Red Dead Redemption

Preview from Yug - Wednesday, 10 February 2010 @ 10:37pm

You see in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend. Those with loaded guns, and those who dig. You dig. - The Good, Bad & the Ugly

If the games that have come out within the last month are any indication, 2010 is shaping up to be a stellar year for gamers. So many exemplary titles released already that we are spoiled for choice on an almost weekly basis.

And it doesn't look to be stopping anytime soon.

Perhaps that's what makes Red Dead Redemption even more impressive considering it's STILL my most anticipated console game of 2010. I had the opportunity to see the game in action early last year, but have only now for the first time managed to get my grubby hands on a controller and ride around the Wild West causing havoc.

A man walks into a bar ...

Now, think about this ... considering how much Hollywood have milked it, and how prevalent it is in every other media, it's surprising that old school western style games don't seem to happen very often. There was Call of Juarez, Gun, and of course the first Red Dead game ' Red Dead Revolver ... but it's a struggle to list of any more. Oddworld: Stranger probably doesn't count, but it should.

Redemption in particular is set at the turn of the 20th century, a time when the 'wild west' was slowly fading away amidst the rise of the industrialization era. A turbulent time to be sure, and it gives a nice scope for different settings and characters dealing with the changes and the sudden political prevalence of the 'law' in the traditionally 'lawless' environment.

You play as a rough and tough Eastwood type character by the name of John Marston, who used to be one of the troublesome outlaws before retiring from the business. How exactly would one 'retire' from being an outlaw? Hand in your two weeks' notice to the rest of the gang? Anyway, something bad apparently went down, and years later Marsden finds himself 'recruited' by a Bureau (maybe the FEDERAL type ... that do INVESTIGATIONS ...) to capture or kill Bill Williamson, a gang member from John's former crew.

It seems like a fairly standard tale of intrigue and revenge, and I'm fine with that, this is a western after all. Let's not forget though that this is a ROCKSTAR game, and these guys know how to make a game cinematic, although don't go jumping ahead of yourself yet and proclaiming the game 'Grand Theft Horsies'.

The Legend of ... Red Dead

Sure, this is an open world environment. And it is a 3rd person game. And yes, you can 'hijack' horses. And it uses the same Advanced Game Engine and Euphoria Animation used in Grand Theft Auto IV. However, you only need wander out into the wilderness to realise just how different the game actually feels.

Initially I couldn't imagine anything duller than just wandering around in the desert. I was reminded of Zelda: Wind Waker in that the travelling out into the open ocean felt like an excuse to extend the game time as you travelled from one island to another (flame away fanboys). Not so with Redemption, as they've managed to pack hundreds of unique animals, characters, events, and side missions without any of them being intrusive or feeling out of place. It's like the game tries to make a conscious effort to distract you, and it works a treat.

For a few hours I wandered around hunting then skinning animals, participating in lawmen vs bandit shootouts (pick your side by shooting someone), rescuing hijacked stagecoaches, saving damsels in distress, avoiding the local sheriff by taking down his posse (and yes, increasing my 'wanted' level as a side effect), and just generally galloping around on my horse causing havoc.

The movement feels extremely natural, from the horses that don't get caught up on small pieces of environment, to sliding behind cover and peaking out to shoot the hat off some poor would be assailant. The weapons range from your standard six shooter, molotov cocktails, to your old school sniper rifle, with a nice 'snap to' system assisting your aiming just slightly enough so you don't get frustrated. And a lasso. I only realised I had access to this weapon late in my play through, and had just enough time to capture a few bad guys before I went around trying to lasso everything else I could find. I managed to lasso a horse which then proceeded to drag me around, though unfortunately I wasn't able to find more local wildlife to tame.

Wadda you smilin at?

I wanted to though ... believe me, this is the first game I've played at the Rockstar Games offices where I seriously didn't want to put the controller down at the end of the preview, making puppy dog eyes simply didn't work.

I also partook in a few missions, one in particular stand out involved an Irish guy called ... Irish, who was supposed to deliver me a machine gun. He didn't. And he was drunk. Because he's Irish. Right? So we ride off to collect the machine gun from the guys who DO have it, conveniently hidden away down a long mine shaft.

"This is the first game I've played at the Rockstar Games offices where I seriously didn't want to put the controller down at the end of the preview'"


The close combat opportunities down here made for some impressive displays of what can only be classified as finishing moves - cocking the shotgun under a guys throat and blowing his head off, for example. The environment was able to be used to my advantage as well, shooting the oil lights hanging through the tunnel set the enemies hiding below them on fire - which is always fun :)

Look up boys

The mission concluded as I loaded the machine gun onto a mine cart and pretty much rode the thing back the way I came, hanging off the end and picking off guys as I went, until a final explosion through the entrance where I was free and clear.

The game is just FUN! I spent at least a good 10 minutes sharp shooting birds out of the sky, only to find a mini-game involved with it. I haven't even had a chance to really inspect the towns themselves yet, and quite frankly, April 30th can't come soon enough.