Red Dead Redemption Review

9.5

Format Xbox 360

Developer Rockstar

Publisher Rockstar

Genre Action

40 Comments

Rockstar has claimed that that Red Dead Redemption is the ultimate sandbox game - and dozens of hours in, we can't help but agree. It's immersive, engrossing and superbly addictive. In fact, this review almost didn't happen at all; we were too busy playing cowboys.

Let us get you up to speed. You take on the role of scarred-face, five o'clock shadow-donning ex-outlaw John Marston.

John went straight after being left for dead by his old gang. He got married, had a kid and settled down. If David Cameron was campaigning in the Wild West - all that 'we'll mend your lawless, gang-cowered society' stuff - John could well have been his poster boy.

But things didn't quite stay Waltons-perfect for our antihero. Red Dead Redemption would be a pretty boring video game if it did, after all.

Three years after his vow to remain legal, Marston's wife and son are kidnapped by federal agents - who give the grizzled cowboy an ultimatum. They want him to track down his former gang members. In return, they'll let his family go rather than kill them. It's one of those unreasonable deal things.

You get dumped in the small town of Armadillo with the whole of the Wild West stretching out around you... and so begins your quest to find your former friends and clean up the dusty streets along the way.

THE GREAT PLAINS
The first thing that ropes you into Red Dead Redemption is the stunning environment in front of you. There's an immense detail in the world - from the dust clouds on the ground to the sunlight streaming between mountains towards the end of the day.

Trotting to the edge of a cliff will force you to put a few minutes aside to admire the serene view... before dealing with the gang leader hogtied to the back of your horse.

The journey there - indeed, anywhere - is the best thing Red Dead Redemption has to offer. It's a massive game. It's also massively empty - but that's okay.

In a way, Red Dead Redemption works better than GTA because it's based on naturally sparser environments. Niko Bellic was constantly bombarded with stressful, urgent urban surroundings. John Marston roams in simpler times, which house simpler lives.

In a densely populated modern day metropolis, the limitations of the AI are exposed - simply because there are so many more examples of them.

Red Dead Redemption may not necessarily be a technological leap when it comes to imitating a working society, then. But this is the Wild West; where cowboys hunched on bar stools playing five finger fillet or outlaws watching the world go by on a terrace are all that's needed to create a really authentic and believable world.

As you gallop over the Great Plains, having a lone cowboy ride past with a simple 'Howdy' every five minutes is an incredibly simple and tiny event - but it makes all the difference.

Once you start to move beyond New Austin (the classic imagining of the Wild West) your surroundings change - and smart nods to bygone culture are plentiful. Head south towards your Mexican friends under military rule and there's a wash of civil unrest and a noticeable change in culture.

West Elizabeth, meanwhile, is further along than New Austin when it comes to technology - with the motorcar and early stages of effective government representing the gradual death of the old West.

Redemption also boasts a fully working ecology system - complete with every animal from skunks to vultures. Venture out into the wilderness at night and you'll find you're fighting off more wolves than bandits.

This isn't always as pleasing as it sounds: One of the more frustrating times we had was whistling for our horse - only managing to attract the attention of nearby cougars, which routinely killed the horse and then went for our face. Not funny at the time... but it's the kind of thing you laugh about after. When you're thinking about Red Dead Redemption under your duvet. And you will. It's one of those.

HOWDY STRANGER
When it comes to story missions, the inhabitants of the world really come to life. Characterisation and voice acting could rival any of the classic silver screen interpretations of the Wild West.

Take insane grave robber Seth, for example, who's not quite all there and will speak to corpses - or just the voices in his head - as he rides shotgun. Or the jolly, wobbly and always nervous mumblings of West, a salesman-cum-con artist. Each of the main characters have their own idiosyncrasies that you'll come to love; and personalities you'll usually learn to be wary of.

The missions themselves will see you riding, shooting and lassoing your way around the open world. The game's auto-aim targeting system allows you to be a dead shot. With a flick of the left trigger and a quick push of the right, you can get that 'palm slapping the hammer' feel to your gun play.

If you want really rapid fire though, you'll have to take advantage of 'Dead Eye' - which is the only real feature to make it through from RDR ancestor Red Dead Revolver (apart from the western theme itself).

Dead Eye - activated via the right analogue stick - slows down time. A sepia slow-mo effect washes the screen and allows you to sweep over enemies with the crosshair, painting them with red markers. Pull the trigger and John hits every target with alarming speed. It's particularly useful for pinpointing a hostage-taker - or eliminating out a group of advancing bandits all at once.

Lassoing a villain (or anyone for that matter; bar tender, piano player... nun) is even more satisfying than shooting them in the face. Select the lasso from the weapons wheel opened with the right bumper, ride alongside someone, aim and fire as with the gun and Marston will expertly snare the poor fellow. From there you can drag them around or hog tie them and carry them off. Why not recreate the classic 'tied to a train line' scene? (With a nun?)

Red Dead's missions are usually based around cleaning out a gang hideout or dealing with an ambush as you move from one area to the next. As a result there are twinges of repetition, but they're barely felt because the basic mechanics of play are so strong.

CLEANING UP THE STREETS
Perhaps strangely, it's Red Dead's side-quests that often provide the most exciting moments - and complete the feeling that there's a real world ticking over beyond the edges of your screen.

You can rip Wanted posters from the wall and go bounty hunting whenever you feel like it. Or amble through Armadillo - and witness the sound of a riotous gang all-of-a-sudden disturbing the peace. As they come crashing through, pistols firing - maybe dragging a helpless victim behind them - your adrenalin levels will spike as you go to intervene.

At this point you could open fire on the gang straight away. But you'll have to be quick and accurate, because they'll return fire immediately - and you'll have more holes than a fishing net in seconds. Plus, they're not going to stick around for long - so you're more likely to end up in hot pursuit, galloping and gun slinging to save the victim or in a shoot-out at the gang's hideout if they make it back before you can catch them.

The fact that side-quests can take widely different paths helps keeps things fresh. Of course, you don't have to get involved at all if you don't want to - you could just stroll back into the Saloon for a leisurely game of Poker.

If you do take action though, you'll be able to contribute to your standing in society thanks to the 'Fame and Honour' system. Every significant act contributes to your Fame. Whether it's deemed good or bad, however, determines your status as an honourable hero or a villainous rogue.

Put in enough good deeds and you could be on the business end of discounts in the general store and gun shop. Go too far the other way and you'll just find yourself on the business end of the law.

Redemption's side quests are usually one of a set few and - like the key missions - can become slightly repetitive; save a terrorised innocent, return a stolen horse/cart, save a woman from a cougar. Just your average day in Grimsby.

But the fact that you can see the game's limitations and yet still get that compulsive "one more bounty then I'll see to that chip pan fire" feeling is real credit to the game's mechanics - which manage to recreate a real sense of satisfaction and just good old fashioned fun again and again.

We haven't even mentioned the multiplayer - which offers all the usual modes of deathmatch, team deathmatch and capture the flag in cowboy clothes. And there's the Free Roam mode, which uses similar on-the-fly challenges that players can compete in together in order to level up.

There's a lot borrowed from the GTA series here: The radar at the bottom of the screen, the menu and map system, the cover and targeting system, rag doll physics and movements of characters are all similar. But while GTA is an impressively vast game, Red Dead's dusty plains and their comparatively few residents create a real world - not just a working city.

Red Dead Redemption is not just a game that you love to play - it's a life you'll never want to leave. And when you do finally pull yourself back into the real world, you'll seriously consider buying a horse.

It's a tremendously detailed and authentic realisation of the Wild West with great stories, characters and inner workings. Buy it now.

For another opinion read PSM3's Red Dead Redemption review and Official Xbox Magazine's Red Dead Redemption review.