Saddle up for the best western to date.
Red Dead Redemption is GTA developer Rockstar's attempt at making an open-world shooter in the wild west. I could sit here a while longer and give you a huge overview of the game, but I say we get right into the review.
Gameplay
Red Dead Redemption's plays almost just like Grand Theft Auto 4. Everything from the aiming reticle to the dots on the minimap that show where online friends and foes are located to the banter between characters during horse rides to certian locations during missions. As for the missions themselves, you will be enjoying performing all sorts of different objectives throughout the wild west (and Mexico). The game becomes a little dull when you first enter Mexico, but it picks up the pace soon after. The controls for riding horses are not explained very well, but most players will catch on quickly. Rockstar put in a feature called dead eye. The way dead eye works is getting kills fills up your dead eye meter. When you activate dead eye, the screen turns into a reddish color and time slows down for you to accurately pick your shots.
Story
Red Dead Redemption's story is, in my opinion, one of its greatest parts. There is no way the player can really effect the story itself, but it is still outstanding. I laughed at some points, felt angry at some, and, did one other thing that few other games have ever done. It made me cry. I won't spoil anything, but I will admit that I cried at the end of Red Dead Redemption.
Presentation
I'll start with the good news. The music is great and the SFX are outstanding. Also, the game is absolutely gorgeous. As usual, Rockstar made the characters very believeable and the voice acting is stellar. Now the bad news. The menus in this game can be a little annoying, but the biggest problem is the amount of bugs. It isn't extremely glitchy, but it is enough to take note of.
Length
The main story can be completed in anywhere from 15 to 20 hours. But, if you take the time to do side quests, challenges, or 100% completion, you could easily double or triple your time.
Summary
I'm not sure I got the point across in the review that this is one of the best games of this year, and should be in every shooter fan's library.
Gameplay- 9/10
Story- 10/10
Presentation- 9/10
Length- 9/10
Final Score (not an average)- 9/10
