Red Dead Redemption

Finally "Red Dead Redemption" delivers all and much more what could have been expected after the prerelease-hype of the last months.

There have been many games which have unsuccessfully aimed at breaking the fine line between video game and movie, but "RDR" accomplishes indeed an interactive experience that could also have been effortlessly a two hours spaghetti western opera at your local theater.

The atmosphere created by state of the art graphics, the ride/interact/shoot-gameplay and the outstanding sound effects is astonishing, not to forget the wide beautiful landscapes, sharp and intelligent dialogues and the diversified, cinematic mission design such as "the great Mexican train robbery", which makes it nearly impossible to lay the controller down for while.

The story of John Marston who is in pursuit of his former gang members in order to save his family, which leads him to team-ups with several mostly dubious characters, forced contracts with men of the law and embroilments within the Mexican civil war, unfolds in three gigantic chapters, that are partitioned in 57 main missions, of which every single one succeeds to convince.

The main point of critic of Rockstars open world predecessor "Grand Theft Auto 4", that most of the time you are engaged with driving, does not affect the riding in "RDR" because of the possibility of warping, either by using stagecoaches or by camping in unpopulated areas. There are some minor flaws, like clipping errors, pop-ups and changing ammunition without collecting any, but they never change the overall feeling of taking part in one of the best games ever created.

It is not by hazard that the game trailer was shown as an ad in theaters; there are some references to the best westerns of all time; the freeze frame effect when pausing the game, the machine gun shootouts and the gloomy portrayal of Mexican people in general reminds of "The Wild Bunch", whereas the superiority during the revolver showdowns, the bounty hunter sub-missions with its "dead or alive"- "wanted"-posters and the music with its melodic whistles successfully quote the "A Fistful of Dollars"-trilogy.

If you ever wanted to participate in a western, with its bacon and beans flavor, its charismatic shootouts and its lone wolf feeling it's time to saddle the horses and go for gold: "Red Dead Redemption" has it all and much more.

9.7 out of 10

In 2001 Rockstar made a game that revolutionized gaming. The game was called Grand Theft Auto 3. When most game series had a problem going to the third dimension Rockstar was 2 steps ahead the competition. Grand Theft Auto had great control's for the time and gave you a huge world to do whatever you wanted to do in. Then Gta Vice City came and improved the formula. Gta San Andrease improved it even more, and Gta 4 felt like it perfected open world gaming. Well it turns out Gta 4 isn't perfection due to this game actually being better. It has the best open world graphics I have ever seen. Just sitting back and taking in whats around you is just an amazing experience. The writing like all Rockstar games is some of the best writing you'll find in a video game. The characters are all very memorable, side missions have so much depth that they could be considered part of the game, and dialogue is very good. The atmosphere is very strong. Playing the game you feel involved in a great western movie. The voice acing is top notch as usual from Rockstar just like the story. The controls are very good and easy to master, but what's best about the game is how much you have to do. If you get board of gang hideouts try poker. If you get tired of poker hunt. If you get tired of hunting try to unlock outfits. If you are bored of outfits play the story missions. Even if you completed the game you can still go on your menu, go to stats, go to missions, and you can replay a mission without restarting from the beginning of the story. I would say that this is perfection, but what I've learned from Rockstar is to expect more for them for their next big game. Gta 5 here we come.

Update: I recently got Xbox Live and now I can talk about the online gameplay. Just like the singleplayer you will have a massive gaming experience. You can play team deathmatch, grab the bag hold your own, free for all, or you can just go in free roam. The thing that makes the online matches different than normal game online matches is the very clever Mexican standoff. It starts the match out with one team getting a deserved advantage, and it is so satisfying for your team to get flawless victory. Then there is the excellent free roam. You get the same open world as the single player and you have many different ways to level up. You can do gang hideouts, complete challenges, fight the law, hunt down public enemies, or just go crazy and kill any player you see. The fun to be had is pretty much infinite.

Your'e a cowboy, a man that can end a life in a second. But when compared to the wild west you seems to be nobody. You travel many miles every day. But one day you may decide to stay where you are. Maybe you chose to stay in a haunted town to fight your fear or at the top of a cliff where you can see a piece of the world, and then you realize that you almost haven't seen anything. The world is changing and so are you. But you can change the world and the world can change you. Every move you make leads to consequences. Bad or good deeds will change people's opinion about you and that can change your destiny. People will hear about your deeds and with time the whole world will now you.

This is what Read Dead Redemption is about. And I am not alone when I am saying that the whole idea is incredible, and incredible is not even worth to be a describing of Red Dead Redemption. The graphic scenery is amazing. When I am looking down from a cliff the feeling of doing it in the reality is almost there. Wherever I go the scenery is full of life. The sounds of insects, birds flying over your head, wolves haunting deers not so far away and much more.

The touch of typical western gunfights is also included. One of the things I like most with them is when it's night and you can see a flash coming from every of the enemies gun. It makes a cool effect and the before not so powerful revolvers will now be the fear of the night.

The story-missions in this game is remarkable. You meet interesting characters and you are given new weapons, outfits, horses and more. And there is also a lot of side-missions, very entertaining. The voice actors is well picked and the scenes when the characters is talking is so well made that you should cut parts of them together, add some more things and show it on cinema.

There is so much to tell about this game, but I have to put an end of this review now with telling you that I highly recommend this game. This is the biggest reason why I have started to watch western-movies again. In my opinion is this the best game ever made. Not completely perfect, but very close to perfect.

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.

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