|
Post Date: 22:40 29-05-2010
Rating: 9
Author: awesomedrako
Comment: Red Dead Redemption is really one of a kind. Many have proclaimed it as 'GTA, but with horses'. That may be what those who don't look too deeply into it will think of it as, but it's fundamentally different. While both are essentially open-world action shooter adventure games (they're both a lot of genres as well!), and crime simulators for you to do as you please without actually getting arrested, GTA and Red Dead Redemption have a crucial difference. GTA is set in a modern city. Red Dead Redemption is set in the Wild West.
Setting: 10/10
Now, I will explain my point about the difference while simultaneously commenting on the setting of Red Dead Redemption. GTA's city is boisting with life. There are people walking around everywhere, there are cars driving around, police cars chasing criminals, ambulances rushing to save people. Cars will honk at you if you get in their way, and people will get annoyed if you walk into them. The city looks and feels alive. However, much of it can't be interacted with much beyond the things I described above. You have to accept you can't walk into the shops, you have to accept that you can't talk to every single person walking around. By contrast, Red Dead Redemption has a really massive open world, that is much less crowded. It could sometimes feel quite empty because of its vastness and how everything is spread out. However, the world can really be interacted with almost anywhere. Animals can be shot and skinned for money, horses can be found and broken in, finding an NPC in the middle of the desert could have a great chance of leading to a side-quest. In this way, Red Dead Redemption is more like Fallout 3 in its own right.
I have to say though, that Red Dead Redemption captures the feeling of the Wild West very well. The sheer hugeness and openness of the game reflects the time of freedom and 'riding into the sunset' really well. Everything is in place to make the game feel like the Wild West. The accents of the actors, the cowboys, the hills and canyons and desert, the various flora and fauna in the desert! Rockstar have crafted the world of the Wild West really quite well. And considering they made it so big, it's a pretty great achievement.
Gameplay: 9/10
Solid. Like pretty much any self respecting shooting game, Red Dead Redemption's shooting feels solid and good. There is also a 'Dead-Eye' system where the game slows down to bullet-time, and you can place shots on a person. This is upgraded itself, and eventually, you would be able to accurately place shots on parts of an enemy's body, wherever you want, all in bullet-time. This is a clever way to let the player experience the fast hands of a true gunslinger, without them needing that kind of reflex themselves.
The game is an open world game, and like the GTA games, it feels very open, albeit in a different way. In this game, you can interact with almost anything, and you can shoot anybody you like. It all depends on whether you want to play the good or bad guy.
One of Red Dead Redemption's main themes is exploration as well. The sheer open world beckons you to explore it. And most side-quests are not marked on the map. You have to find them yourself, which is another incentive to go around and find stuff. If you see a wanted poster, you can walk up to it and take the mission. If you see someone being beaten up, you can help them, and it might be a side-quest. Neither of these would be marked on your map though. You Have To Find Them. However, side-quests in Red Dead Redemption aren't as compelling as they could be. In Fallout 3, side-quests could end up very long, sending you all over the place, leading to many rewards, and maybe a moral dilemma. Red Dead Redemption's side-quests are nowhere near as deep, so is one of its potential failures in that respect.
Still, Red Dead Redemption's gameplay is solid and fun. The multiplayer is also pretty damn good as well, so I hear. From many people.
Graphics: 9/10
This is a modern triple-A console game, so naturally, graphics look good. However, Red Dead Redemption again captures the spirit of the West, this time in pristine graphics. Everything looks authentic, but most of all, very good looking. The horses in particular, really look like horses and run like horses.
Overall: 9/10
I mainly talked about the gameplay here, but I'll conclude by saying that Red Dead Redemption is, in my opinion, the greatest Western that has ever been made. The freedom of the West has been captured by Rockstar in the form of a game, perhaps the best medium for such a thing. However, I cannot simply give full marks to a game simply for being a really good Western. While this game is really fun, the exploration aspect it tries to achieve falls short when you compare it to Fallout 3 and other games with high exploration aspects. And Fallout 3 was made years ago! This game is near perfect open-world action, but it's still not the best game ever, despite what everyone keeps telling you.
|
