Red Dead Redemption

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.

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.

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

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.

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.