in the sand can really make you feel like a cowboy at the turn of the century. Rockstar has done a great job immersing you into their universe.
The John Marston model looks great, but that can’t be said about most of the supporting characters. Facial expressions on many of the characters look choppy and ugly, but the animations look amazing with well choreographed scenes, that really builds up the tension and immersion.
The soundtrack is spectacular setting the tone for this wild west adventure. But any ambient music seems absent most of the time while traversing the environment, which can really hurt the immersion into the environment. The sound effects do the job, but with the soundtrack being so spectacular it makes the sound effects seem so bland in comparison.
The voice acting is superb with fully acted scenes that help you connect with the protagonist and help you build a scene of familiarity with the supporting cast.
Summary: Amazing visuals, acting, great soundtrack and voice acting out shine the average sound and clunky facial animations.
1 point.
Story
This outlaw tale will grab you and not let go, as John must hunt down 4 of his former outlaws to save his loved ones. The acting, character interactions are great especially between John and the Blackwater agents, it really ratchets up the tension and makes you feel the weight of your actions. The characters and acting pull you along but the story really lacks many significant climaxes or twists, except for the Williamson finale and the great ending.
The in game missions do a good job mixing things up to avoid the common sandbox trap of boring receptive missions types. The biggest low are the ranching missions which last too long, I know they build up the atmosphere but I don’t play cowboy games to round up steer. I play to shoot outlaws.
The characters are rich and have a deep personal history which resonates with each interaction with John. Many game developers try to force a bond between the player and the character, Red dead does it with ease. Weather you love them or hate them, you will feel something for the lead and his supporting cast. On a side note John Marston’s higher then thou attitude can be a little annoying and can hurt his outlaw image.
Summary: It has some problems but the great story and characters pulls the storytelling though, even though some of the missions can be dull.
1 point.
Presentation
Even though the game has many fundamental problems, What really makes this game great is the combination of its lesser parts and the atmosphere it installs. The HUB ,graphical effects and flare really helps further immerse the player into the world and the red and black color motif really fit the subject and helps set up the period and the grim nature of his mission.
1 Point.
Overall:
Weather you love westerns or Rockstar games, this is a must play, but not necessarily a must buy.
3.5 / 5
Review Matrix
Each review is broken into 4 areas.
Gameplay: controls, single player and multiplayer mechanics and concepts.
Graphics: Audio, visual and sound effects.
Story: Basic plot narrative, pacing, characters, interactions and missions.
Presentation: Overall synergy, atmosphere, emersion, graphic design and my view about the title as a whole.
Each category can get up to one point with a minimum of a half of a point. If one area of the game does exceptionally well it can receive a 1up, which is an extra point to a particular area. This will allow you to see which area propels a title to a 5/5 score.
