Red Dead Redemption

I have spent hundreds of hours immersed in video games. I have played everything from puzzle games to mass-multiplayer online games. I have received crappy grades in school because of video games. I have regretted entire summers spent in front of a TV screen, but now, as I sit at my computer, I reflect on those summers. I picture them now not as summers down the toilet but as summers that are a dark tunnel. A dark tunnel with a light at the end. A light that is the greatest game I have ever played, the climax of my gaming career, Red Dead Redemption. Through unfathomable detail, immense algorithms, and an uncanny amount of testing Rockstar successfully created a masterpiece which raises the bar to a point which I believe can not be reached with the same technology used to create Red Dead Redemption. New technology is needed to create a game that even competes with Red Dead Redemption. After playing Red Dead Redemption I may never feel another game is worth my time.

Five years ago I purchased "Gun" under the confusion that I was buying the western I had seen commercials for on TV. The game I wanted was "Red Dead Revolver" which turned out to be a major disappointment. "Gun" on the other hand was immense fun and I have enjoyed it every time I have played it.

"Red Dead Redemption" is what Gun should have been and so far superior to "...Revolver". The level of detail is gargantuan (such as smoke rising from gun barrels or shadows under every character). The scenery is ridiculously gorgeous for a video game and the sheer size of the world is inconceivable. I have yet to explore even twenty percent of it.

The story is progressing slowly but it has only just begun for me.

I recommend this game to anyone with a love for action/adventure westerns and easily would get my vote as the best game of year.

I've been playing video games since the days a good driving game was a black and white-move in and out of lane-broken windows on crash game. And throughout the years I've been looking for a truly immersible experience that could drag reality out and place me in the middle of a different reality, as a different person. It took many years, but here it is: "Red Dead Redemption".

The road was long. It took time for 2d to turn 3d and took time for the character's lips to actually move when they talked(big deal, as it added a ton for realism). Then incredible, photo-realistic graphics and my mind was blown away. Game mechanics became better and better and games could now tell stories with immense scope and depth. Then there was GTA IV and it was absolutely amazing, it worked on every level I had dream a game could work...except for one thing: I never wanted to experience arriving at a foreign country and blast my way towards becoming a "playa""...so even tough the game was absolutely perfect, it didn't mean as much as it should have. Enter "Red Dead Redemption". What guy hasn't dream of being a cowboy, free and courageous, traveling by horse on big deserted plains with our ready weapon at our side; hunting, going after the criminals, the bad guys, searching for treasures, sometimes doing a slight cross over to the wrong side of the law. All of that and more you'll find in this game. The scope, the graphics...to just roam the land and hunt, the occasional herding....it seems like you're playing in your own movie. A full cinematic experience that can be lived, delivered through the incredible Rockstar Advanced Game Engine(RAGE).

Many games have great gameplay; many have incredible graphics; many showcase good storytelling, but only this one gives you a completely immersible lost world to be experienced.

If you are a person that enjoys gaming, be it casually or not, you'll love this game.

I had enjoyed GTA4 (which I picked up long after it came out) but for some reason (perhaps a Call of Duty obsession) I never paid any attention to Red Dead when it came out - even though I only heard good things. I borrowed it recently and after 10 hours on it I bought my own copy. Similar to GTA4 there is a narrative following one character which involves lots of jobs (missions) for others, gradually getting harder as you get closer to completing the story. In addition to this there are lots of side distractions so that you can play for hours without actually progressing the story one inch.

The story missions are great. Very enjoyable, fun to play – difficult enough to avoid being a dull doddle but easy enough to get even the hardest ones after a few tries. There are a lot of cut scenes but they are well done and, if you don't rush from one story mission to the next then they don't seem crowded. The difficulty is not too bad and the options in aiming modes makes it possible to make it harder without changing the content of the game but, more importantly, the game is long. Some people prefer the games where you spent a lot of time battling one "bit" or one level to get passed it – I don't, I don't enjoy frustration, so having a game that is reasonably easy to progress is good for me – but the key thing is then that there is lots to do, since I'll do most things in one or two tries. Red Dead is awesome for this – hunting, random encounters on the roadside, missions for strangers, gambling in saloons, all of it is fun and easy to waste hours.

When I had been told of this game, the idea of riding from one point to another worried me because a lesser game would use this to "fill time" and make missions feel longer by virtue of having you spent 10 minutes crossing the map to get to a 3 minute mission. Not so here – firstly the missions are not short but also there are things to do even as you travel around – distractions that you can do or ignore whether it is a trap set by robbers or a man who needs help with wolves etc. The fast-travel is good but to be honest it is often more fun to just ride for 5 minutes and enjoy it.

Part of enjoying the ride is how simply stunning this game is technically. OK there are some minor glitches such as horses getting trapped in rocks but these are easily addressed by the player, but otherwise this is impressive. Sunsets are stunning and the vistas are as great as anything John Ford brought us – the difference being that every rock and plant and mountain here has been created – not just filmed. You can ride from one end of the world to the other without any loading screens or stuttering (which, as other Fable 3 players will appreciated, is a joy), you can see for miles and the weather effects of wind or rain are as unobtrusive and natural as they are impressive. So many games set challenges to explore and find things and often they are a chore just included to add time rather than enjoyment to the game (again, Fable 3 comes to mind) – but with RDR it is honestly just plain fun to ride round without any specific mission or story going on.

A lot of the reviews on this site are quite gushing and I was determined to be as objective as possible – but it is hard when the game is this good and this enjoyable. It is not that the game is like being in a western – it is like being in a brilliant western.

I have been playing Video Games for more than 10 years. I have witnessed the evolution from Dos-Games, to Windows 98 compatible games, Windows 2000, XP, then switch to Xbox 360 and from 2D to 3D, from Mono Sound to 7.1 sound experiences, I have seen the whole evolution.

I have also seen games similar to this one, if we talk about graphics, sound effects, game-play scheme that is. However, never have I ever played a game that captured a targeted style and converted it so well to the video game screen.

I am very indulgent with video games in the aspect of their graphics, sounds, game-play, diversity, because what I am looking for is atmosphere so intense, you could cut if with a knife. Which is why I loved the first Assassins Creed, although I had to admit, it was actually a poorly finished game.

This game however cuts the atmosphere quite near to perfectly: never before has there been a game with that brilliant capture of wild western style and atmosphere! It helps the game that I am a fan of the classic Clint Eastwood westerns and John Marstons looks must've been inspired on the ones of outlaw Josey Wales, played by Clint Eastwood.

The music sometimes reveals tunes close to the good old Ennio Morricone tracks.

The guns, the dramatic imprecise shootings, the huge lands to discover, the outfits, the baddies and the goodies (and the uglies) and all of the above make for a knife sharp atmosphere.

I love it.

For me video games should be about being someone you can't be in real life (be that a soldier, a special secret agent, or, as in this case, a wild west outlaw), packed with brilliant atmosphere and this game delivers.

So much that I easily forgive it for the minor bugs and flaws it does contain. I guess no one and nothing is perfect, but this is damn close.

10/10