PS3 Review – Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption was developed by Rockstar San Diego and Rockstar North and follows the same open world gameplay as the Grand Theft Auto franchise which has made Rockstar famous over the years. Many might believe that this is essentially just Grand Theft Auto with an Old West setting and while there are some similarities between the two series, Red Dead Redemption features a plethora of new features, a gripping atmosphere, and most of all, a main character you’ll actually connect with.
Step into the boots of John Marston, the gritty, tough guy type who fits the atmosphere of the game perfectly. Marston is an ex-gang member and a self-described “robin hood” of the wild west, however, after being left for dead by his fellow gang members during a robbery gone awry, he’s left the life of crime and got himself a family and a farm. That fairy-tale story is short-lived, as the government is threatening Martson’s family unless John helps locate Bill Williamson, an old “friend” of John’s and member of his old gang. Despite his past and his bloodstained hands, Marston is the type of guy you want to see win. He’s polite, he’s a man of honor, a man of respect – at one point I Marston says to a lady of the night “Sorry Miss, but I’m married”. A far cry from the so-called heroes from other Rockstar titles.
Martson isn’t the only part of Red Dead Redemption brimming with personality. The land itself takes on a life of its own. At first glance the land may seem barren, deserted, and look like it’s going to be a bore traversing the sandy paths through the countryside. That isn’t the case at all. Even though there you can fast-travel to many of the areas in RDR, you won’t want to, instead, you’ll want to soak in the beautiful scenery and interact with the land itself. You could walk the same path between the same towns as many number of times as you want, and you wouldn’t have the same experience twice. You could be attacked by coyote, you could stumble across some Wild Feverfew, you could find a damsel in distress, or even a lawman chasing down a criminal for bounty. There is never a dull moment in the countryside with plenty of distractions from the main story to keep you busy. Though they may not impact the story as much as other events, they can certainly spell the end for Marston.
Each and every character, sans maybe one or two, offers up an exciting new branch of storyline. Unlike the GTA-series, you wont feel as though you are visiting one character too much. The missions are well spaced out and are always enjoyable. Missions are just the tip of the iceberg as Marston can also venture into towns to go gambling, have himself a drink, participate in a standoff, and even run gangs out of areas that they have taken over. This does not include the random encounters that will pop up while traversing across the map hunting the various animals that roam the west. While out in the plains, players will see others attacked by animals, asked to help out on individual matters, and even see public hangings. This game is as authentic as it gets for a title set in the old west.
This is not all that you will find to do in the vast world of Red Dead Redemption as there are plenty of mini games to keep your interest. Liar’s Dice, Horseshoes, Texas Hold ‘em, just to name a few. The mini games are actually very well done and it’s this kind of attention to the small things that really draws your attention. My personal favorite would be Texas Hold ‘em without a doubt as I have already found myself putting in plenty of hours into getting the best cards. There is also “jobs” that the player can take on. These include both Nightwatch and Horsebreaking jobs, both of which are a lot of fun. Nightwatch consists of you patrolling the town and making sure there is no wrongdoing going on for that particular night. In my personal experiences I was instructed to follow a dog while he sniffed out anything bad going on within the town. These can be both big and small crimes. I personally tended to get a lot of horse thieves trying to get away on horseback. Simply subdue them by lassoing or shooting them tends to do the trick.
One of the most important commodities in the game is money and one of the best ways to make it is to go hunting. Once you kill an animal its time to skin it for it’s fur and meat to then turn around and sell for easy money. This is an easy way to line your pockets with some quick money so you can go gamble it all away. You’ll see everything from hawks and vultures, to snakes and armadillos, wolves and coyote, rabbits and raccoons, to bears and cougars. Some are dangerous, some might as well fall down and die at your feet.
You’ll use your money to buy maps to the local towns, supplies for Martson and his horse, or weapons for Marston’s arsenal. Marston will be able to wield a variety of weapons, each serving a different purpose in battle. Although, Martson has his trusty six-shooter with him at all times, I found that the rifles and repeaters were much more useful weaponry. You’ll get a sniper rifle late in the game and it never proves to be all that useful. The most deadly weapon at Marston’s disposal is not a gun at all, it’s Red Dead Redemption’s “Dead Eye” system, that allows Martson to slow down time and take aim at multiple targets at once. When you press the button to shoot, Martson will then fire at each target with speed and precision. You’ll find yourself almost over-using this throughout the game, as many of the battles are tough and have you outnumbered. This allows you to even the odds much more quickly.
Aside from the bad ass weaponry that Martson will have at his disposal, what would a game set in the western-era be without a lasso? As you progress through the game this is just one of the things that you will unlock. You can pretty much use it on anything, most-enjoyably, people to hogtie them. It will come in very handy in some of the jobs that you will take on throughout the game.
25 Responses to “PS3 Review – Red Dead Redemption”
Got this today, great game. Not mind-blowing but it’s great fun. Can’t wait 2 play some more.
I agree with Anthony. Never been a fan of GTA but Red Dead is spectacular. As of right now, I’m calling this GOTY. But there are still some great ones to come, so we shall see.
Red Dead will be sucking my social life dry for sometime. Love it!
still waiting on this to come someday through Gamefly
I was considering just renting this game until about a month ago when I saw that Amazon was giving a $20 gift card for pre-orders. I’m still not buying it myself but I expect to get it for my birthday and from the reviews I can definitely say that I’m glad I decided to add it to my birthday list so I could have it in my collection. I was just worried that it would be too much like GTA, which is fun for a while but then feels repetitive and by the end I was just begging for the story to be over and sold it right away without even attempting 100% completion or going near the multiplayer. It sounds like Red Dead isn’t going to feel that way though and I might even be begging for more…not to mention I just enjoy the Wild West theme more than the Russian mafia.
Definitely a great and welcome change from Rockstar’s usual modern GTA titles. It feels just like a GTA but in the wild west. My only gripe is the game is a bit slow so it isn’t highly entertaining. It’s more of a smooth, polished game than a game that makes you say “Wow this is FUN!”.
Hate GTA, love red dead!
You’re all crazy. I loved GTA (way more so with the latest DLC) and love this Western GTA. Though this game really pushes you to be a good guy. At least, that’s the experience I’ve had in the first handful of hours…
No joke, I spent the first 8 hours playing poker and hunting. This game is off the hook. 10 out 10 for me. I recommend it. IMO it’s better then GTA, but then again you can’t compare the two. So to me this is the best western game out there.
How dare you rate this game with a meager 5/5? It’s worth way more than that!
But yeah, I think it’s a FANTASTIC game! I absolutely love it.
Didn’t like GTA4 at all…still collects dust on my shelf.
BUT!
This game is excellent. I’m loving every minute of it…..a bit too much it seems as I take my time riding my horse into town sizing all the NPCs up.
I love westerns (more the spaghetti western or other greats like The Good, the Bad, the Weird) so I am a little biased, but this game just nails it for me. A solid 9/5!
Anthony you just convinced me to buy this game. I had been on the fence because I wasn’t a GTA fan either. To hear you say that you enjoyed it, while not being a fan of GTA has inspired me to pick up a copy. I’ll alert Rockstar Games so that you get your royality cheque.
Seriously, thanks.
Man just got the YLoD!!!
Now I have to wait till Thursday when my new Slim should be here to start playing this game again. I just hope that my reflow attempt on my old PS3 will fix it long enough to transfer the data to my new slim so I don’t have to start all over.
I love this game so far, can’t wait to get back in it, and try out the MP.
Must go Pansy Flower Picking!!
I will be getting this for sure someday. As for now I have Just Cause 2 taking up my time and I don’t need two massive open world games.
Great review Pete
HATE GTA lol, absolutley love RDR…Just Cause is awesome too but its missing a key thing and thats online multiplayer.
PS. excellent review.
@ViperX2
sorry to hear about your YLoD…I lost my fat console to it and it can’t be fixed….not even by reflow.
I took it to a pro that I know and the system is toast so I can’t retrieve anything. I really wish Sony would extend their warranty on the fat console because it is a design flaw (much like the 360′s) with poor solder used as well and the refurbs the replace it with (for $230 CAD) are only good for 6 months before they YLoD.
Yeah this game is really realistic. I can gun down 20 people at McFarlane’s ranch, ride a quarter mile out, come back and herd cattle with Bonnie and no ones the wiser. Get real, dude. Gun had a health meter for their horses. And why when I ride out don’t I see animals attacking other animals? Heck, Brutal Legend’s creatures had a food chain. Bigger ones attacked smaller ones but every so often you would see multiple smaller creatures attack a larger one. And the random encounters are so limited. There are only like 5 in towns. Gang riding in, kidnapping, prostitute assault, showdown, horse thief. After putting 15+ hours in so far, I’m tired of seeing them. And I like how you tell Zak ‘This IS the Wild West’ as if you actually lived in that time period. This game follows the GTA gormula to a tee, albeit with some addition and glaring omissions. Should have been given an 8 just like any JRPG that doesn’t ‘break the mold’
@ Robotron –
Well I tried the reflow and it work, at least for a minute, and then it YLoD again. I think I’m going to try it one more time with a little more heat. A guy on the PS forums said he had to do it a couple times as well, so not all is lost.
I guess this kamenryuki guy has never heard the use of an expression in his entire life……and wtf is a gormula?
Anyway, I agree Pete and Anthony. Great game. Pete convinced me to get it….and he was right for once.
Great game. Rockstar is the best third party developer recently.
The last few hours of RDR are absolutely something spectacular. I recommend this game highly.
i played this game but im not sure if it had ended yet
God I love this game i am going to get it for ps3 but I don’t know if it has a monthly
payment because if it does then I’m screwed because i can’t affort monthly payments. BTW
does playstation network have a monthly payment? Plz respond I have made like 50 different accouts on different blog just trying to find thos two answers so someone plz help me.